Another Coronavirus Article

It seems as if the world has gone mad. The news can talk of nothing else except the corona virus. Why not? It is new. And with all new things, there is a mystery to it that baffles, intrigues and scares us (just admit it). I, like all of you, are battling with identifying and expressing my feelings and thoughts about this pandemic as I try to explain the circumstances to my children. So, here goes.

I am not overly afraid of the virus itself. It is another virus and it spreads quickly. The death rate and complication rate appear to be low and focused on the most vulnerable of the community. While this is nothing to ignore, it is not surprising. Those in our community with immunocompromised states face a more dangerous world than the typical healthy individual on any given day. This is not new for them. They know the risks and are brave for facing it every day.

I am more afraid of the reactions. I understand the need to be cautious and slow down the progression in an effort to prevent overloading the medical system. As a part-time member of that system, I thank you for that. I am very concerned on how everyone is looking for answers from government and “officials” instead of trying to reach reasonable conclusions for themselves. This is hard. Being an adult and making adult decisions is hard. But, we need to find a way to overcome our fear and make good, rational decisions. The House of God by Samuel Shem has a quote that states “At a cardiac arrest, the first procedure is to take your own pulse.” I have relied on this quote over my many years in hospital critical care. When your feelings of panic take over, your brain is muddled, foggy, and unlikely to make good decisions. While we as a nation are not experiencing a cardiac arrest, this can remind us to first: STOP. The fear is real. Acknowledge it. Then place it in a small box in the back of your mind so that your reasonable portion and have the stage. You will need all of your reasonable functions to make good decisions. BREATHE. Now, evaluate the situation.

            - Gather information. But not too much. Be careful on this slippery slope because you will fall back into panic mode. Be critical of all information and think about how it can apply to you and your family.

            - Make a plan. Now that you have figured out how this will most likely affect you and your immediate family, how can you find ways to lessen the effect? What can you do now (besides buy the store out of toilet paper) that will truly help? This will be different for every family. Be reasonable and critical of every purchase and step. Are you performing this action out of fear? If so, re-evaluate the decision.

            - Activate your plan. Take one step at a time. Even when a patient is in cardiac arrest, there is a limit to the number of interventions that can occur at one time. Prioritize and check off the items on your list. This will help to give yourself a sense of accomplishment and confidence to proceed to the next step.

Here’s an example of my process for this pandemic.

My family is fortunately fairly healthy without any major illnesses to compromise our immune system. If we were to acquire this virus, I suspect that given the available data, we should be able to weather the storm. I do not have a crystal ball and I cannot tell the future. We could always run into complications but I am going by the data that are currently available and applying it to our situation.

A more serious concern for our family would be the disruption of services and/or a quarantine that would prevent our ability to get food or supplies that we need. I tend to stock up on items as a regular habit. I wouldn’t consider myself a doomsday prepper but I have found it easier for our circumstances to have a healthy supply of our most used items. The reasons that I find it easier to buy a lot of items in bulk on a regular basis include:

          - I’m an introvert and try to avoid large crowds even when there isn’t a threat of death at every chance meeting.

         - I grew up in a rural area where it was often inconvenient to “run to town” for every little thing. We just started storing more for convenience. This behavior has lasted even though I now live closer to many amenities.

         - When shopping, I normally have a passel of kids to accompany me. This is not usually the fun outing that you can imagine. I often leave spending more money than I intended and without the item for which I was originally searching.

         - Our family is larger than most (family of 6). Buying in larger quantities allows us to save money and it is rarely wasted.

         - We live at the end of a one-lane rural road. We understand that if there is a power outage or other natural disaster that we are not the top priority for the return of services. We accept that as a trade-off for our beloved home. So, we tend to have a few emergency supplies available for short-term disasters when power, water or other utilities are not available.

Despite my many reasons to be prepared for this event, I still had my shortfalls.

          - Medications - Just this week, I found myself sick with a virus, NOT the coronavirus. I repeat, NOT the coronavirus. I had sinus congestion, ear pain, headache, fever, nausea and vomiting. I was pretty much out of commission for three days. During this time, I discovered that my stock of pseudoephedrine expired in 2012, that I had two bottles of acetaminophen but no ibuprofen and I lacked any form of nasal spray. We normally have a few illnesses every year in our home but rarely need the use of OTC and/or prescription medications. This time was different and I had failed in my prep. This reminded me that I need to take better stock of things that we would need for illness. So, feel free to judge my lack of preparedness because despite my medical knowledge I did not have medications when I needed it. I am taking steps to fix this.

         - Feed for animals – We have chickens, cats and a dog. While we could figure out a way to feed the animals alternative foods than their traditional packaged items, it would be more expensive and a hassle. Having a small backup supply of animal feed has been on my mental list for a while. I just needed the extra kick in the butt to get it done.

         - Luxury items – While this isn’t a necessity, I enjoy Coca-Cola drinks. They are a special treat for me. I could survive weeks without it and truthfully, it would probably be better for my overall health if I never drank another one. But, we all need to treat ourselves occasionally and if the death of mankind to a virus named after a beer isn’t the time to do it, then when is?

No matter how much you think, prepare, buy, hoard, stock and fight your fellow man for those items that you think you will need, something will cause a problem. For example, I just realized today that my daughter took the opportunity during my recent illness to decide that she needed to replace her toothbrush on a DAILY basis. I normally keep a few extra new toothbrushes as backup for the accidental toilet drop, dog-teeth brushing day or for guests. I was out. Lucky for me, Amazon hasn’t had a chance to jack up their prices and I am planning to have more delivered soon.

So, what have I learned from this experience? Life is crazy and you cannot possibly prepare for every disaster. I am now going to challenge myself to learn and make some changes in my life for the future. I challenge you to join me.

          - What has been the cause of my fear?

                   o For me, it was the economic results and panic of the individuals.

         - What can I do to lesson those fears?

                  o Prepare my home as much as I can without putting ourselves in financial strain.

                  o Continue to re-evaluate current plans of preparing for disasters

                  o Support small and local businesses as much as possible during this trying time. I try to do this anyway but I can always find ways to do better.

                  o Limit the time that I spend watching and/or reading about this pandemic. I need information to make good decisions but after a while, the panic inducing media can overtake my realistic ideas. I just don’t need that.

         - Can I find any positives to this situation?

                  o Local events are being cancelled. My children participate in a multitude of events. I am currently receiving notices of cancellations. While we are understandably disappointed, I have been given the gift of time. Instead of running my children to another event, I have time to do other things. What will I do? I could focus on the green house and our garden since we struggled to find enough time for it last spring. We can focus on small projects throughout our property. We can have more bonfires and nights looking at the stars. There are many possibilities.

                  o Craft fairs are being cancelled. While this is not good for our financial outlook, it does give me more time to build up my inventory so that when things are calmer, I can have more items to present to my customers. I can also work to increase my online sales.

                   o We may be stuck at home. It’s a good thing that I like my home and the few acres that we have worked so hard to purchase. We may find new ways to enjoy it and spend family time together.

                   o We may be quarantined. If I don’t have to leave my house, I don’t have to put on makeup. I may get a chance to read a good book.

                   o The healthcare system is being overwhelmed. As a part-time healthcare employee with fewer outside obligations, I can now volunteer for more hours to help my colleagues, patients and a little selfishly, my wallet.

What positives can you find in this situation?

Look harder. 

It’s in the time of tragedy that we can most count our blessings. Let’s start doing so now.