Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
does my high-power immune system make me a threat to all the immunocompromised people of the world? personally, i had never heard that big word before the global shutdown. even there, i don't recall hearing it until recently. i wrote, "near the end" but realized it has yet to be declared, "over." can we have a day to mark on the calendar, please? please don't ask me to learn medico or legalese. both dialects are highly specialized and uber-confusing in every language i have studied.
the bio big words i know intimately. bioremediation is my thing. i won't bore you with the big word take on what THAT is. i spend all day, every day around young children and animals. i make compost and compost tea to fertilize my herbs. i perform animal husbandry essentials i dare not mention here, not even with a proper, "TW." i take what i consider sensible precautions in handling all the biohazardous materials which float through every minute of my every day. but, even pre-covid, those precautions never were enough for the average city kid. best to keep the realities behind that delux steak a well-published secret.
yesterday i chaperoned on a 4th grade field trip to the state capital. a 3 hour bus ride each way with lots and lots of social activities between the 3 hour rides. the day started at 5:30 in the school cafeteria. i found myself standing uncomfortably close to a man who introduced himself as,"immunocompromised" and the husband of a woman who is even more immunocompromised than he. i reflexively took several steps back. he wasn't wearing a mask and increasing social distance is rather so reflexive for me that i knew the term, "increasing social distance" before the covidic hoopla. i took another reflexive step back every time he used the word, "immunocompromised." it equaled enough steps to be out of hearing range before he drifted off.
the man --i never did learn his name-- seemed pleasant and the group of kids he chaperoned on the trip looked like one of the more bonded of the many chaperone groups. my three charges were like loose cannons, running hither and tither as they pleased. this morning finds me with anxieties eating holes in my gut over the question, "does my strong immune system make me hazardous to the health of immunocompromised people?"
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Hey All...I hope that you have a lovely, peaceful beginning of your weekI have a bunch of chores that need doing but may put them off til tomorrow and just hang out with my landlord/roomie todayWhat about you?...Anything special going on?Have a great day and take good care of you!!..Xo
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I've had great anxieties all my life as an only children constantly coping with my mom's many ailments. Recently, I decided to let it all go and just be me.
Anyone who doesn't like it...can keep their distaaaaaaaance :)
The compromised folks also have the responsibility for themselves to wear a mask for themselves. If they choose not to then it’s on them, though I hear you it made you wince, kind of, at that fact.
I think the term immunocompromised has been around forever. I’ve been immunocompromised since 2008-2009. I still socialize, go to parties, concerts. I shake hands, hug, etc. Hell I rode public transportation with people who were clearly sick. People I guess have to decide on their own how much they want to expose themselves. If their risk tolerance is low, then wear a mask, avoid social situations, etc. Totally their choice. But announcing it… honestly that’s a bit much to me. I just think COVID brought the term in vogue.
My answer to your question is no your strong immune system is not a threat to the immunocompromised because to me your immune system has nothing to do with others being immunocompromised. Their screwed up immune system is the issue. And I say that as someone with a very screwed up immune system. It isn’t anyone’s problem but my own and I can’t imagine ever requiring people to change their behavior to accommodate me. It’s my body to care for. If being in a social situation felt threatening to me I would avoid it.
dunno. . . caring for 3 young foster kids won't allow me to maintain the social distances i consider proper, but i would if i could.
That's a brave adventure, three hour ride to and from event, plus the full force of littles' energy and excitement to work with!
Here's to you doing the best in the moment. No threat to anyone.