Dear America,

I am 19 years old and I live with a chronic autoimmune disorder called Type One Diabetes. It falls under the category of what you have been hearing on the news as an underlying health condition. In light of the recent COVID-19 virus, I wanted to share some of my thoughts:

 

My disease is often one that is unseen. If I were not wearing my insulin pump, one would not be able to distinguish the difference between a “healthy” person and myself. Many other people living with many other different types of illnesses are the same. We are among you at all times, and we can hear when you say, “Oh, don’t worry, it will only affect the elderly and people who have other health issues”, whether it be from across the room or to our faces, unknowingly. You do not intend for people like us to hear this, but we do, and you are correct. That is why we are asking that you please stay home.

Sure, you may not experience symptoms, and if you did, you would recover, and that is great. But what is not great is that you may carry this virus to a body less equipped to handle it. You may think, “Well, that’s fine, I don’t know anybody with health issues, so I can’t harm anyone”. That may be true, but whoever you are hanging out with- on the beach for spring break, in a pub for St. Patrick’s day, in a bar in Downtown Atlanta, or at your friend’s sleepover party- could know someone. And it could harm them greatly.

When I was 14, I got the flu, and the effects were so detrimental to my blood sugar that I was nearly hospitalized. I could not eat, or keep anything down that I did eat, and the fever was causing my blood sugars to plummet. I did not have enough glucose in my blood to give my body energy. If the trend continued this way, I would have to take an emergency Glucagon shot and head to the hospital to stay conscious.

As you have heard on the news, the COVID-19 virus causes symptoms of a far greater magnitude. All drama aside, if I were to contract this virus- as well as the millions of other Type One Diabetics in the country, the results would be far worse than even that.

But this is beyond just one person, or one illness. Think about the children with chemotherapy appointments that must enter and exit hospitals on multiple occasions with possible exposure to a virus that could take their fragile bodies in a second. Think about people who are on immunosuppressants from an organ transplant- their immune systems spend every day trying to reject an organ that is foreign to them. What would a deadly virus do?

Think about this when you say, “If I get it, I get it” or “This virus is being exaggerated”. If you still want to go out and get a martini or hang out with friends who just came back from Miami, then so be it. But if you want to find ways to enjoy your time at home, I think I might have some good ideas-

Read the book you have been looking at on your desk for 7 months. Write letters- remember how fun it is to receive mail. Binge watch an entire Netflix show. Tan naked in your backyard. Learn how to cook a meal. Snuggle with your dogs. Practice the instrument you gave up to start working full-time. Take a bath. Paint, even if it looks terrible, and have fun with it. Post a selfie on Instagram. Listen to your parents tell stories. Play hide and seek. Do a puzzle. Moon your boss through your computer screen. Play the board game you loved when you were little. Dance. Learn to love the little things in life again. Slow down and relax for a bit because you deserve it.

Two weeks is an indistinguishable dot in the midst of the myriad others that make up your life. Take the time to do all of the things you have been meaning to do- and help the people around you who need it.

Now is the time to come together and do what it is right to protect ourselves and the people we love. When this quarantine is over, we can all hug each other, watch some baseball, drink a beer and celebrate how wonderful it is to be American.

Wash your hands and take care of yourselves,

From your friend with an underlying health condition.