COVID-19 provided an opportunity for everyone to better understand how to protect others when we do not feel well. Something cancer survivors were already aware of. Learn from it! 

Back in January of 2018, shortly after we returned from Disney where I finished Dopey, our friend Teri was hospitalized. I had a horrible cold. I was coughing and sneezing and did not feel like it would be right to go visit her and subject her to my germs. Then we learned that her cancer had progressed and she may not be with us for much longer. I told my husband, if this might be the end,  I was going to visit. I would sanitize before going into her room and wear a mask so I did not expose her to my cold. 

This was before COVID-19 and long before masks became a common household item.

Cancer patients and often survivors as well, may be immune compromised. As a result sometimes we need to take measures to distance ourselves from others, in order to limit our exposure to illnesses.

The reality is that wearing a mask if you do not feel well helps keep other people from getting what you have, regardless of what that may be. For a cancer patient a cold can be much more impactful if they have a limited immune system to fight it. While I understand people have fatigue when it comes to restrictions around COVID-19, I also understand that if we mask and social distance when we do not feel well, we are showing concern for others.

We were recently on a trip and many people were coughing and not masking. The unfortunate general consensus as more people were coughing was it did not matter what they did, someone else was getting people sick. If we all approach the world from a place of our actions DO matter, maybe we will all be healthier for it.

Have you been immune compromised? What steps did you take to stay healthy?

Continue the conversation in the facebook group Surviving is JUST the Beginning or follow me on Instagram.