Not Today Rona (Part 1)

Well, 2020 has to be the craziest and worst year I've experienced in my life. And one day, I want to look back at this post when I'm upset and just remember this year. I think that will humble me. It all started out so well...kind of.

Remembering back to the start of the pandemic

In December 2019 I was contacted by Eli Lily, one of the lung cancer pharmaceutical companies to see if I would be one out of three EGFR positive patients to speak on behalf of others about a new treatment.

In January 2020, I was making a list for the trip when I heard someone talking about a virus. It came out of China and wasn't curable. At this point, we didn't know it had reached the United States. Then, a flashback came to me of my friend in Wuhan, China that had been quarantined for "pneumonia". I immediately went back and read through our messages. Production shut down because people were getting sick and some dying. All they told him was that they were to quarantine him for two weeks for pneumonia.

I thought nothing of this until I began making my travel list to Washington D.C. I knew I had a layover in Atlanta, so as dramatic as I am, I went online to Amazon and ordered an N99 facemask. Actually two of them for $52. It's better safe than sorry.

I thought I was being overly cautious

We departed for D.C. towards the end of January. I think by then, the virus had spread to several countries but no one was really making a big deal out of it.

My lung cancer friends and I decided to all take precautions and wear our masks. I had a lot of compliments. Someone even told me I looked like Bane, apparently a fictional supervillain appearing in comic books. I wasn't sure how to respond to that one. I had no idea who Bane was. Although I don't read comic books, I will binge-watch The Walking Dead. I know, weird.

I didn't mind being Bane. Since I'm not a great people person anyway, the mask somewhat scared any other people off. One little kid cried at the sight of me in this mask. All the while, I just thought I was being overly cautious and having a bit of fun at the same time.

Life was pretty normal in early 2020

At the beginning of February, my daughter's first "real" boyfriend came to visit. It was great. They rode in a Cinderella carriage ride and toured the lights on Jekyll Island. Young love, you can't beat it. We ate at a restaurant over the water and took a lot of pictures. She was so happy and I was so happy for her.

Towards the end of February, I finally got a woman issue fixed that was caused by my medication. And, the guy I was dating for two years broke up with me at the very beginning of March. I liked him, but we were just dating, not getting married. I had plenty of other friends to hang out with. Or so I thought.

What is a pandemic?

Suddenly every news station is talking about a disease from Wuhan, China that made its way to the United States. The media was claiming it was incurable and mainly affected the immunocompromised and the elderly. Well, of course, I fell into that first category. So, I did what any other immunocompromised person would do. I bought a ton of toilet paper. Joking! I stayed home and decided to wait it out.  Surly a cure would be found quickly. What is a pandemic?

All of these ways it was spreading began to scare me. Not for just myself, but for my daughter. I didn't want her thinking she brought it home to me, and I passed, and she had to live the rest of her life thinking she killed me.

We were all naïve in the beginning

People began going stir crazy as restaurants and bars shut down. We would sit next to our neighbors at a bonfire and talk about how stupid it all was and everything would be over soon. I think back to that March, and I realize how naïve I really was.

The next few months would change how we lived, probably forever. I had no idea what I was in for. But, I soon found out.

Read the continuation of Samantha's article in Not Today Rona (Part 2).