Talk Cancer

Question:

I travelled thru Taiwan, Singapore, Japan in transit in the past few weeks. The flights were almost empty.   Most part of the flight, I was wearing a mask. Was weird at first, then got used to it. Even with a mask, people stare at you to figure out what the rest of the face might look like. At one time on the flight I fell asleep and the flight attendant woke me for dinner, she was wearing a mask/ gloves…for a sec I thought it was my turn to be operated upon or something.   In Singapore, I read in the local newspaper that many cabs were not offering service to hospitals. Buses wouldnt stop at bus stops near hospitals and nurses are facing discrimination…and they are out there to save lives and stop the spread of SARS.

Response:

<< What would it feel like to be isolated from others and in quarantine?  >> Would I have a tv?

Response:

><< What would it feel like to be isolated from others and in quarantine?  >> >Would I have a tv?

http://www.msnbc.com/news/893950.asp?0cv=HB10

Response:

I just got an email from my cousin the other day that got me thinking about a previous conversation we had when he was visiting me in Asia. What would it feel like to be isolated from others and in quarantine? Much is said on the news about how SARS patients need to be isolated to stop the virus from spreading.  We can agree, I hope, that during times like this it’s a necessary measure. But what isn’t mentioned much on the news is the subjective and personal experience a person would go through in quarantine.  Because we haven’t heard many personal stories of recovered SARS patients, it’s hard to tell.  But it’s possible to imagine what it may be like. Imagine being whisked into an emergency room, voluntarily or not, and then having doctors and nurses wearing protective gear from head to toe wheel you away to an isolation ward.  Imagine not having any contact from friends or family.  Maybe a TV to watch, or some books to read, but no face-to-face contact.  The only human contact is with doctors or nurses in protective gear.  There is time to yourself in abundance.  A lot of time to think.  Maybe too much time, as thoughts of fear (reinforced by the 10:00 news) enter in.  You woonder how much longer you’ll be in isolation, and if you eventually do leave, how that will change your interactions with others in future.  Sounds like a nightmare. The physical effects of SARS are well-documented by now:  high fever, coughing, difficulty breathing, body aches. Recovering patients are given steroids and some anti-viral drugs.  No fun, I would guess, especially as there is a chance of death! But consider the psychological effects as well.  These affect both people who have SARS and also suspected patients in quarantine.  The first big stinger is being isolated from face-to-face contact.  I’m not an extrovert, but I really like being around people.  If I had to spend days by myself in a room, I would be very lonely.  The second stinger is the impacts on friends and family.  If a person is even remotely suspected of having SARS, then friends, family, and people in contact with that person are also going to suffer from fearful reactions.  The third stinger would be the missed opportunities.  Time spent in an isolation ward means less time doing better things, in my opinion. When I had my appendix taken out at the hospital last year, I spent about 5 days in the hospital.  Those 5 days felt like 5 months!  The first two days were brutal as I couldn’t walk around.  I just watched TV, read books, and tried to sleep.  It was nice to talk to the nurses, however.  The next few days were a little easier as I practiced walking around the hospital, and at that point I had many friends and colleagues visit me.  Finally, I was discharged, and I was so eager to get back into the classroom that I did so one day later. My boss at the time didn’t recommend it, he suggested a few more rest days, but later said I could teach the class sitting down.  He was part of the previous management team that was fantastic – he even made a personal visit to me in hospital, and he also helped me out with insurance claims and finances. But I’m thinking, if those 5 days in the hospital were tough, a longer quarantine would be the pits.  Contact with nurses wouldn’t happen, neither would personal visits with friends – both of which kept me going last time. My cousin just sent me an email that confirmed some of my worst fears.  He is doing ‘informal quarantine’ in his house in Vancouver after traveling around Asia.  He is sitting in the basement, and nobody in his family is contacting him.  He has his own room, TV, computer, and bathroom.  He gets lots of time to read and think.  He doesn’t mind that, so Stinger #1 doesn’t affect him.  But consider #2:  My aunt, uncle, and my cousin’s sister all have friends who are afraid of being around them, for fear that my cousin spread SARS.  He has no symptoms and his health is great.  The only thing against him is that he travelled to a hotspot, namely Asia. I can ‘look forward’ to these things as well when I return home from Asia, for about 10-12 days.  Related to Stinger #2, there may be fear by the staff at my grandfather’s nursing home if I visit him – even after I quarantine.  Also, 10-12 days sitting in a room is one hell of a lot of wasted time.  That’s time I could spend traveling before I leave.  As it stands now I’ll have to cut any trips short in order to allow quarantining before I get involved in any social activities back in the West. The way I see it so far, pending any outbreaks in the Shanghai region, I have little chance of catching SARS where I’m at, so my fear of that is small.  Although I’m vigilantly monitoring my health and prepared to see a doctor at a moment’s notice, I’m not terribly worried.  My main fear, I’ll admit, has to do with the reactions of others.  This is because I’m quite influenced by the perceptions and feedback by others.  If other people are fearful of SARS, that affects me too, even if I’m not. When I return back to the West, who’s kidding who, it is going to be brutal.  I’m asking myself just how much I love my grandfather that I’m willing to do this.  This is a really difficult time for me, especially as his life is nearly over, due to cancer.  My grandmother, whom I also love and who had a powerful influence on my life, died of Alzheimers a few years ago. As much as I’m dreading the arrival period, I’m willing to go through it.  This is to spend time with friends and family, and catch up. Eventually I do see myself returning to Asia against what most people would consider a wise decision.  Still, the 10-12 day quarantine is going to be one big mighty pain in the ass, and I’ll be frank in saying that. If you are shy and had to be quarantined for SARS-related issues, what would your reaction be?  I can forsee some people in the group cheering at the thought.  Excused from work, no contact with people, lots of time to think, books and TV, maybe a little net surfing, and all the while the public totally approves of it.  It’s ironic, isn’t it?  From reading the posts here, a few people already live a quarantine-like existence, yet the public views this as abnormal and strange.  Now, if it’s a protection against an unknown virus, the perception swings 180 degrees. Steve

Response:

> My cousin just sent me an email that confirmed some of my worst fears. >  He is doing ‘informal quarantine’ in his house in Vancouver after > traveling around Asia.  He is sitting in the basement, and nobody in > his family is contacting him.  He has his own room, TV, computer, and > bathroom.  He gets lots of time to read and think.  He doesn’t mind > that, so Stinger #1 doesn’t affect him.  But consider #2:  My aunt, > uncle, and my cousin’s sister all have friends who are afraid of being > around them, for fear that my cousin spread SARS.  He has no symptoms > and his health is great.  The only thing against him is that he > travelled to a hotspot, namely Asia.

    Yeah, I’m here in Vancouver and there’s a few people from work who took vacations to Asia (only about a month ago but SARS was unheard of at that point) and they can’t return to work for about a week after they get back. Not sure what they’re doing at home though.

Response:

I think this might be a personality thing, because I was talking to my mother about stuff like this and it didn’t really bother me to be kept away from other people for two weeks.  I was more worried about getting food and things than about being on my own.  I’d have enough things to do (and now that I have a laptop, I could do that in a hospital as well) and knowing my parents I’d get some contact, because they’d call me, but even if not I’d have no problems being on my own.  In fact, it’d let me get some of the things that I want to get done, done, like some computer games, fanfics, novels written and read, watch some movies, that sort of thing.  Of course, my vacations end up being that anyway, so maybe that’s not unexpected [grin]. I WOULD, however, be upset if people avoided me even after the quarantine — not because I’d miss talking to them that much, but because of the unjustness of it all. Look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SUPERINTROVERT [grin].

Response:

On 27 Apr 2003 06:56:48 -0700, strue…@hotmail.com (Steve Ruelle) wrote: >If you are shy and had to be quarantined for SARS-related issues, what >would your reaction be?  I can forsee some people in the group >cheering at the thought.  Excused from work, no contact with people, >lots of time to think, books and TV, maybe a little net surfing, and >all the while the public totally approves of it.  It’s ironic, isn’t >it?  From reading the posts here, a few people already live a >quarantine-like existence, yet the public views this as abnormal and >strange.  Now, if it’s a protection against an unknown virus, the >perception swings 180 degrees.

I’m nore sure.  Free days off work sound neat, but I get bored with what I have in my apt.  As long as I had an internet connection and a TV (even though I dont’ watch, I might as well if quarantined) I guess I’d be ok for a while. I saw a news video where someone quarantined in a hospital in asia somewhere tried to jump out his window because he was going nuts in that situation.

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