Rosher.Net

So, the conversation has inevitably come around to “what happens when we get it”.

For the uninitiated, Janet is on the ‘extremely vulnerable’ list because of the kidney transplant and the immunosuppressant drugs she has to take. Covid-19 is not something she would walk away from. In fact, probably neither would I, because although I tend to underplay my chronic asthma any pneumonia may not be survivable – especially in an NHS environment with insufficient respirators.

At the moment, Janet is under effective house arrest for three months. I’m planning to share her confinement, because that makes it easier for both of us to remain clear. That takes some planning and reliance on external resources including family and friends, but also making the most effective use of our growing capacity too. We can’t be self reliant, but we can augment what we have in the freezers for a at least a few months.

Have you thought about how you would cope with an infection?

There are many things to consider. They fall into the immediate, the medium term and if not the long term then the last bit. Having hospital bags packed, making sure the one person can continue living with the other one in hospital, and how to continue if one of us dies. That last is not simply mental health matters but when the bills fall due, where the money is buried and what the passwords are!

A while back – several years back – I began planning my funeral with readings and music and all the ritual paraphernalia of a pagan going back to the ‘verse. Given the current strictures and abeyances, that seems less important now than the basic gameplay of managing the crisis as it unfolds. It’s nice to have a service planned and a plot reserved, but let’s face it; priorities.

There will come a time for memorial, but if this coronavirus develops as it seems it will then there are more fundamental needs to address. On the other hand, if this is all uber-preparedness and the virus dies out quickly through effective isolation and vaccine, well, it’s not entirely wasted either. And once your plans are made, with whom will you share them? It may be you are not the only casualty in the household…

Like the song says “there are more questions than answers…”