Real Life Outbreak

There has obviously been a lot going on (biggest understatement ever) regarding everything with the corona virus COVID-19 pandemic. I mean when all is said and done,  this will be in history book, so I'm having a hard time processing what we are all going through right now. It's just all too surreal, and not in a good way. I wanted to document some of this, more for myself in the future more than anything, but also writing it out is such a therapeutic thing for me. I haven’t written much at all in the last couple years excluding my trips, because no one wants to hear about my continued single life (sigh), because well, it’s just lonely and frustrating, with the occasional thoughts of "I’m glad I have all this freedom", but mostly the former. That loneliness has sure reached its peak lately as we are all quarantined for the foreseeable future and social-distancing pretty mandatory.

 

As things started to reach new levels in severity of this pandemic, many people prepared by hitting grocery stores, Costcos and Targets. Many did panic buying and therefore hoarded groceries, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies early on and stores are still having a hard time replenishing everything. Toilet paper has been pretty much non-existent everywhere around here and the stores that do now carry it again have had to set limits for people. Thankfully I had enough for about two weeks and some butt wipes (TMI?), but when those supplies start to run out, I will start to worry even more than I have. 

As someone that can get very anxious sometimes and let the thoughts take over my brain until I talk myself out of it, this last week or so has been very stressful. I keep thinking of the movie Outbreak from the 90's that I use to show all my Biology classes for disease spread and although COVID-19 isn't like the fictional Motaba virus in the movie (thankfully!!), this has none the less had me on edge. I have been trying to limit my exposure to the news as much as possible because that sends my heart racing and just trying to not to think of worst case scenarios. It's hard though. In order to keep my sanity a bit, I have been taking daily walks outside. It's all I can do at the moment since I still am recovering from my knee surgery and the additional procedures that followed. I still can't bend my knee much, but I can lift it up all my myself now and the pain has diminished a bit. The fact that I can't run outside with all this spare time has also added some extra stress due to straight sadness on top of all the pent up energy I have on the reg. 

 

Anyway, I couldn't decide how I wanted this post to be organized or how I wanted the tone of it to be so because I am still kind of all over the place mentally and so much has happened in the past week. Again, this is historic and we will be reading about it and telling our kids (god willing) about it many years from now. However, I am going to discuss kind of what has gone down this past week or so and my feelings around it, how I've coped, and just some funny things as well that put a smile on my face.  (There have been a lot of memes related to this virus that have made me laugh that I plan to intersperse in here a bit too because who can't use a laugh in a time like this?)

Let's start with a little timeline of events leading up to everything...

 

March 11: The mayor announced the St. Patrick's Day Parade and River dying was cancelled. Additionally, in really big, this has never happened before sporting news, the NBA announced it was postponing it's season for now out of precaution due to a player being diagnosed with the virus. This set into motion almost all the other professional sports leagues to doing the same thing over the next few days.

 

March 12: Things started to get more serious around the country and around Illinois with some schools in the suburbs closing for two weeks. 

 

March 13: The governor announced schools in IL will be closed from the 17-30th (so we still had to go in that Monday). We knew this was coming, but still came as a shock.  I had been taking extra precautions at work with extra hand sanitizer, soap, Chlorox wipes, leaving my door open so no hands would constantly be touching the handle, etc...

March 14: It felt like a decently normal Saturday. I took the bus to the gym to go swimming (with extra caution with touching things and lots of hand sanitizer) at the gym, to Trader Joe’s to get food for the week, and all morning was very torn on whether or not to go out for St. Patty's Day later that day. After hemming and hawing about it, my friends and I ended up going out.  Some bars were pretty empty and some had lines out the door in our neighborhood. We obviously avoided those with the crowds and we brought wipes and sanitizer and kept our distance from people for most of the day. That worked until later in the night, when things got a little more crowded and we had had enough to drink and the six foot social distancing wasn't an option anymore. 

 

This was also the day that I was introduced to this man (not Jared, but the man in the picture below). If you know, you know. If you don't, you either don't have funny/perverted friends like I do or live in a bubble. Same same. Either way, this man gave me a great laugh and continued to do so as the memes about him continued to be made. And the way he was introduced to me, with a fake link stating that the CTA was being shut down, made it even funnier. (And don't worry, I was more than happy to pass the link to my mother, but instead I used a link saying Trump has the corona virus and boy, was she in for a surprise when she clicked. You're welcome mama.)

March 15: I woke up feeling absolutely clobbered with guilt for going out the previous day. I had such anxiety about being part of the problem and being selfish, not fully realizing how serious things were (and not knowing how bad they were ultimately going to get). Even for the next couple of days, I had a knot in my chest, riddled with so much guilt. As someone that’s immunocompromised due to the Humira injections I take for my Ulcerative Colitis  (and a science teacher at that), I should’ve taken it more seriously and known better. I felt if I end up getting sick, people are going to say that I deserved that and that's a pretty shitty feeling. Trust me, no one can make me feel worse about things than myself, so I know I didn't make the smartest decision, but I have to live with that. I can't go back in time and change it, but major lesson learned. 

 

Later in the day, the mayor announced that all restaurants and bars were to be closed for sit down customers and were now only for delivery and carry-out. Additionally, all public gatherings greater than 25 are not allowed and everyone should be social distancing as best as possible to "flatten the curve." I had heard this phrase for the first time the day before and now understood the importance of it even moreso, especially after reading more about it (and feeling even more guilty about the day before. Ugh).

March 16: Myself and all CPS teachers had to go to work today. At first when the Gov made that announcement we’d be off starting Tuesday, it was like why? But his excuse was that teachers and students could gather what they needed and teachers could get their plans in place as well as time for the city a little more time to get their e-learning plan in place and figure out how students who needed meals, would get them.

Quarantine Begins. Only leaving the house if absolutely necessary or if I need fresh air.

 

(Day 1) March 17: This was the first day of staying home all day and for my e-learning to begin. I had time over the weekend to get everything planned out on Google Classroom for the week, so I felt prepared for this. CPS publicly put out in emails and Twitter that teachers can’t actually grade these assignments for real. They can only be used to help students grades, as extra credit or as replacement grades, but not doing the work will not hurt them. Of course the students that already have A’s and B’s are the ones that will do it and the ones with D’s and F’s won’t. I mean if they don't do the work in school, they're certainly not going to do it out of school.

 

Today also began my daily walks to the water that I mentioned earlier. During my walks, with my full giant knee brace on, I had noticed a lot of older people out and about also trying to get fresh air and probably just needing some human interaction.  Whenever I’d see them, I’d hold my breath. No joke. If I’m a carrier of this virus or have it and aren’t sick yet, I don’t want to pass it on. However, many of these older people have stopped me to talk about my knee and I want to keep moving, but don’t want to be rude. Whenever I see older people out walking, it makes me so sad. Like stay inside, you’re most vulnerable, but also, they themselves need fresh air and human connection. And many probably don’t know the technology (apps, online ordering) to get their groceries or other necessities delivered to their homes or don’t want strangers delivering them. Old people already make me super sad (if you know me, you know old people and obese people set me in an emotional tailspin), but seeing them out in times like this, hits me even harder. 

 

Today also, my favorite sporting event of the year, March Madness was cancelled. This was a huge bummer because not only is it a ridiculous amount of basketball that makes me oh-so-happy, my beloved Illini were finally going to make the tournament for the first time in about seven years and I was pumped to say the least. However it was the right call, although I can't even imagine what all the seniors must be feeling or going through at this point. 

(Day 2) March 18: I decided I am making a habit of laying in bed no longer than an hour after I wake-up and will then make my bed, get dressed, and move to the couch with some sort of plan of action for the day.  Whether it be a walk, a Peloton app workout, or more TV, I need some routine. I don't want to go anywhere with a lot of people unless it's absolutely necessary. Also this morning, random but funny, I was in the bathroom and blew my nose in toilet paper like I usually do on the toilet (even though I have Kleenex right there) and then paused and realized this is no longer okay as toilet paper is such a hot commodity and essentially a luxury at this point. I can't spare a square doing that anymore.

(Day 3) March 19: With the seriousness (and scariness) of all this increasing by the day, the Mayor announced that CPS schools are now off through April 21. I had a feeling this was coming as it seemed stupid for us to go back the 31st for four school days and then go on spring break the following week. Those four days didn't seem worth coming back for and potentially increasing spread again.

 

On this day, I was also supposed to have another knee procedure, but all elective and non-emergency surgeries were postponed. The office had called me a couple days earlier to inform me and have me reschedule. I had been making some improvements and was looking forward to this procedure, but totally understand that it is certainly not a priority now. I was also relieved because it made me nervous having my dad take me to the hospital and be exposed to me and all the other germs there that could potentially infect him. Even though my parents are more or less healthy individuals, they are both over 65 so of course I am worried about them all the time in this current health crisis.

This night (like some of the previous ones, but not nearly as bad), I had a cough and tight chest and started to panic. I think it was all psychological because I felt fine overall (no fatigue or fever), but it freaked me out. I definitely think it was anxiety, but nonetheless continues to freak me out. But also, I'm like, maybe this is me having very mild symptoms of COIVD-19 and could be the worst of what I get from having it. Or could it just be the beginning of it getting worse. Ahhhhhhh.

(Day 4) March 20: Big news out of Illinois today being the fifth state to enact a stay-at-home/shelter in place executive order by the Governor enacted until April 7. This won’t change anything I’ve been doing this week since I only go out for my walks and have been trying to avoid any public place I don't have to be. It just means non-essential businesses that hadn’t yet closed, need to close. This would be like gyms, salons, retailers, etc... People can still go for walks outside and to the grocery store or Walgreens or get delivery. 

(Day 5) March 21: I discovered that A Simple Life with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie was on Amazon Prime and it was game changer for my TV time. I forgot how hilarious it was and it def provided entertainment and some good laughs. Also, in a curiosity moment of weakness, I downloaded TikTok because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And lemme tell you, shit is entertaining. There are so many dances I want to learn, and songs I want to sing, and conversations to act out dramatically. Oh the places I can go with this, but am way too embarrassed to actually post them. And for someone who doesn’t embarrass easily, that’s a lot for me to say. I also wish I had someone to be goofy and silly with and do these dances with. It would definitely be a fun thing. Additionally,  I ordered a 500 piece Chicago Bears puzzle on Amazon, but it won’t come for another week, which by then, I’ll be so ready for it. 

 

On this night, I still was having a little cough (allergies?),  and have been taking my temp most nights and stupidly took my temp after my shower and panicked (read: freaked out) when it was 99.6. I waited another 10 minutes and it was back to normal. Then again in another 10 minutes and was fine. Phew. 

(Day 6) March 22: For the first time since this quarantine, I ordered some food. I’ve been cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday, and man, it’s annoying. I mean, I usually only eat out in the weekends anyway, but making three meals a day hits different when you are eating them all in your own home versus lunch at work. I decided to end my daily walk (with a friend) at Lou Malnati’s today and did the curb-side pick up, even though I was on foot. Since we had no car, we had to make sure our "vehicle description" was on point.

(Day 7) March 23: This has now been a full week since we were on quarantine and out of school. It has been very weird to say the least. Every day is Groundhog Day and is more or less the same. I am not totally bored yet and have been more or less keeping busy, but I do miss human contact. FaceTimes and lots of screentime (eeek) are keeping me entertained, but I will continue to do this as long as we need to. 

So I know this post was kind of (read: very) long and kind of all over the place, but it was hard to figure out how to get this all out there. I will try and do better on my next one. But for now, I wanted to get this out there for myself. 

 

Of course I also really wanted to give my political opinion on how our fucking idiot/asshole of a President is handling all of this, but that would just aggravate me to a whole new level. The fact that this man is "leading" our country through this pandemic is embarrassing and infuriating and will end up costing hundreds of thousands of lives by the way he is dealing with this, in and out of the public eye. All I can say is come November, if you are still voting for this man, I don't know how you can live with yourself.