'If you are immunocompromised you are at a higher risk from Covid-19'

 The first time I heard that phrase, I won’t lie, it scared the bejeezus out of me!! 
 In April 2019 I was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer after finding a lump. I underwent 16 sessions of intensive chemotherapy, had surgery, and afterward 20 sessions of radiotherapy. I only completed ‘active treatment in February. I am one of the lucky ones.. the medical team threw everything but the kitchen sink at me during treatment, and when they analyzed the tissue removed during surgery there was no evidence of disease which meant I had a complete pathological response to the chemotherapy.
 

As a result of all of this treatment, my immune system has taken a complete battering over the past 11 months. Once I heard that the coronavirus was spreading, my husband and I made the decision to use social distancing and self-isolate as much as possible. I personally don’t think we were being over-cautious. We are being pragmatic, and taking into consideration we have two small children, it was the best decision for us. 

Being indoors 24/7 with two small children age 6 and 3 is no easy feat!! We have spent the last week in a sea of toys, pages and pages of drawing and coloring, play-doh, LEGO, and imaginary play, all mixed with a considerable amount of tantrums, bickering, moaning, fighting, and my saving grace…Netflix

My husband is still working (albeit from home) and he works in an area where their workload has massively increased in the past few weeks due to the coronavirus and it will possibly only increase further as time goes on. He is doing all he can by working remotely, not going into the office, and trying to protect our little cocoon as much as possible. He has full responsibility for going to the supermarket etc as well because it is potentially too risky for me to go. He, in turn, has to be extra careful when he does venture out for fear that he could bring it home to me despite our best efforts to protect ourselves. 
 
We are also a considerable distance from our immediate families so have no contact with them other than FaceTime and phone, not that we would want to risk their health either -all of our parents are still alive but each has their own individual health problems including COPD, Heart Failure and Blood Pressure issues to name but a few. We are self-isolating ourselves to protect them just as much as we.

We are doing all we can to protect our little family but unfortunately, it isn’t just up to us – we have to rely on everyone around us and trust that all others are using their good conscience and implementing similar restrictions in their own family. Everybody has to work together (while staying apart) to stop the rapid spread and flatten the curve of infection. 
 
It is an incredibly anxious and worrying time for anybody who is a high risk, but my attitude is that I know it’s not easy to self isolate and use social distancing, in particular with children, but it is a short term sacrifice to make. 
 
You never know what health problems somebody may have, but please consider others if you think this won’t affect you.