When It's Your Turn

We are vaccinated and boosted. We wear our masks nearly every place we go.

And yet, this week I tested positive for COVID. Because of vulnerabilities of people in our circle, I mask except when outdoors or in the little-used stairwell of our building. We don’t eat indoors at restaurants and we haven’t even had an in-person Christmas celebration due to family members having one or another illness. So in my anecdotal and amateur opinion, it sure seems this latest variant of COVID is highly contagious. And not quite done wreaking havoc with some of us. 

I may have had plans for the week, but it turns out the week had it’s own plans for me.

Thanks to Paxlovid and the miracle of vaccinations, I have stayed out of serious medical jeopardy. The progression of this COVID variant is not a picnic and the Paxlovid side-effects are a bit of a ride. I'm pretty sure I'm experiencing almost all of them. However, it appears that I’m going to manage not being a hospitalization statistic or worse (knocks on wood, throws salt over the shoulder).

My appreciation for those making public health decisions in Massachusetts is deep - the Telehealth consult and resulting prescription for Paxlovid were all provided at no cost. A miracle antiviral at a miraculous price.

If those who study and analyze these things are correct, I expect there won’t be a straight line to recovery over the next week or so. There may be a rebound in my future that will throw things off-kilter.

But, I remain thankful that medical science and access to healthcare have intersected here in my home state and have made it possible to breathe and hope for better times ahead.

The Abyss We Live With

This pandemic year has been mentally exhausting. Given the number of reports and news articles about our mental wellness, I know I am not alone with my personal exhaustion. We are seeking finite and concrete assurances that we have escaped from this virus. There are no guarantees; just a reliance on our own collective good behavior.

We are exhausted.

As vaccines help us avoid death, hospitalizations and the more critical parts of COVID, we are being told it is possible to live with fewer health protocols . Those habits that had become a norm for living with a highly contagious, deadly virus are changing as scientists fine-tune transmission data and as those miraculous vaccines get into more arms. We are being trusted to monitor our own risks by becoming fully vaccinated and avoiding obvious situations that might allow the virus to rebound and surge again.

And once again, I - and most likely you, too - are hesitant to trust this situation.

The great scientist and author, Oliver Sacks, when faced with his own mortality, wrote about the very choice we have before us now. We must choose how we will live so that we can begin to resume those activities that give us enjoyment, that feed our souls, and keep us from harming our fellow travelers on this Earth.

“It is up to me now to choose how to live out the months that remain to me.”

— Oliver Sacks

Will we choose to carefully, slowly, and purposefully begin to re-enter our pre-COVID lives? Will we take advantage of offered vaccines? Will we be patient about those things that may not yet be safe?

We have been looking into the abyss, and now it is time to step away from the edge. How we do that, is under our control.