As things begin to get a little panic stricken outside our door, we are faced with some questions about Brother’s care. We do not believe that this COVID-19 is something to be taken lightly. While we know it can present as a “flu” like virus, we also know that the majority of those dying have underlying conditions. Liver failure likely qualifies as one of those things.
I’ve watched videos and read stories from around the world, Italy specifically, where doctors are having to make hard choices. They have to decide who gets a chance to live and who gets sent home to die. I don’t think when people go into medicine, they go into it with the expectation that at some point in their career they will have to play God. I don’t think it’s a responsibility anybody wants. And so, we have had some very difficult conversations about what needs to happen as far as Brother in law goes.
We know that we are the safest place for him from a recovery standpoint. He is not smoking here. He is not drinking here. He is not eating processed food here. He is not eating take out here. He is never alone. He is given his meds on a regular basis. He gets regular sleep for the most part. He is eating clean. He is losing weight. He is getting healthy. He is safe from his addiction while he is here.
He is also very much in a dangerous place from a COVID-19 standpoint. Flea Market Guy works out in the public and while he doesn’t come into contact with very many people, he still has to put gas in his car and talk to the occasional person at a random house. My kiddo is working full time at a pizza place. They have drive through and carry out. So far, those two things are still happening. They don’t have a drive through, but he is on a register dealing with dozens of people per shift. He’s worked 5 shifts in the last 5 days. He thinks he is invincible. I tell him wash his hands, don’t touch his face, use the pocket sized sanitizer my sis in law gave me (Thanks T!). When he comes in from work, I hope he is going straight to the bathroom to wash his hands, but I am usually asleep by then so I don’t know.
I do know that oftentimes he is sitting out in the living room where brother in law is. Sometimes they sit and chat. They take turns playing the PlayStation. As of right now, our county only has 2 cases. It is likely he has not been exposed yet. But we live in the heart of the city. We aren’t on the outskirts. We are almost downtown.
As we’ve seen, center city is hit hardest and it works its way out.
We have the option of sending him to stay with his mother. She has been sick for two weeks with allergies. She doesn’t have Coronavirus symptoms, but she is in her 60’s. She has pretty much quarantined herself for the most part and he would be safe there from a COVID standpoint, but it would put pressure on her to have to meal prep and meet his dietary needs, especially to meet them the same way that we were. We are used to eating pretty healthy and it comes easy. So there isn’t much planning involved that we wouldn’t already be doing for ourselves aside from making an extra protein shake or two. The concern there is that what if one of them has already been exposed? Statistically it would be brother in law. If he has been exposed from one of the boys bringing something home and nobody is showing symptoms yet, then that opens up a whole new can of worms. Then we have two high risk people living together… sick.
And there is not an easy answer to the problem. Keep him here. Sanitize. Hope for the best. Send him to his moms. Hope nobody has been exposed yet. Hope for the best. But the longer we wait, the more cases pop up, the more it is multiplying, the more likely it is that FMG or Kiddo will be exposed and/or get sick.
I was sure a week ago that it would skip over us and / or if we got it, that we would be fine. But I’ve read the stories online. And even though I say I’m not a “worst case scenario” kind of gal, Flea Market Guy would beg to differ, especially when it comes to death, dying, disease, and end of the world stuff. My imagination just runs wild.
So we have some choices to make to keep everyone as safe as possible. And there are no easy answers in this trying time.
I hope everyone is staying safe. I hope everyone is staying sane. I hope everyone is embracing their spaces at home. And I hope we all are making the right choices.
RouletteWeekend 