I might actually have had a reason to go hoard a couple months worth of toilet paper.
Not that I did, mind you, but I spoke with my doctor over the phone today, and it really is hitting me over how much the next couple months are going to be absolutely horrible.
(A bit of background: I’m 45, have Crohn’s and Rhumatoid Arthritis among other issues, including severe depression.)
Amongst the many, MANY meds that I’m taking are two so-called “immune system supressants”. Humira, and Methotrexate. They reduce the immune system’s tendency to attack itself (the joints and GI), but because of that, I have to be more careful about catching things like the cold. I’m more prone to getting sick, and when I do, it can be a lot worse. That was my default life before COVID-19.
Now I’m approaching man-in-the-bubble status.
Last week, I got out of a local hospital after a two day stay to get me back on my brain med patterns and try to get some structure (I was sleeping 12-14 hours a day or more, leading to severe depression). I was scheduled to start IOP (Intensive Outpatient Program) half-day program at the hospital starting a week from tuesday.
As we all know, in the last 48 hours, North America has basically shutdown large scale gatherings. In a lot of places they recommend not going to gatherings of 1,000 or more. Or 250 or more. Or in really bad areas, 100 or more.
I’ve been told not to travel unless absolutely necessary, and to avoid gatherings of TWENTY or more.
Twenty. That’s not many people.
That pretty much rules grocery shopping out. You’re not going to find any place to get groceries (except maybe a 24 hour drug store like CVS at 2:30 in the morning) that would count as “twenty or less”.
It most likely rules out getting the intensive outpatient program next week. While I am pretty stable right now, they suggested when they discharged me that this would be a good way to make sure the gains from my hospital stay weren’t lost.
It means that I probably will not see my doctor or counselor in person unless things are really bad. (they told me if it gets any more restrictive, to not come in because with my compromised immune system, walking into a building full of sick people would be.. counterproductive.
One thing that I might be able to do for a while is grocery pickup or delivery. One problem is that I am one of the 700,000 or so people who have been told their SNAP benefits will be ending in the near future because of the Orangefurher’s changes (I have a disability hearing to get SSDI, but that won’t happen until August probably, and that’s IF the corona virus doesn’t throw a massive monkey wrench into that.
There are some bright spots: The state medicaid provider has a program that provides health care worker and nurse visits every now and then (it’s a cost-saving measure for them, really, so I don’t always have to go to the ER to get treated). But even then there’s some pitfalls. Like for example, I have Lymphedema in my legs, and because of my health, I can’t get down to tighten the wrappings they want to put on my legs (which has to be done daily). They recommend a home health care aide or nurse visit daily. But to get that, because I own the condo I live in (Bedroom/Livingroom/Kitchen/Bathroom), I would have to put a lien on my condo to get it.
So, yeah, the next couple months are going to be really, really the pits.
I’m going to try to end this blog on a positive note: I did come across the article that the Kos Staff posted tonight about ways to combat the “social distancing” (read: isolation) that people will be going through over the coming days, weeks (months?), and they’re great ideas one and all.
edit: The link to that Kos Staff article: www.dailykos.com/...