Quarantine Chronicles 2nd Edition

Quarantine Chronicles 2nd Edition

I started to feel like a balloon that was slowly deflating waking up with headaches, constantly tired, even when I first woke up. I looked in the mirror and it became apparent, with my complexion white as of the walls or pale as a ghost (like my grandmother would say) and my lips which are naturally red as an apple became a dull pink, that I needed blood! My next thought thank God, it’s not coronavirus! Followed by a slight panic how do I get a blood transfusion in the middle of a pandemic unable to go to the hospital safely? After days of trying to get it organized, a nurse came knocking on my door wearing a mask but no gloves my intuition screamed inside my head, don’t let her in of course, seconds later my logic trying to quiet my intuition spoke back. Are you crazy? Of course, let her in you need blood. Opening the door slightly I asked, “you are an oncology nurse here to give me blood right? “Actually she said, with a slight hesitation “I am an orthopedic nurse but yes I’m here to give you a blood transfusion.” That was enough, my own disbelief about the situation let my intuition break free as I spoke. “I am truly sorry for all your effort in coming out here but I’m not comfortable having an orthopedic nurse give me a blood transfusion. I need an oncology nurse here. My veins are not easy to get because of my past chemotherapy treatments and I need someone who will know if I start having a problem with the blood. I’m sorry I’m just not comfortable”. “No problem” she said and quickly left . I then called my Oncologist and let him know what had happened. He was shocked and so upset they sent a non-oncology nurse to my apt. Fortunately, all of this happened early enough that it was only 11am, when the first nurse left and by 2 PM another nurse an oncology nurse in the full hazmat suit arrived and I let her in feeling much better about the whole situation. For four hours sat together in my bedroom as she quickly found a decent vein and administered the blood . I enjoyed the company after weeks of not interacting with anyone talking to her about anything and everything to push out of my mind the danger of even having someone this close to me given the pandemic and knowing that she’s exposed to people all the time. Once again, in my head my intuition spoke loud and clear that everything would be okay and that I needed the blood which I desperately did.

After receiving the blood I felt completely exhausted, I think because of all the anxiety of just having someone here and the thought of receiving blood at home rather than in a monitored hospital. The next day I was full of energy and felt like myself again. I remember sitting on my bed diligently working at editing a YouTube video and I decided to take a break and eat a pear. I know this might seem like a random thing to share with you, but I realized in that moment these are the sweet simple pleasures in life that we often don’t notice because of our phone or some other distraction. The pear was the perfect shade of green it was a modest size with slight imperfections. However, when I bit into the pear, it felt like perfection I became encapsulated in the flavor it was sweet yet slightly tart and juicy so much so that a little bit of juice started running away down my chin. In that moment I had a full awakening to how lucky we are to have fruit or food in the refrigerator because I realized this beautiful living perfect imperfect pear’s existence or fulfillment of its purpose was to give me nourishment to surrender it’s own existent to enhance mine. It is impossible to feel alone when you realize how lucky we are to have a planet that is constantly just giving to us and I have not felt alone since during this quarantine.