Powerless
Love in the Time of Corona — Day 4
Just a short update today (written from my phone), because on top of being in quarantine and potentially having the virus, the electrical power in my building decided to practice some social distancing of its own.
Not sure when the power is coming back on, but until then I need to conserve phone battery and be ready to eat all the Ben & Jerry’s in my freezer to save it from melting. (This is, after all, a time of great personal sacrifices.)
I had trouble sleeping again last night, with a temperature in the mid-96 range but not the kind of chills I had the first night. There was a constant knot in my chest and I had to deliberately remind myself to keep breathing, and to try to relax. It’s really hard to know if that’s an anxiety thing, or a viral thing. I’m not usually a highly anxious person, but if there were a time for anxiety to affect a person, this seems like that kind of time. My dad said some of his patients have reported similar symptoms — not knowing for sure how much of what they’re experiencing is mental vs. real, and if it’s real, what it actually means.
The big tricky part is that there isn’t much to do even if the symptoms I’m experiencing are truly a result of the virus. Rest, fluids, Tylenol (NOT ibuprofen, I’ve been told) — that’s about it. Unless a person is in serious enough condition to need an Emergency Room visit, any other symptoms pretty much fall under the category of “wait for it to pass.”
That’s tough, knowing that if this thing does get worse, there’s no cavalry coming to get me through it. As hospitals become more overrun with patients and medical staff and supplies start to dwindle, more and more of us will realize just how underprepared we are as a country to deal with this. The treatment plan of “Come to the hospital if your illness is extremely advanced and you can’t breathe, and we’ll hope to have a bed and potentially a ventilator available for you,” is not a reassuring thought.
Until we get this under control, most of the people who get this virus will be told to stay home and ride out the storm, because the simple truth is that the healthcare system won’t be able to handle the amount of severe cases, let alone the ones that are mild and merely might be progressing towards severe.
For the next few months at least, many of us will have to find our own way through the darkness. The power and the light will have to come from within.
Recommended reading:
Previous “Love in the Time of Corona” posts by Sam Rosenthal:
Read more of Sam Rosenthal’s work at samrose101.com, check out his #businesscardstories collection, follow him at @SamRoseWrites and stay tuned for his debut novel, Walking Backwards. Please RECOMMEND (clap) and SHARE this story, and always Keep It Movin.
