I think the
deluge of bad news, death and sickness finally got me down. And we closed our gate on Wednesday afternoon last week so it's been a while. Yesterday morning I woke up without my usual
bounce and Stepford “Good Morning!” I
actually think it may have been the longest I have stayed in my bed in a lot of
years. I gave myself a break from the news and just had a Me day. Reading, watching b-grade schlock on tv and
cooking. And the rain gave me the
perfect excuse to be as sedentary as I liked.
I had a
great night’s sleep and would happily face the world. But, at the moment the world consists of my house,
a drenched garden and a driveway. More
than many have I’m sure, but I so want to be able to go for a walk or to the
shops; freely. And so, I begin my search
for hope.
Paying attention
to the news and doing my own reading I have come across a possible way to stem
the tide. It is being tested abroad and appears promising. I have however not read anything to this
effect in the local news and neither have I seen anything on our government’s
social media pages.
I have
started a one-man campaign, some might call it trolling, of getting answers to
the questions I have and of changing the mindset of people who are lost and
confused.
Every day I am posting the same,
“Has SA explored convalescent plasma therapy? And where do we stand? As a means of shedding hope and encouraging
staying at home please share recovery stats. Please don’t ignore me”
Convalescent
plasma therapy is the practice of extracting antibodies from the blood of an
individual who has overcome the infection and infusing this plasma into a
severely ill person to help bolster their recovery. Trials in the US are in early stages but the
5 people on which it was tried have recovered.
Granted the
world is floundering in unchartered territory, and everyone is learning. Learn from others and build on their example.
I have been impressed with how South Africa has handled the situation thus far
(yesterday’s news not withstanding). But I am equally frustrated by the
slacking of regulations, and the ability of certain factions to hold government
hostage.
I am also
frustrated at what I feel is a one-pronged approach. Testing and the rate at which it needs to be
done is necessary to break the chain of infection, I do however feel that no
attention is being given to finding a cure or vaccine. It is almost as if we
were told to wash our hands and stay indoors while it blows over. I am sure I
have missed something; I truly hope I have, and if anyone can point me in the
right direction, I would appreciate it. It would go a long way to seeing some
light at the end of a dark, dark tunnel.
But for all
my ruminating and feeling miserable, I had a nice chat to my mom yesterday and
she is in good spirits. Bored silly, but well. I have also never shared or
received so many jokes in such a short period of time, and all on a single
topic.
We have
stocked the fridge and grocery cupboards quite handsomely and should survive
for a short while past 21 days, but we are already starting to run out of fresh
things. Soon we will be craving salad.
Today was
flashback Friday on the exercise front. I moved the carpet aside and found an
exercise video on YouTube. Remember the
5 minute insert they used to have every morning before the news. Body Beat it was called, and the video I
found was similar except for the absence of legwarmers and better music. It was
so much fun I did it twice.
But, it’s
back to current reality and a catch-up on the chores I didn’t do on my day
off. We have decided that in keeping
with the trend my sewing lessons will not be on how to make a pillowcase but
rather on making a few masks which, although not medical quality will be ours
and they can be washed after every wear.
Stay safe, stay sane, stay informed.
