#dont want him to have to go into places until asymptomatic

[dualitysdownfall]

medical oversharing in form of sentence fragments below cut

knees prone to hurting after i walk more than usual ("usual" in this case being a very low threshold) particularly in situations like school where im also carrying heavy stuff (not very specific i guess. began couple months ago, not immediately after start of semester which is interesting (what changed???) didnt do good job logging occurrences and circumstances.)

not normal right? what do about this. not bad enough to be debilitating but enough to notice -> enough to cause concern. can power through. semester just ended, no more school anyway. not expecting problem to occur during break. so like should i even worry about this rn?

why this happen though? would simply reducing weight load help? or just minimize walking altogether? not muscular pain. ...wait for problem to worsen? cant think of anything immediately implementable that would reliably assuage or prevent. at least not without knowing whats going on.

i know in my brain preventive care is just as important as addressing stuff thats already happening but. how. feels like making big deal out of something manageable. logically know any issue at all is deserving of attention and relief, indicator of Not Fully Able Bodied but not sure how to address while still certifiably Not That Bad, Actually /genuine (esp considering, like i said, probably not a concern now that semester is over) like idk what kinds of things would reduce/prevent on such small scale without feeling like overreacting. don't exactly want problem to get worse but if it did at least that would justify getting something for it

also not really sure of patterns, again, did bad job recording data. sometimes convinced "i did so much walking today, this is gonna hurt tomorrow" then it doesnt. not sure what exactly triggers it or when. i do know once when it happened, sitting down for an hour made it virtually go away, then i started kicking my legs as a stim and pain began to seep back. like "ooogh augh you're still making us move, why this".

idk theres probably more details but. brain gone

should have carefully logged everything pertinent, would make easier to detect patterns or lack thereof

sometimes pain when laying down going to sleep. very distracting. like what more do you want me to do im already laying down.

like pain in response to movement but on a delay.

at worst maybe a bit unsteady, not thrilled about getting up and moving but can.

#wonder where get advice from chronic pain havers #this is what this is right? or at least heading toward that sort of area #planned to schedule doctor appt but then dad got covid #dont want him to have to go into places until asymptomatic #tired want to express thought fast no time for grammar #you want articles? go to newspaper IDIOT #harper babbles

[ineedrelationshipadvice]

Is it okay that I dont see my boyfriend during this pandemic? He asks me to come over but I don't think it's the best idea to, because it's advised we isolate and my job (that I have to go to because we haven't shut down) is high risk because I'm a cleaner at a venue so I see multiple different people and clean up gross things everyday, but he says that because I can go out to work then I can go out and see him. I dont want to hurt his feelings but I dont think he's seeing the big picture

There really isn’t precedent for this sort of thing. So suffice it for me to say, but you should probably follow the laws. The county I live near just went on mandatory shelter-in-place, which generally means going out for any reason at all. If you’re in an area where that’s happening, just make sure you’re following the rules and regulations outlined by your local officials. Last thing you want is to go to meet your boyfriend and get a citation for breaking travel restrictions. 

But let’s say that you’re not sheltering-in-place. Should you still see your partner? 

I think that really comes down to preference. A cleaner isn’t inherently a high-risk job; the level of risk rises with the amount of people you’re meeting with, not just because you’re interacting with gross stuff. As long as you’re cleaning with appropriate attire on and not licking doorknobs and stuff, you will probably be fine on the front of getting sick, and seeing your partner won’t be that big of a deal. 

The thing to take into account, however, is that Coronavirus is INCREDIBLY easy to transmit. And moreover, people can be asymptomatic for a very long time, and may not show any severe symptoms at all. This means that if you’re infected, but don’t realize it, you could be a risk to essentially everyone around you. How likely is that to actually happen? Again, depends on the generalized risk, depending on way too many factors. 

It also needs to be reminded that young people are not immune to Coronavirus. Just because older folks are at the highest risk doesn’t mean the rest of us aren’t. Even if most of us just weather the virus and get on it, there are new figures rising that say young people who do get sick can get severely ill. Quoted from here:

But of the 508 patients known to have been hospitalized, 38 percent were notably younger — between 20 and 54. And nearly half of the 121 patients who were admitted to intensive care units were adults under 65, the C.D.C. reported. 

Nobody wants to get sick with this. And your boyfriend may not be taking it seriously, but it is serious. At the same time, humans need connection, and it’s perfectly natural to want to see the people that care about you. You just have to go into doing such things with the full acceptance that something bad might happen, and decide whether that risk is worth it for you. 

________

As a final note for this, because I’m sure there are many reading this who are in a similar position of wanting to see their loved ones, but are not sure what to do. I’m just going to assume that all of us are dumb monkeys with smartphones, because that’s what we are, and we’re very frequently going to make very stupid decisions in our own self-interest. 

Thus, if you’re considering or planning to visit your romantic partner while self-isolating, here is a quick rundown of things to take into account.  

First, when should you NOT see your partner? 

Are you around sick people? This applies especially to anyone working in a hospital, grocery store, or with other essential services. You’re around a lot of people. Just don’t do it.

Are you feeling under the weather? It doesn’t matter if it’s the cold, a simple cough, the flu, or actual coronavirus. If you’re not feeling well, STAY HOME. 

Have you been to a high risk area recently? This includes anywhere that a lot of people were. The beach, Disneyworld, foreign country, concert. Doesn’t matter. If you were recently around a huge number of people, STAY HOME and see if you develop symptoms. 

Does the law say to stay home? Obey the law. 

And then, assuming you ARE seeing your partner because you simply can’t help yourself, how can you make sure you’re not getting them sick? 

WASH YOUR HANDS. You should already be doing this all the time anyway, and if you don’t know how, a video is here and down below. But first thing you do when you get to your partner’s house, WASH YOUR HANDS. No hugs, no spanks, no nothing. Straight to the sink with you. 

STRIP. Man, who knew coronavirus was so sexy? But seriously, take off your damn clothes. If you drove from your house to theirs by yourself, it’s no big deal. But if you were out and about, interacting or nearby other people, or on public transit, why bother taking the risk of the virus being on your clothes? Bring a clean set of clothes with you, and change into them immediately. Leave them in a corner of the room or in your bag until it’s time to go home, and don’t interact with them. This way, if by some weird circumstance the virus IS on your clothes, you can get all cuddly without transmitting it from surface to your partner, or to yourself. Personally, being a bit of a germaphobe myself, this is the first thing I do any time I get home. 

WASH AND SHOWER. Again, this mostly applies if you were in public or on public transport, especially at your work. But go ahead and take your shower first thing. If you have coronavirus on you, it could be on your skin, on your hair, on your face. It’s invisible, so there’s no way to know. So just take a shower! Easy peasy, and you’ll be smelling great. 

SEXY TIME ANNOUNCEMENTS. Let’s be clear, coronavirus gets into the body through - usually - us dumb humans getting it on our hands, and touching our eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc. So can you be sexy with your partner? GOOD QUESTION, and I don’t have the answer. So don’t take the risk with your dirty hands. If you want to be physically affectionate, follow the rules above: wash up thoroughly just to make sure.  The other concern is if you have the virus, and you start making out or smashing your partner, you could be spreading the virus. Again, this is no guarantee, and I’m no healthcare professional. But just be aware that this is directly putting yourself and your partner at risk in the event either one of you have the virus. Just be careful, and don’t be a hero if one person’s sick, and the other’s like, “I DON’T MIND I LOVE YOU.” Not this time, player. 

SHARING IS NOT CARING. Lots of partners will frequently share lots of things. Anything from cups and finger-foods, to as much weird stuff as toothbrushes, hairbrushes, and other stuff. Firstly, don’t share tooth or hairbrushes with people, that’s super unhygienic. But secondly, consider sharing less for now. If you or your partner share a cup of water, that’s one more opportunity for someone who has the virus in their system to pass it. Go reenact the Lady in the Tramp spaghetti scene later; right now, just use your own silverware, your own cups, your own plates, etc. 

BE AWARE OF WHO THEY SPEAK TO. The whole point of social distancing is that we’re interacting with the minimum number of people possible. If you and your boyfriend are only seeing each other, and nobody else beyond your work, that’s an OKAY scenario. Not great, but not bad. But if either you or your boyfriend are also visiting family, visiting other friends, going to their own job, etc., this should be a hard no-go.  Social distancing only works if we literally distance ourselves socially. That sucks, but it’s for the sake of everyone. If your boyfriend is visiting his other friends, his family, his coworkers, then you two should be highly aware of the web of people you’re interacting with. You’re already taking a risk by associating with one another; if you two are socializing as per normal, that’s just not good in any way.

Again, I’m not a healthcare provider. Listen to other people before me. But I know how hard it is to deny yourself contact with your significant other. It’s hard on everyone. And I know people are going to do it out of some romantic sense of love, and I can’t stop anyone from doing that. 

My goal here is to minimize the damage. PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING, even when it sucks. Make sure you’re interacting with the minimum amount of people as possible while anyone around you might be sick. If that means that the sucky reality is you won’t get to see your partner very much, then that’s just life. Have internet dates, find other ways to associate. There are alternatives. 

And wash your fuckin’ hands.