Hello friends! I am excited to be writing all of you again in this space at this time. I have been in an intense fibromyalgia flare and seeking different treatments. I still do not have much dexterity in my fingers and wrists yet, but the pain in my back has greatly improved and the pain in my fingers has lessened enough to touch base.
This month is an engaged one in our household--we just celebrated my brother and his fiancee graduating together from veterinary school as they prepare for internship this next year. They are also getting married this month! Both incredibly high achievers! :) We are just feeling so fortunate to be a part of the celebrations surrounding them and a lot of my energy has been saved for that.
Although this blog has been written from the perspective of a person with disabilities under medical quarantine (me!), I am continuing to write as the landscape of the pandemic has changed and I have gotten certain permissions from my doctor to take calculated risks. Yes, there is still a technical "quarantine" on my file, but rather than a mandate, it is now "strongly recommended" and my doctor and I have been having intense, thoughtful discussion about how to balance both quantity of life and quality of life. These talks have led to a few changes. So what has changed?
Positive changes:
My husband and I have both been vaccinated with both doses of out vaccine.
We are both more than a month past the two week waiting period after the second injection.
My mental health has been suffering from social isolation.
My physical health has been suffering from social isolation.
Taken together, we have flexibly added new rules, for the time being, watching for changes in the landscape of the illness. For now, I am allowed to go to a certain set of locations (mostly specialty doctors, but a few other places too) without needing to do anything but double mask, have a decontamination cleaning protocol, and monitor for symptoms for five days. For bigger things, I have permission for the time being for certain events on certain days with the above requirements needing to be met in addition to a complete quarantine at home for a longer length of time with follow ups from my doctor. Although it looks like social distancing (and certainly also is that) it is more involved with how much monitoring is required. For now, I am going to breathe the free air as sunshine begins to roll into our corner of the world. Whether it is just today, or stays awhile, you better believe I am going to enjoy it.
Prepare, don't panic,
-Allison
Comments