I Have Experience with "Shelter-In-Place"

With Shelter-in-Place expected to continue for at least another month, I'm reminded of the last time this happened to me. In 2008 after I relapsed from a brief 6-month remission, all of my cancerous cells returned.

The next course of action was High-Dose Chemotherapy, which is how I lost my hair. That was followed by a Stem Cell Transplant at Northwestern in Chicago. The procedure left me with a dangerously weak immune system. For that reason I was hospitalized for nearly a month.

I was lucky, I had a corner room with a beautiful view of Chicago, Lake Michigan, and Navy Pier. At the same time it was like a tease, since I was unable to leave. The weather just started getting nice, and I saw all the people out and about having a great time.

It was tempting to unplug and go join them. The important thing I kept it mind was, that this was all temporary, and by doing this now, I'm protecting myself for later. That is exactly what we need to do. Covid-19 is on a far greater scale, and by disobeying social distancing and shelter-in-place we also put others at risk. We put people with compromised immune systems (people like me) at risk, the elderly, and our essential workers. WE NEED OUR ESSENTIAL WORKERS NOW MORE THAN EVER! KEEP THEM SAFE!

Just remember, the longer we disobey, the longer it will take to flatten the curve, the longer it will take to get back to normal, and the longer it will take to stop the rising DEATH-TOLL! Please keep that in mind. So yes, you could be a HERO, you could SAVE lives, by staying home, how cool is that? The easiest way to make an impact.

We will return to normal and we will get through this together, but first we must do our part.

Stay inside and stay safe!