Coronavirus tips from a cancer patient.
Written early 2020, at the start of the COVID 'first-wave'.
As I walked through the supermarket yesterday, a lovely Sunday evening, my eyes were wide in disbelief, staring at the empty supermarket food shelves, it hit me..... People were panicking.
Thoughts ran through my mind; “I thought the Government wanted us to stock up for 14 days isolation, this looks like people are stocking up for a year!”, “Why broccoli and toilet paper?” “Why am I, the one fighting cancer, seeming to be the calmest?” Then I realised, due to my treatments, for the past year and a half I have already been living every day life on ‘high-alert’ to prevent catching any illnesses. That what others see as a ‘new way of living, to me was just ‘living’.
Due to my impacted immunity from various treatments, hygiene precautions are second nature to me. It’s muscle memory, a way of living that is like a reflex rather than a task. C-19 virus aside, infection control was and is, how I live. Due to this, people have reached out to me asking for tips, so I thought I’d share my tricks and habits here. Not just for those who are immunocompromised, but for everyone needing to focus on infection control, to reduce our chances of catching or spreading C-19 (or anything else!).
Here’s what I do personally:
This is what I do in the home:
In the community I:
Knowledge:
This is not gospel, this is not advice coming from an expert, I am sharing things I have done and still do, as someone with impacted immunity to minimise my risk of contracting an illness. It may seem like a lot, however all of these small things are second nature to me. Give it time, they can be for you also.
Please, please, keep calm, reach out to those around you if you need….. and wash your hands!
...
If you're after information on all things intimacy and cancer, see the Intimacy & Cancer THE BOOK.
If you're impacted by cancer and need support regarding the more 'intimate' struggles we face, join the private facebook group: 'Intimacy and Cancer' for support with thousands of people diagnosed with cancer, from over 40 countries.
As I walked through the supermarket yesterday, a lovely Sunday evening, my eyes were wide in disbelief, staring at the empty supermarket food shelves, it hit me..... People were panicking.
Thoughts ran through my mind; “I thought the Government wanted us to stock up for 14 days isolation, this looks like people are stocking up for a year!”, “Why broccoli and toilet paper?” “Why am I, the one fighting cancer, seeming to be the calmest?” Then I realised, due to my treatments, for the past year and a half I have already been living every day life on ‘high-alert’ to prevent catching any illnesses. That what others see as a ‘new way of living, to me was just ‘living’.
Due to my impacted immunity from various treatments, hygiene precautions are second nature to me. It’s muscle memory, a way of living that is like a reflex rather than a task. C-19 virus aside, infection control was and is, how I live. Due to this, people have reached out to me asking for tips, so I thought I’d share my tricks and habits here. Not just for those who are immunocompromised, but for everyone needing to focus on infection control, to reduce our chances of catching or spreading C-19 (or anything else!).
Here’s what I do personally:
- Wash my hands before and after eating.
- Wash my hands before taking any pills/meds.
- Wash/sanitize my hands as soon as I get home.
- I cough and sneeze into a disposable tissue or my hand, which is then immediately washed.
- I avoid touching my face as much as possible as the membranes in the eyes, nose, lips and mouth all have highly absorbent skin. You’ll be amazed at how many times a day we touch our faces! (If you need to scratch or rub your eye, do it with a disposable tissue).
- I ensure I shower each day and wash my clothes after one wear, cleanliness is important.
- Any food, or snack that is dropped while eating (like on the couch/bed/floor/coffee table/my lap), I pop it in the compost rather than eating it (the days of the ‘3-second rule’ are over friends!)
This is what I do in the home:
- I have, a ‘no-shoe’ rule in my apartment. Everyone takes off their shoes when walking through the door.
- Shopping bags/backpacks/handbags always get placed on the floor, not on table/bench surfaces (if you can’t bend down, you could have a chair in your home designated solely for bags to be put on).
- When cooking, if any food while chopping rolls off the board onto the bench/floor, it goes straight to compost.
- Chopping boards go in my dishwasher, and the larger wooden one gets extra hot soapy scrubbing.
- Hand sanitizer is in each room - the kitchen, the coffee table, next to the bed, in the bathroom next to the hand wash.
- Visitors wash their hands as soon as they arrive (after taking off their shoes!).
- I disinfectant wipe door handles and light switches before and after visitors.
- I also disinfectant wipe my phone and keyboards (and mouse) every few days.
- I have two hand towels in the kitchen. One for drying my hands after washing them, another for drying dishes. I replace them very regularly.
- I also wash my hand/bath towels and sheets at a hotter temperature.
In the community I:
- Have a hand sanitizer in my car, work-bag & social bag.
- If I go out and forget to bring sanitizer, I only eat food that uses cutlery (so not things like a burger), as I can’t be sure my hands are clean.
- I avoid unnecessary physical contact with others, and being close to anyone who is ill.
- I wash my hands or sanitize after catching public transport or touching any public surfaces such as door handles, light switches, hand-rails, elevator buttons, EFTPOS machines or money. If you don’t have sanitizer or a bathroom handy, don’t panic, just don’t touch your face or any food until after you clean your hands.
- I’m sorry folks, but the days of shared foods may be on pause. I avoid packets of chips, bowls of nuts, anything that has multiple hands dipping in and out. Bananas, mandarins, individual packet snacks or wrapped lollies are the way to go.
- Things like cheese platters in the open air with people standing around it and chatting are also a no-go for me. There is no way for me to know if any saliva droplets have gotten into the food from people speaking or laughing.
- If I’m with people and I lose track of which drinking glass is mine, I simply didn’t risk it and get a new one.
Knowledge:
- I don’t google medical advice. I ensure that my sources of information are from medical, hospital, Government and health institutions. ‘Dr Google’ is heavy with misinformation and can cause unnecessary stress.
This is not gospel, this is not advice coming from an expert, I am sharing things I have done and still do, as someone with impacted immunity to minimise my risk of contracting an illness. It may seem like a lot, however all of these small things are second nature to me. Give it time, they can be for you also.
Please, please, keep calm, reach out to those around you if you need….. and wash your hands!
...
If you're after information on all things intimacy and cancer, see the Intimacy & Cancer THE BOOK.
If you're impacted by cancer and need support regarding the more 'intimate' struggles we face, join the private facebook group: 'Intimacy and Cancer' for support with thousands of people diagnosed with cancer, from over 40 countries.
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