The “At-Risk” vs Coronavirus.

Admittedly, I was one of the “ah, it’ll be alright” guys when COVID-19 broke out. Up until the last week I wasn’t particularly concerned, I kept in line with the government advice, social distancing, restricting where I was going, how often etc… But ultimately just continued as I usually would, normal day-to-day life. Similarly to most others, I started feeling frustrated by the panic buyers out there, questioning people’s morals and wondering where the “community spirit” comes in at unexpected times like this. The world seemingly started going bonkers, with many not even considering those who are at higher risk due to underlying conditions, the vulnerable, elderly, the family’s with young children; the list continues of those who are being left without their daily essentials.

Unfortunately I am one of the many unlucky individuals whom were put into self-isolation fairly early on following NHS111 advice due to symptoms and the unexpected outbreak happening worldwide. Initially, I’m sure some people wouldn’t realise that some medical conditions do actually put people into a higher at-risk bracket, even at a much younger age than the usual vulnerable category. Even those with rare conditions, that some may not have even heard of. As thousands of people will have seen, a list of higher risk conditions was released late last week. Unfortunately my underlying medical condition was pretty high up on this list and at this stage I knew with everything going on that I hadn’t overreacted by seeking NHS advice regarding symptoms or by following the self-isolation as recommended following a phone call with them.

Over the last 48 hours it’s as though a switch has been flicked in my head with regards to general every day life, prompted of course by the current outbreak and spreading of coronavirus. Even more so now the country has been basically placed into lockdown. The experience of staying indoors, watching crap television, and primarily a lot of time spent alone or in the company of only one person. Looking out of the window and seeing next to no cars passing, very few people around, the silence: Not even hearing any people walking by.
Hearing the birds chirping outside and seeing brighter days, the sun shining, all the small things that are suddenly so much more appreciated. The things I may not even usually notice, that I take for granted daily: Those are now the most important things at this very strange time.

With this pandemic, recently, it’s made me truly analyse the things that I potentially wouldn’t on a usual daily basis and I can’t help but compare recent events to those that I was previously experiencing.

After a long time coming, 6 months ago I finally reached the point of being given a diagnosis in clinic. Since this point I’ve had extremely bad days, I’ve been through a lot of treatment, I’ve had better days. I’ve had support from those who are true, and I’ve had others put me down. I’ve gone through emotions and physical pain that I never even thought possible BUT ultimately, I’ve truly moved forward.

I experienced many days where I could not even as much as stand up, I lost nearly all aspects of mobility and at every moment I was in indescribable pain. Chronic fatigue, uncontrollable tremors and limb weakness were just a few other struggles of my every day life. Fast forward 6 months and these symptoms and more are still a huge part of my life but I now use walking aids for distances, I am able to stand and walk with support, I am able to cope so much more. I still have times behind the scenes that nobody would expect, the days I can’t function, the days where I can’t deal with facing the world due to both physical and mental factors. Even on my “good days”, by the end yes my legs are still swollen, I sometimes can’t stand immediately, I still have uncontrollable tremors, the pain is still there and I am unable to function in the same way as a “normal” person. But I know in myself how far I have come, as do the people whom are closest to me.

Down days and the concerns surrounding certain aspects of life are NORMAL. We are all HUMAN and this goes for all conditions, all crisis’, all problems we face individually and those problems we all face together.

I am personally now determined to protect myself and those around me, and vitally to not allow for the outbreak and symptoms of a newly found virus to take over my body or to take me back to stage one with my underlying condition. A virus was my original relapse factor & therefore self-care has swiftly become my number one priority. I am staying at HOME unless absolutely necessary.

I guess my point to this blog is that things take time to settle down, to get used to, to move forward with. A cure or management strategy isn’t an overnight factor but that in time, it’s a given moment to arise. Let people have their worries, their strategies and their own personal coping mechanism. If we all stick together and do what we need to do then we WILL BEAT THIS pandemic, and we will all beat it together. Most importantly respect each individual person, let’s all help and support each other in this unknown and very unexpected time.

CHECK IN on your friends, your family, your loved ones. We are all in the same boat, we’re all within the same 4 walls. Life will be so different for the foreseeable future, people are going to feel alone, lonely, anxious and all of those feelings are okay. Let’s not forget about each other, let’s be kinder, look out for each other and for once in our lives let us not be SELFISH. We are all in this together.

Personally I will never take seeing my friends and family members for granted again, all of the amazing places we are able to go, experiences, fun days out, holidays, etc. It’s an eye opening experience to have these simple things taken away so I will always treasure these things in the future when we are able to continue with normal life. Similarly I will never knock the idea of staying local, simple things such as fresh air and sitting in the back garden at home and getting pulled in by good book. These are the things that will keep me going over the coming weeks and months. Suddenly I truly treasure everything I have got, rather than the things that I do not.

Take care everyone and be safe always. See you all on the other side <3