(I wrote this on my personal Facebook page, and it got enough shares and requests that I’ve decided to make it public here. Share widely and freely!)
Right now, I am recovering from a Covid-19 diagnosis. My case was mild plus to moderate; my spouse’s case landed him in the hospital. It was a scary to drop him off at the ER with the presumption that I would pick him up in a few hours to not seeing him for five more days.
Fodder for the cannon for a spiritual person like me, right??? More on that later 🙂
My household consists of two adults and a dog. We were being careful, social distancing, and washing our hands. This virus, as best as I can discern, either got through a mask, or I accidentally touched my face.
And, yes, I as a spiritual person did manage to get this virus. I was not particularly fearful of it, but I did respect the seriousness of the virus in the lives of many. As it turns out, this respect was well warranted since my own beloved reacted poorly to it.
Thank goodness for my personal spiritual practices and the wide community of energy workers, pray-ers, and people who could hold healing space for me. I’ll write more thoughts about the spiritual insights that I have had as a results of living with this virus on a personal level in the near future.
OK, let’s get to the substance of the post here!
These are my 5 tips for preparing for a potential Covid-19 diagnosis.
Believe me, preparing for Covid-19 with a high vibration won’t bring it upon you. It’s responsible to think through all possibilities. It is the practices that you have that will sustain you through any time of crisis — including Covid-19, interpersonal problems, other illnesses, and intense grief. Living with the possibilities is part of our human condition.
Plus, I’m doing light meditations EVERY day for the healing and thriving of my lungs. Again, more on that later.
(At the time when I am writing this, we are in the third wave of Covid cases, and hospital personnel are getting pretty tired — including my sister, who is an ER nurse practitioner and doctor of nursing. If you could keep her in mind when you are making decisions about masks, my spirit will be super happy).
5 Tips
1) Make your plan now on what you’ll do if you show symptoms.
When I showed symptoms, my judgment went downhill. I wasn’t walking around licking signposts or breathing heavily on people or anything like that. But I had fever, and fever means that I don’t always make connections that would be obvious if I was well.
I am the type of person who will feel tired for an entire day, and come down with a cold two days later, but not make the connection until I’m well. Had I made a plan before I showed symptoms, I would have followed it automatically.
Trying to figure it out while feeling terrible was not, as it turned out, feasible. As a result, I didn’t self-isolate in the house — which I should have done.
If you’re not sure of what that plan is, I can help! You can decide this now.
– Find out where testing is close to you (in my case, I had to stay on the phone for about an hour to secure a test). Testing centers do change, but just have a good idea of what is possible.
– When you show symptoms, self-isolate. It’s a pain. Do it anyway, even in your own house.
– Think of someone ahead of time who can help out with pets, kids, cooking
-Get a Venmo account if you need to give people cash before they shop for you. If you are short on funds, practice the spirit of generosity and anticipate that people can be generous with you, and that you can receive generosity with joy.
2) Think about what self-isolating looks like ahead of time.
When you’re sick, with a fever, and maybe even other more severe symptoms, you’re not thinking about it.
If you live alone, you’ll probably be able to manage just fine; you’ll be the only one who touches your stuff for two weeks. But you might need to invest in grocery deliveries or have someone who can deliver things to you. Thank goodness for a young adult at my church who was willing to be a gopher for me.
If you have multiple people in a house, then self-isolation is trickier. Someone may need to bring you food and put it outside the door. You’ll need to check before you open the door and go to the bathroom. Wearing a mask in the house is important when moving through common areas. It’s all not easy, but it’s also not that hard — but it does take thinking through.
AND, if you have multiple people in your house AND you’re all showing symptoms or have been exposed, then you might be partially self-isolating but no one can really leave the house — in which case, you’ll still need someone to help out with groceries, meds, and deliveries.
3) If it tastes off, take it seriously.
Like I said above, I just wasn’t making the connection (fever, addled brain, plus I wasn’t showing *every* symptom). I just thought I had a weird meal that wasn’t good. It wasn’t until hours later, when I was having tea, that I thought “Oh, two in a row….” and it was still another day before I though “Oh my, this could actually be Covid…”. I didn’t *lose* my taste — it just got funky. My spouse tasted nothing but salt for two days. Then both of our tastes returned to normal, more or less, even while we were still actively symptomatic.
4) Don’t panic, just act swiftly and respect the seriousness of this virus and your health, and the health of others. My spouse’s illness was more serious than mine. Apples and oranges – everyone’s different. There is little worse than worrying about someone who you love being able to breathe. Get tested, and get further help as needed.
5) Say “thank you” to every medical person who assists you. They’re tired and probably under-thanked. If they are short with you, act with grace and also get the information that you need.
The hospital where my spouse was communicated extraordinarily well with me — except once. I was calling while I was still sick and also managing a lot of information for a lot of people. The one time when a nurse was short with me did not stop me from getting the information that I needed, and I was able to send her some metaphysical energy once I was done being annoyed. She’s been working hard for about 10 months, so I can let that one go.
Thank you, medical professionals. You’re rockstars right now. I’ll hold a special session for all of you in the near future.
What else has been helpful for you during this time of pandemic? If you’ve had Covid, what do you wish you had done differently? What did you do that went well? Comment below!
