So it’s August 3, 2020, and despite all my expectations, all of us (CLL or not) are still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. I have good news to share. While I am still absolutely careful (and “safe”), despite my long-term CLL diagnosis, I’m not nearly as crazed, worried and frightened as I was earlier in the process. Why? There are a few reasons.

Keeping track. I’ve been watching the stats for Michigan, where I live. In fact, we live in one of the “hot spots,” and early in the course of this thing I live close enough to a main street to hear the ambulance sirens wailing on their way to either Beaumont or Providence Hospital. Very unsettling, to say the least. I knew many people who took ill, some who we’d been with socially just about when they’d become infected — two generations of the same family. Thankfully, they’ve all had a full recovery and no hospitalizations.

We are no longer a hot spot. (Yay!) Yes, there are more cases. But I also look at the daily deaths. And daily deaths are way down. I’m sure one of your local stations would have the same where you live. Be sure to click on all three tabs so that you can see the cases, the recoveries, and the deaths. If you look at the accumulated death rate (scroll down to find this), it’s horrible, going up, up, up! But if you look at the daily deaths, you can see that the numbers are way down.

Why is the death rate down? I truly don’t have a definitive answer. We only get the information that is given us. I can make an educated guess. It could be that younger people are among the ill, and they are, as a group, more able to recuperate. It could be we’re better protecting our residents in nursing homes. It could be that the disease itself has mutated and is now less lethal. It could be that we have better treatments that are keeping people from going into that final deadly stage with the cytokine storms we’ve been hearing about. Whatever the case, in southeast Michigan, right here in a former epicenter, we’re doing pretty well. Thank God!

So what am I doing to be safe? (Disclaimer here: this is what I do, and not a blanket recommendation. Consult with your own physician or trusted health professional if you have reservations. Or research it further — which is always a good idea.) Despite these wonderful Michigan indicators, we still have to be careful. Just like we have to be careful all the time, because of our CLL diagnosis. Here is a list:

1. I wear a mask. I don’t like it, particularly when it acts like summer here, and the temps are in the 90s, along with the attending humidity. I don’t wear it all the time, though. I wear it at work, but only when I have to leave my one-person (me) office and mingle with others.
2. Disposable gloves. When I go to the market (yes! I go to the market), I wear not only the mask, but also some disposable gloves. I know, I know. “They” have told us not to wear gloves. Sorry! “They” used to tell us not to wear a mask, either. So there. No harm done. I wear some disposable plastic gloves made for sandwich making 🙂 and remove them and my mask, once I return to my car.
3. Supplements. I’ve added to my boatload of supplements. Time for a list within a list: a.) Quercetin with zinc is supposed to be the next best thing to hydrochloroquine. The recommendation is to take it as soon as you suspect symptoms. I take it prophylactically. Which means I take it all the time, ‘just in case.’ I believe it fortifies me and keeps me from getting ill to begin with. I have no discernible side effects.
   b.) Beta Glucan. Beta glucan with l-lysine. Read the beta glucan article for information about this immune enhancer, which I ‘m now taking regularly. I take the product that includes l-lysine, which is an anti-viral I’ve used before to successfully get rid of cold sores. c.) N-A-C (N-acetylcysteine) Here is an article that includes information about N-A-C, as well as many other helpful supplements. I’ve been taking N-A-C for over a year now to help prevent hearing loss (along with other supplements –ai yi yi, I do take a lot!) It does help for that as well.

Please keep in mind that these supplements are just that…supplements. I still keep to a healthy diet with no added sugar, etc., etc. Get sleep, exercise, clean water, clean air, reduce stress (when possible), and all that other healthy stuff. Read through this blog for more of that.

The bottom line is that I’m treating the pandemic, now, the same way I treat CLL. I take precautions, I stick to them like glue. And then, I just live my life. It feels a lot more normal.

What are you doing to make yourself feel safe during these crazy times? Please write and let me know.

As always, wishing you the very best of health,

Denise