‘I don’t feel like a prisoner in my own home... I’m playing my part in society’
FINTAN LAMBE, A WHEELCHAIR USER WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, WAS HAPPY TO BRING THE SHUTTERS DOWN AND ‘COCOON’ ONCE THE THREAT OF COVID-19 BECAME A REALITY IN OUR LIVES
Cocooning.
There’s a nicer ring to it than ’isolation’ or ‘confinement’. The result is the same, but with cocooning, there’s a suggestion of protection.
The nation’s GP Leo Varadkar introduced us to the term last week during his televised St Patrick’s Day address. He said that at some point the government will advise the elderly and those with a long term illness to stay at home for several weeks. This ‘cocooning’, he said, would save many lives.
Many of us watching had already entered our state of pupation. We just didn’t know that that’s what it was called. When you live with a long term illness like I do, you’re already wary of picking up a run of the mill infection, so when Corona came along, the shutters came down.
I don’t fancy my chances against Covid-19 so I’m lengthening the odds by making it difficult for it to find me.
Of course, not everyone has the luxury of cocooning, and we cocooners depend on the selflessness of those who are prepared to leave the safety of their homes to look after us.
Like many, I have carers who visit my home several times a day because I’m a wheelchair user with multiple sclerosis and can no longer look after myself to any great extent. These are the unsung heroes of the health service who are making every effort to keep people like me safe. How can we even begin to thank them?
There are other more able-bodied cocooners who are now depending on family, friends, neighbours and volunteers to keep them supplied with food and provisions. Again, no words of thanks are enough.
Then there are all those who keep society’s heart beating, from shop staff to pharmacists, from farmers to truckers, from our emergency services to those on the front line in our hospitals and medical centres who literally risk life to save others.
There are too many categories and too many people to praise, but all I can say is, we are grateful.
Their efforts make our period of isolation, and whatever length it may be for, pale into insignificance. Their efforts give us all hope.
Their efforts keep us upbeat and positive. Yes, the worry is constant, but we can’t let that overwhelm us.
Darker days lie ahead. It’s heartbreaking to see the suffering being experienced in China,
Italy, and around the world.
But all we can hope for is that the preventative measures we are taking will lessen the scope of it, and will as they say, flatten the curve.
I’m not political, but I’m glad that our acting Taoiseach worked as a GP, and that our Minister for Health is married to a cardiac nurse. They know the challenges our health system faces. They have listened to the best available advice from the experts in the HSE and EU, and have kept us informed and reassured.
There are those in our society whose way of dealing with all of this is to disregard the guidelines. There’s no point in getting angry or frustrated with them. Not everyone reacts to a crisis in the same way. All you can do is hope that the message will finally sink in.
Looking out my window, I can see many apartments and houses, and I imagine that there’s a face at each of those windows looking out like I am. Occasionally, someone will look in and there’ll be a wave and a smile.
I smile when I see someone out walking on their own or practising social distancing. It gives me hope. I smile when I see life continuing around me because it must do that.
I’m less hopeful when I see groups of three or four people walking close together and I worry that in time, fewer faces will look out these windows as a result.
The Taoiseach’s message was sobering and frightening last week, but it provided just enough comfort to those whom it frightened the most.
I don’t feel like a prisoner in my own home. I don’t feel frightened and alone. I feel like I’m playing my part in society by staying out of it. I know that by doing all I can to stay out of hospital, that bed will be there for someone who needs it.
So I’m giving it my best shot. I think most of us are. A vaccine will eventually be developed or an effective treatment will be found in the meantime.
Cocoons eventually break open, and most of us will emerge better and stronger. Let’s all give it our best shot.
I DON’T FANCY MY CHANCES AGAINST COVID-19 SO I’M LENGTHENING THE ODDS BY MAKING IT DIFFICULT FOR IT TO FIND ME.