Tracey’s Ten Tips for Surviving the Coronavirus
Number seven will blow your mind
Why listen to Tracey?
She does hold a public health nursing degree.
- You will get the virus. So treat other people like you would like to be treated when you have it. Be good human beings.
- Consider making dinner a “Chopped episode”. What is left on the Costco shelf? Mountain Dew and garbanzo beans? Make the best Mountain Dew glazed garbanzo beans the world has ever known.
- Testing is a big focus right now, but if you are sick, wait for it .. you are sick. Treat yourself appropriately. Our best treatments are the same things we already do when we get the flu. Don’t be dumb. The hospital nurse thinks you are an idiot if you don’t take an anti-pyretic just so you can see how high your fever gets and to rationalize your need for hospitalization.
- Stay home. You don’t have to stay inside. You can walk around your yard, you can do other things, just try to stay six feet away from other people, especially if you don’t know if they’re infected or what kind of weirdness your neighbors do. But sunlight kills the virus for free, without Lysol wipes.
- Substitutions for commonly rationed, hoarded goods:
Lysol wipes: 10% bleach solution on a rag or in a spray bottle.
Paper towels: Dish towels.
Toilet Paper: Literally anything. - Anti-pyretics can be rotated to obtain fever reduction. Unless contraindicated, you can rotate Motrin with Tylenol. Take a Pepcid if it upsets your stomach.
- Wash your hands. With soap. Use Purell if you have no water, but you do, you just bought eight cases of it at Costco. And everyone’s water is still on.
- Be nice to your elders. Being older increases your risk of severe illness or death … from anything, including the coronavirus.
- While being nice to your elders, don’t tongue kiss your relatives. Also, don’t lick poles on the subway or bathroom door handles. No need to move out of your homes or send your kids into the cellar. If your family gets sick, care for them. Use good hygiene and common sense. Even in the hospital, nurses wear thin paper outfits and masks and get to care for all kinds of infectious diseases, and most even live. So take appropriate precautions but nobody needs to be left in a back bedroom to die.
- Keep your sense of humor unless laughing makes you cough.
Your other half has a large vision
Nr. 10 is the most important, if you loose your sense of humor then everything is lost.
I’ve been working 60% of my life in hospitals and Yes, I have enough knowledge but a lot of my colleagues have the same or more technical knowledge.
Still many patients prefer to come to me and I often wondered why.
A dying young lady told me why: first because I always was honest to her and not giving her false hope while she knew better.
But the second reason was that while we both knew she was dying we still made jokes about everything and were laughing together.
Most people around her did not dare to have fun and laugh and that she told me was killing her 🙂
Once I was called to a very critical situation, everybody was doing all kind off stuff to safe the man’s life.
I entered the room and made a stupid joke, the patient laughed and his heartrate and bloodpressure imediately got better, the medical team relaxed and he survived.
So do not forget to laugh, it could save lives!
😂😂 Don’t tongue kiss your relatives just cracked me up. Excellent write up and we’ll done for making it real for people. I just passed my DDD this month. That’s my death due date according to the doctors. 😇 🎉🍾 So now I have to just be extra strong for my two children and wife and tackle this as best I can. I have a very worried family but I have told them I’ll fight it if I get it as best I can. Very hard to have your 12 year old daughter crying in your arms because she is so scared of losing you again. It’s hard. 😢😢
But how blessed am I to have what I have. That’s what I try remember. Anyway that’s my little blah. I hope you write more. Wishing you and your family health and all the best in your lives.
All sound advice. From a nurse. A living one at that.
Mental note… no-one “needs” to be left in a back bedroom to die.
So still cool if you just.. want them there. See what happens? Asking for… Trump Jr.
Thanks Tracy!
10 => the best
Best regard.
Good stuff, thank you.
PS, my wife is a nurse, I just refer to your list as my wife’s modus operandi and yeah a bit of no nonsense pragmatism mixed with love.
Nice!
Good humor Tracey Schwartz. Your Dave was correct, #7 is mind blowing. Water is on and people buy more of the expensive stuff instead. Nobody fills a bathtub anymore in worrisome times I guess 🙁
I am a Physician Assistant, military trained and I’ve seen many diseases in my time so my “Prep” is actually simple too. Keep clean, have bleach on hand for water purification should our supply line get contaminated, or to disinfect with. I store up some simple dry goods like beans and rice. That prep helps me avoid stores when the sick realize they did not buy enough food and too much TP. Take care and say hello to Dave, a.k.a. Joel Katz.
Dinner like a chopped episode has me dying. Especially since that all I been watching since I have no nba games.
Don’t lick poles on the subway or bathroom door handles…. you were warned people! Love it.