I am about to be discharged from hospital. It has been a slow, two week admission and I am relieved to be heading home even though I will have to come back in two weeks for surgery. That is disappointing but necessary. I do have a game plan for getting through the post-op mine field but more about that another time.
Getting to see my family and friends is just one of the reasons I am relieved to be going home. The second reason is a bit more complex. As you have no doubt heard through the media, the international community is now at risk of a flu that is new and possibly very deadly. There is no vaccination at this time, that is at least 10 weeks away and it will take approximately 6 months to have the whole of Australia vaccinated. Because this flu is so new and unknown it has got many people very scared. Normal healthy people are freaked out so imagine how this news terrifies people who are immunosuppressed. Those people that know that one flu can be deadly. This is a particularly scary time for them. And this brings me back to hospital, at the best of times hospitals are the place to catch any type of virus or flu. The place is packed with them. When one person is suspected of having a flu, they are taken to hospital. This is that hospital. And that is the very reason that I don’t want to be here. I don’t know how many times I have caught something in here and if this flu is heading this way (and I have heard on the grapevine that there has been one suspected case admitted here this morning) than I am OUT OF HERE!!
To anyone out there who is also worried, you are not alone. The best advice that I can give you is continue to stay on track with your medications and treatments, stay away from shopping centres and large crowds, be vigilant about hand washing and physical contact with people that may be unwell. I will also use Lavender Oil in an oil burner and keep an image of myself as healthy and well in the front of my mind. I ask my family and friends to give me the heads up if we will be somewhere together and they or their children are sick, this gives me the chance to pull out, I have to put my health first. I ask people that are coming to my home to not come if there are unwell – flu or cold – this may seem rude but at the end of the day it is my health and wellbeing that hangs in the balance. You do what you have to do to stay well. Keep a positive attitude, be careful but don’t obsess (easier said than done sometimes!). Be as vigilant as you normally would. And “Keep Calm and Carry On!”
Take care, Lily
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Unfortunately in the Resp Lab I get all the respiratory illnesses coughed in my face all year long. In early yrs I was constantly sick but now iIt has resulted in my being immune to just about everything, ex some flu I just spent a week off with – the 1st I remember being sick in 8 yrs. Yeah I am constantly reminded to thank God for good health. bye Baz.
Good Advice Lils
I am a lil paranoid but I stopped watching/reading the media I think they are blowing it a lil out of proportion! So I am continuing all my hand washing and everything I did before. I think if one good thing comes out of all this maybe it will teach the public to be a lil more cautious when it comes to hand washing and sanitizing issues.