At the start of the pandemic, I didn’t think I had to worry about COVID-19 if I ate well, rested, exercised and took simple precautions like masking and avoiding indoor crowds. I’ve always been a healthy person with a strong immune system so I felt confident that I’d be okay. Then I got sick after being exposed to a woman without symptoms or any knowledge of her having coronavirus at the time. That’s when I learned just how hard having COVID can be on a family and how absolutely everyone needs to be prepared.
Even if you have no children to care for, don’t mind being alone, have mild symptoms, and can work from home, getting COVID is no walk in the park. For me, the biggest hardship was the result of my going about my daily life before ever finding out I had been exposed. I unknowingly transmitted the virus to a handful of family members and many of them then faced far greater challenges than me, ranging from missing work to hardships with childcare to long-term symptoms that took months to heal. That said, no matter how healthy you are, we are all in this together. And there are things that each of us needs to do to make the journey with COVID less excruciating for ourselves, our families, and our communities.
As case numbers increase across the country and the new variant offers easy transmission, this gives us even more reason to be ready if someone in our household finds out they’ve been exposed to the virus or develops symptoms. Already many of my young patients are coming home from school with fevers and coughs. College students are returning home after testing positive on campus. Numerous adults are calling me to report that they are out sick with COVID. My boyfriend came home from a dinner with friends this week after which he told me that despite being vaccinated and boostered, everyone at the table believed that they would get COVID this winter. If that’s the case, we should get ready now so we have what we will need to feel more in control this season.
Rachel Wilkerson Miller wrote an excellent article in VOX that includes suggestions from Syra Madad, the senior director of system-wide special pathogens for NYC Health + Hospitals, on how you can plan for the inevitability of getting COVID including testing, masking, and isolating. I am including many of those suggestions below.
First, get vaccinated and get your booster. Too many people have thought that they could avoid the virus without the vaccine only to regret it later. You owe it to yourself, your family members and your friends to take care of yourself today.
When leaving your home or apartment, be sure to mask up. Even fully vaccinated people can transmit the virus and many people feel fine the entire time they are contagious. When you wear your mask, be sure it covers both your mouth and nose. The N95, KN95 and surgical masks provide more protection than cloth masks, but if you want to stick to cloth, be aware that a cloth mask needs to be replaced after going in the washing machine 100 times or the dryer 50 times because the fabric becomes more porous.
If you develop symptoms or learn that you’ve been exposed to someone with the coronavirus, it’s important to get tested. Many winter illnesses have the same signs and symptoms as COVID. If you have a fever, cough, or runny nose, you want to get checked to be certain of the cause. It’s best to come up with a plan for testing now. Trust me, the last thing I wanted to do when I first came down with COVID-19 symptoms, was having to search on the Internet for testing locations. So look into both at-home and lab tests now. The rapid at-home antigen test will reduce anxiety if you know you’ve been exposed to someone with COVID and don’t have to go out. As these test kits are becoming more difficult to obtain, you also want to find a rapid PCR testing site near you. Check their hours, see if you will need an appointment and figure out how you can get there without relying on UBER or public transportation. Remember, you’ll want to do your part to minimize the spread. If you must take public transportation, be sure to have a reliable mask and stay as far apart from others as possible.
Keep in mind that if you test positive or become symptomatic and have to wait for test results, you need to be able to take care of yourself without leaving your home or apartment so that you don’t infect others. So stock up now on tissues, your favorite throat lozenges, and the items you tend to use during the cold and flu season. Consider Boiron’s Oscillococcinum or Hyland’s Fever Reducer, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Zinc. You also want to be sure you have a good working thermometer and pulse oximeter (to test oxygen levels) so you can accurately report your symptoms to health care providers.
Think about the foods you like to eat when you are ill. (My son likes bone broth. My daughter in law, steamed rice. My grandkids only want ramen noodles and popsicles.) When I first came down with symptoms, I could barely sip water, but as my health improved and my appetite increased I wanted brothy soups, lightly cooked vegetables and endless cups of tea. Unfortunately, I wasn’t prepared and I ended up scraping by on the things in the back of my pantry that I hadn’t wanted to eat in years.
If you are already seeing a professional homeopath, get in touch with him or her now to ask which remedies to have on hand to reduce mild symptoms and to boost your overall wellbeing. Remember that homeopathy is based on individualized symptom analysis. So the remedies you may need are often different from those needed by others in your family.
Many people in the holistic community don’t have a regular primary care provider. That won’t serve you well if you come down with symptoms and need to speak with someone about treatment options (like monoclonal antibodies) or whether you should go to the hospital. Do your research now, while you are healthy. (Ask friends if they have a doc they’d recommend. Ask other health care providers who they work with or who they think would be a good match for you.) Then make a commitment to set up an appointment in the next month. You actually might be lucky enough to get by with a telehealth visit. Until you have a reliable PCP visit, your public health department’s website to track down resources and information about free or low-cost telehealth options. This may be one of the most important things you can do for yourself this year.
If you need to isolate, take it seriously. The CDC currently recommends for you to stay at home for ten days. That might not sound too bad, but remember you’ll need to confine yourself to one room, one floor, or whatever will work in your home so that others can remain healthy. Opening windows or running an air purifier will help ventilation. If you are unable to isolate in your home, New York City residents are fortunate in that there is a free hotel for people and families who need to isolate. Remember to think of a plan for childcare if you have young kids. Who will watch them if you have to isolate and can’t send them to daycare or school? Same for cats and dogs. Is there someone who can pick up Fluffy or walk Rover while you are healing?
After your ten days at home, you might feel eager to jump back into your usual routine: to catch up on your work, hop back on the Peloton, and run around town to see the family members you have missed. Some people have little choice, they have a demanding boss or kids that need attention. However, I cannot stress the importance of continued rest. Although you may not need to stay in your apartment, it takes many people quite a long time to recover fully. So do your best to take it easy for at least a couple of weeks after your symptoms go away.
And last but not least, be prepared for the emotional roller coaster that can come with a positive diagnosis and ten days of physical isolation. You’ll need to inform all the people with whom you’ve had contact. This includes people at work, at school, in the gym, restaurants and theaters. I know from experience how awful this feels. I could barely get a word out of my mouth when I had to tell my pregnant daughter-in-law that I tested positive. However, we are all in this together and we must take care of each other and be as open as possible no matter how hard it is and how much it hurts.
I was in a lot of emotional pain while I had COVID. My third grandchild was born and I was still stuck at home, unable to welcome her into this world or do my part in helping my children care for her. Other patients have reported a myriad of feelings while they were in isolation. One patient weeps all day because her middle school-aged children need more support than the family can give without her. Another is angry since she has become sensitive to odors and noise and even the tiniest of footsteps or the sweetest scent of cooking make her scream at her husband and children through the closed door. Fortunately, homeopathy can be helpful in releasing difficult feelings. Therapy, meditation, and listening to music may be useful too. If you have access to the outdoors and can safely isolate there, being out in Nature can be deeply soothing. Just be aware that you may need help dealing with challenging emotions and there are many pathways to explore.
I never appreciated my cell phone as much as when I had COVID. It was a great comfort to know that I could stay in touch with physicians, my homeopath, and my loved ones while I was ill. My physician son counseled me from a medical perspective. My homeopath provided warm support and intelligent prescriptions. And as my strength came back, I could once again keep up with my boyfriend, kids and grandkids. Do whatever you need to do to be sure you can have access to a phone or a computer and if you get spotty Internet service, now is the time to investigate ways to improve things so they are more reliable.
If nothing else, the pandemic has shown us how interconnected we all are. We need everyone to pitch in so that we can remain healthy and heal as fully as possible. Because of the increased anxieties and depression that the coronavirus has brought, we need to care for ourselves as best we can as well as pour our love into each other. Now is the time to help each other prepare. Then we will get through this thing with greater strength, increased awareness, and far more humanity.