'While I was battling cancer, there was a map of practices to follow. With COVID-19, I had no such GPS.'
a diagnosis of stage 2 pancreatic cancer last year, my family, friends, former colleagues and even friends of friends sent messages of love, support and prayers. I needed that.
There was no proven cure, but my doctor prescribed six months of chemotherapy. Every two weeks, I’d sit in a chair for six hours watching poison drip into a port connected to an artery in my neck. It made me dizzy. Afterward I was so sensitive to cold that I had to wear gloves to get anything from the fridge.
In the same visit where I learned this good news, my oncologist warned me about COVID-19. Without a spleen — which makes infection-fighting white blood cells — my immune system was permanently compromised. She said it would be a good idea to self-isolate. The following weekend, my city of Washington, D.C., started its lockdown., I thought. It would be a cinch compared to cancer. Isolation, face protection and social distancing I could live with.
Then D.C. began to reopen. Everyone interpreted the falling infection and mortality rates as a sign the virus had lost, and they could return to their normal lives. That was when I realized life had been easier with cancer. While I was battling it, there was a map of practices to follow. With COVID-19, I had no such GPS. Medicine offered nothing beyond hand washing and wearing masks. I could not even rely on the kindness of strangers. In fact, half the people on the street were trying to kill me.
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