I wanted to write this as an update to whats going on here in Mexico and with me personally.
As the world knows, Covid-19 has taken over our thoughts, airwaves and many bodies.
This is an experience that is new to us all. We all wonder how long it will last, what we are really supposed to do, what does this mean for our heath, relationships, jobs and the world economy.
I am no authority, but I can tell you what it means to me.
Fortunately I work for a company that is entirely remote and provides a necessary service. However, we work with elderly people needing long-term care (Home Care, Assisted Living, Nursing Homes) to be paid for through Medicaid. Now, this will not stop all together, but we are already seeing issues with facilities not taking new patients for months to come and some county Medicaid offices being (even more than normal) overwhelmed to the point of a standstill.
As of this moment, we still have lots of work to do and will keep doing it as long as possible.
Puerto Vallarta is an interesting place to be right now. We have a huge population of retired Canadians and United Statesians (I refuse to use the term Americans as that includes all of the Americas) as well as many traveling foreigners from across the world. We have a huge influx of cruise ships here all through the high season as well.
We get so many visitors from San Francisco and Seattle, where there has been a large number of confirmed cases of Covid-19.
As of today they are still saying no confirmed cases in Vallarta, which feels like a bit of a false sense of security. There are 203 confirmed cases in Mexico.
The culture here is very social, very physical and very distrusting of the government. These things combined with the fact that most people truly live day to day and have to work to survive (there will be little to no help for most from the government, if they ever decide this is a serious situation) makes for a very difficult transition to self quarantine.
The federal government is not taking action as I see it necessary and the president is flailing around almost more than Trump.
Luckily our governor of the state of Jalisco has taken decisive action and is very serious about curbing this potential health disaster. And disaster it will be. If you think that the public health system in the USA is unprepared, that is nothing in comparison to Mexico. I am truly frightened for the people who this will most affect, the poor and elderly of this country. The people who go out into the streets to sell candies and trinkets, the elderly people who bag groceries for tips to supplement their meager pensions, the people who work and live in the dumps. I hope that when the time comes I can be of some service to this population of people that are so left behind by the system.
That brings me to my situation currently.
I have been extremely careful since this all became a situation in San Francisco as I have ties there and also know how many people visit Vallarta from there. Also my history of working in health centers and hospitals prepared me for the sanitation measures needed.
Hand washing, sanitizer, no buses, no ubers, not much outside contact with people, stocking up on groceries slowly, washing said groceries as they came into the house, wearing certain clothes outside and hanging them by the door, cleaning the house, using bleach and lysol and all the chemicals I never buy, more hand washing, boosting immunity with healthy food, very little drinking, less pot smoking, more pilates, breathing exercises, allllll the things.
Tuesday night I had a bit of a headache, but it was mild and figured I was just stressed and been working too hard. We had our show that night and I went knowing it would be the last I would be doing. I was extra careful, no physical contact, wiping down my station before and after using it, little bottle of hand sanitizer with me at all times, a shot of tequila to kill throat germs (kidding, I know it doesn't work that way).
Wednesday I started feeling a bit of a scratchy throat and still had the slight headache. I figured maybe it was the tequila or just not sleeping well. I finished the last of my errands to be able to shelter in place for while, as well as worked a long day. I felt pretty tired and went to bed early.
Thursday I went to deliver stuff to the boat to Yelapa for my mom and brother who are self isolating on the mountain (not too different than regular life out there). By the time I got home I felt exhausted. I had a busy work day with a lot of meetings and stuff that needed a pretty high level of concentration. When I finished at 6:30pm I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. Still with the scratchy throat and headache, but now adding body aches to the fatigue and a low grade fever of 99.1/37.3. I drank some Theraflu and went to sleep at 8pm.
Friday morning I woke up feeling like the truck that hit me, backed up over me a couple times. All the same symptoms as before. But no cough, no mucus, no swollen throat, none of the usual cold or flu symptoms we all know and hate.
I was able to speak with a doctor on the phone, he was very nice and said that many people will think they have the Covid-19 virus, but unless I've traveled recently or been in direct contact with a confirmed case there would be no testing. I did let him know I have (controlled) high blood pressure as well as mild asthma. I also explained that I know when it is necessary to go the ER and when it is not.
He said I probably have a flu, and if my breathing gets bad then we would reassess if it was the famed virus.
Now, I understand that there are not enough tests, I also understand that many people are panicking and thinking they have this thing when they have allergies or a hangover or whatever. But I am not that person. This is not like any flu or cold I've ever experienced.
I also know that most diagnostics are a process of elimination. You test for certain things and if they don't have that thing, you test for a different thing. In this case, testing for different strains of flu would seem like the best course of action. I'm not saying I want to go out into the world to do this, it just seems like continuing to say there are no confirmed cases in Vallarta cannot be confirmed. I also want to make it very clear, I in no way think the doctor or people dealing with this situation are doing anything wrong, I know they are doing all they can with what they are provided and within the guidelines they are given.
I am also a very socially responsible cautious person. I err on the side of caution even in the most banal of situations. I will not leave my house now for 2 weeks, regardless of what I have been told I have. But, if I was a different kind of person, and was told I just have a flu, it seems likely that as soon as I felt a little better I would be out and about. Or even, be out and about now. I already was out and about before feeling sick and felt it the right thing to warn my cast mates and the other people I had been in touch with, that I was sick.
Today is Saturday. I feel like total crud. I am so tired, dizzy, headachy and it feels like I smoked a pack of cigarettes in the last hour. Still no coughing, still no high fever (I am preemptively taking meds), my breathing is normal. I have lots of healthy food, appropriate meds, neighbors checking on me, and the best sick-bedmate in the world (see pic below). I want to say I hope it is the flu, but in a way I hope it is the Covid-19 virus so I can get this damn thing over with...but that wouldn't matter anyway cause I will not be tested as to be able to know.
What I do know is I will not be able to see my family and friends for a while, I will not know if I have immunity so it may not be safe for me to help at hospitals when this thing explodes here.
I feel frustrated with world leaders, this is not a surprise, this has been known to be coming for a long time. What I can only hope is that the lesson is learned from all of this. We must have a global public health security plan in place. We must all be on the same page. We must heed the warnings when they are given to us, because next time it may well be much worse, more easily communicable, a longer incubation while being communicable, more rapidly moving across the world and more deadly to a larger demographic of people.
Be safe my friends, and for the love of Cheesus the lord of Lactose stay home if at all possible.
