Quarantine Land, New Mexico – Coming to you live, from a room in my house
that my wife says I can’t leave, I bring you greetings and love as we head into
Inter-Dependence weekend.
There was an unexpected visitor to our house in the last
week.
It was someone we had expected for awhile now. In fact, it
is amazing to think that we avoided this visitor for as long as we did.
You know this entity as the nefarious co-author of the
Writing to Heal blog. As much as I have tried not to focus on her over the last
2.5 years, she is definitely a big part of why I began to write. Hey, Batman
wouldn’t be a hero if he didn’t have Penguin and Joker, right?
COVID has decided to visit the Fleg house.
My wife was the first to test positive for COVID a week ago.
Her body seemed to suddenly stop working. Aches and fatigue.
And the isolation didn’t help either, as she had to see life going on without
her.
For our family, it was a surreal moment. I had been working
the front lines of COVID since the pandemic began, taking care of hospitalized
patients and putting my family in COVID’s path. When you live so close to
something and yet still manage to avoid it for as long as we did, you begin to
dismiss it as something that will never visit your family and home.
Today, feeling a bit under the weather, I decided to take my
3rd test of the week. As my friend Tom calls it, I took my “male pregnancy
test” and indeed it was positive.
First thoughts after testing positive:
“Yikes”
“I am going out for a run”
“Five days is a long time to isolate!”
COVID gives me a reminder around my own wellness and
self-care. I had been really fatigued in hindsight the last few days. But I had reasons
that allowed me to explain away my symptoms. I had neglected myself during a
long clinic day, with very little fluid intake. I was definitely dehydrated.
Second, I have been working so hard in the last month that I felt that the
fatigue was my body’s way of saying I needed rest. When my life mimics the
symptoms of a disease state, it is a moment to listen and learn.
Luckily, I have 5 days in this room to do so 😊
May your holiday weekend be a safe and joyous one. Celebrate
Inter-Dependence, the profound connectedness we share with each other and with
the plants/animals/planet.
Back to you in the studio, reporting live from Quarantine
Land.
Please be a good patient and get well very soon!
ReplyDeleteEven in quarantine land you manage to inspire! Take care - Gale
ReplyDeleteRest up! Wishing you a speedy recovery.
ReplyDeleteMay you all return full health as soon as you can and may the related antibodies last a very long time.
ReplyDeleteWhen I am sick it is one of the few times I allow myself to watch TV or streaming without doing anything else (hand work, ironing, folding clothes, etc.). I especially allow myself to watch things with subtitles since that is about the limit of reading my body is capable of - LOL! Resting because you are sick is not really the rest your over-tired body is looking for but it gives us a good opportunity to APPRECIATE rest. Glad you are down for the count and resting Anthony. Hope all of your family comes to full health soon. Sending love and prayers.
ReplyDeletespeedy recovery- isabel
ReplyDelete