As a heath care provider that doesn’t get to stay home and more likely will be needed all the way through this crisis, it is imperative that I stay as healthy as possible. I’m sharing because I think there is a lot of us wondering what the heck we are supposed to do to stay healthy if we have to work through this crisis. Our patients need us. I’m putting this here because I believe in sharing information and talking about what’s on our mind so it doesn’t eat away at our courage:
This is what I do:
- There is no such thing as too much water. Constantly having my water bottle nearby, I drink at least three liters a day, sometimes four.
- I take 1000mg Vitamin C, a B12 Supplement, Zyrtec, and 5000u of Vitamin D (the Zyrtec is to calm my allergies so people don’t panic if I sneeze).
- I don’t wear jewelry that can harbor germs.
- I don’t wear makeup that might make my face itch.
- I cross my arms when idle so I am not tempted to touch my face.
- I make eye contact and use kindness and humor to continue to connect with people.
- We started playing music in the infusion room to lighten the mood.
- I leave my work shoes at work, doing the Mr. Rogers thing and changing into my “public shoes”.
- I leave my glasses at work. I use different ones at home.
- I no longer wear a watch at work.
- My public shoes come off at the door at home, changing into my house shoes.
- I have a plastic bag at my front door and strip my work-clothes off and put them in the bag as soon as I walk in the door. (I’m considering doing this outside my front door because I don’t care what my neighbors think). 😀
- I shower as soon as I get home – my disinfecting process.
- I take an Epsom bath every morning.
- I do not go to restaurants, bars, grocery stores. I eat and use whatever I already have. I am not at this point yet…but using a washcloth to wipe my *ss and eating bland food isn’t going to kill me.
- I wipe down high touch surfaces in my house daily – just keeping them clean, not disinfecting (late in the game on getting disinfectant but vinegar water is better than nothing).
- I’ve started to gargle with apple cider vinegar just in case – twice a day.
- I remain flexible and know that things are changing by the hour. Just roll with it.
- I know there is a good chance I could become a patient and not be able to work. I accept the risk, knowing that I will do everything possible to protect myself and avoid it.
- I get outside for a walk as often as possible.
- I listen to music and call my friends and family.
- I meditate when I remember to
- I play silly games, watch silly movies, and laugh as much as I can. I do appreciate the dumb and silly COVID memes because we just can’t take ourselves too seriously…even now.
- I remain calm in this hurricane of information and panic. Getting worked up, pissed off, numbing ourselves, disassociating, letting myself get down and depressed, anxious, or whatever does not help the situation. I worry about my people, my patients. A LOT of people are going to struggle to make ends meet and I hope they are in contact with their mortgage companies, landlords, banks, creditors, etc. to make arrangements to get through this. I worry about them but all I can do is share my experience in times of dire financial turmoil. Have. Been. There. They will work with us. Just call them.
- I close my eyes and take a few nice deep breaths…open my eyes and remember that I can only affect how I respond to this, how I can help my neighbors and my immediate community. The biggest thing I can do is take care of myself… and attempt to spread accurate information rather than rumors.
- I think of this as a test, of the humanity of people, of how we can come together to get through this together. We can do it.
Just a girl 