Been there … Done that...

When I asked my doctor if the statistics I read were right -- 50% ten year survival rate for people in my demographics who had what I had, she said a few things:

a) Actually, the stats are 60/40 now in the positive

b) I'm only treating one of you not 100 of you

c) No matter what: Whatever you've always wanted to do, do it now. Life is short.

I've had a lot of experiences over my life time that have prepared me for this moment. Having had a catastrophic illness, I ran the gamut of emotions: depression, fear, anger, anxiety, panic. When I was in chemotherapy the rules were the same:

1) Keep your hands washed.

2) Stay away from crowds.

3) Don't be around people who are sick.

4) Stay hydrated.

5) Reduce stress as much as possible.

Warnings like these are nothing new for people like me. And, the more people I engage in during my life, I realize that we have all encountered someone we thought was over-reactive.

Alcoholics who can only go to sleep if they know where the booze is hidden and that they will have the means to get more when they run out.

Agoraphobics who are unable to leave the house for fear of having a panic attack in public.

People who suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder who have to perform some ritual to counteract an upsetting thought.

Anorexics who feel that they can't control anything around them but, dammit, they can control their own bodies -- until they can't.

Hoarders who feel naked and vulnerable when you take away their stuff.

People with anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, the list can go on and on.

I've seen on social media things like: "I've been washing my hands or staying away from people since before it was trendy." Many people have felt what America is feeling for years and years. Yet they were ostracized, criticized, made to feel crazy. We, my friends, have been training for this moment our whole lives. And yet you laughed at us.

We are all in this together, my friends. I don't judge anyone for their reactions or realities or truths this week. Then again, I have never judged anyone who was labeled "eccentric," "neurotic," "odd." We don't know what path someone has walked to get to the one that crosses ours.

In the '80s, I remember a cause -- I don't remember if it actually came to fruition -- called hands across America. Today is a day to wash our hands with warm soap and water while singing Happy Birthday twice, then putting on brand new disposable gloves and then holding our neighbors hands from the tip of New York to the bottom of California.

To those who suffer, I am here for you. I have always been here for you. I will always be for you.

P.S. Here are the tools therapists offer those who have been in your shoes before you:

1) You can't think two thoughts at one time. When caught in destructive thinking, recite the pledge of allegiance, the names of the seven dwarfs, the Family Guy song, whatever you can to distract yourself.

2) Five-five-five. In a panic attack, force yourself to name five things you hear, five things you are physically feeling and five things you see.

3) An obsessive thought should be sung in order to take it out of your head and the power zapped out of it.

4) Distract yourself with nonsense. I personally like the 2014 episode of Annie, watching Touched by an Angel, listening to Doris Day albums.

5) Stay in touch. Reach out to friends, family members, neighbors, strangers. Even if you're in self-quarantine, you are loved.

Each day is more intense than the one before. Soon, though, this will all be a chapter in history. Stay safe all. But above all -- stay humane.