Caring for Myself and Others
How does one’s health crisis impact those around them? My whole life, I have been surrounded by people who are immunocompromised. From my sister to my grandmother, I get to see the day-to-day lives of people who struggle daily worrying about their health. Something, thankfully, I have never had to experience for myself. But, I don’t know anything different. Watching each of them with their health issues has changed me in a way that not many can understand. I have assisted in doctor’s appointments, medicine applications, rehabilitation, and the healing of those I care about. From a very young age, watching them suffer has drilled a sense of certainty into me. I don’t want to go into medicine, but I could spit out medical facts most people my age don’t know. I can call pharmacies to refill prescriptions, recite what medicine they need to take and when, tell you what each pill does, cook meals that fit each of their diets, and pick up the rest of the household chores while my mother is at work.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, my role as a family member changed completely. My whole life, I never fully understood that my health could positively or negatively impact the health of my sister or my grandmother. But when the pandemic hit home, my decisions weren’t just affecting me, but also each member of my family. This realization empowered me to make smarter and sometimes difficult choices. My older sister and grandmother were told to immediately quarantine and have no contact with the outside world. My mom and I immediately had to rework our routines to find a “new normal” in the midst of a global pandemic. It was the best way to protect the two people we love most. I myself have a strong immune system, but the people I love do not. Those around me were hiding from COVID-19 desperately trying to stay healthy, so by default, I was too. I could easily transfer any virus to one of my vulnerable family members at home. So, I kept my distance and followed the precautions for the immunocompromised. It’s not easy to explain the lengths we sometimes go to when helping those we care about, but if it means wearing a mask for longer than most, getting the third booster, or washing my hands purposefully, I will do so. The life I save might just be that of my sister or my grandmother.
But this is not a sob story, in fact, it is quite the opposite. I wouldn’t trade any of these challenges or difficulties because of the skills, important relationships, and valuable experiences they taught me. Through my sister, I’ve met other immunocompromised peers, their siblings, and learned their stories, and feel comforted in the fact that other siblings feel the same way too. Being part of a family with heightened health concerns didn’t just give me newfound responsibilities and patience, but more importantly, it taught me empathy towards those making difficult life or death decisions on a daily basis.
