The Parallels of a Crohn’s and COVID 19 world – Part 2

In my last post I wrote about the parallels I have noticed between life with Crohn’s and life these last few months with the Coronavirus pandemic, the first one being isolation.

The more I think about the experiences and emotions I’ve felt due to my Crohn’s, the more similarities I find to the current Covid-19 world. Here are a few more:

The Parallels of a Crohn’s and Covid-19 world: Isolation

So here we are, five months into a new decade, and almost three months into our new (temporary) normal. Who would have thought when we saw in the New Year, watching the fireworks shoot up over the London Eye and hearing Big Ben chime midnight, that this is where we would be just a few months later? We all had plans for the year ahead. We took for granted being able to ride the tube, go to work, send our children to school, have a beer at the pub with our friends, hug our family.

Fast forward a few months and most of the world is in lockdown thanks to a pandemic called coronavirus or COVID 19. Our new normal is working from home (if we’re lucky enough to still have a job), only going out for essentials or daily exercise, being unable to travel to the next suburb let alone another country, socially distancing ourselves from friends, family, even strangers, and staying locked in our homes as much as possible.

Yet in some ways I feel like I have been through something similar before…

Over the last few months, I’ve contemplated how life with COVID 19 has many parallels to life with an inflammatory bowel disease like Crohn’s. Perhaps living with IBD (or another chronic illness) has even prepared me and made me better equipped to manage the current situation?

The diary of me and my little guy in lockdown – **travel withdrawals** ✈️✈️✈️

As most of you know, travelling is a huge part of my life. Yesterday I put together these hanging photo collages filled with so many wonderful travel memories, and it really gave me itchy feet! I don’t know about you guys, but I have already had two trips cancelled this year, and I am having major travel withdrawals!

The diary of me and my little guy in lockdown **Exercise**

Up until last Wednesday in the UK we could only go out for one hour of exercise each day. With restrictions slightly lifted over the last week, this has now been increased to unlimited exercise. I don’t go out every day, but if I can I try to take a nice long walk around the neighbourhood or one of the local parks at least 3-4 times per week. There are so many people out and about having their daily walk, run or cycle, so I try to time my walk to when it’s a bit quieter. It’s interesting seeing the etiquette of everyone making way for each other. I try to stick to the wider footpaths or side streets when I can. I usually head off with no specific route planned and plot it out as I go depending on which streets look busy and where the sunshine is! 🚶‍♀️🧘‍♀️🚶‍♀️🧘‍♀️🚶‍♀️🧘‍♀️

The diary of me and my little guy in lockdown – **working from home and furlough**

My husband and I have both been working from home since the middle of March. Given we live in a very small 1 bedroom flat, our set up on the dining room table is pretty cosy, but functional!! Until one of us needs to have a conference call (which Michael is on constantly)!! Our kitchen bench has doubled up as a desk on more than one occasion!

The diary of me and my little guy in lockdown **Sunshine and outdoor space**

We are super lucky to have a tiny little private courtyard attached to our 1 bedroom flat in East London. So many Londoners live in small apartments without any outside space at all. Luckily there are parks and green space all across the city. Our local Victoria Park was closed for several weeks early on because too many people were disobeying the rules. Thankfully it’s reopened, but we are still limited to how long we’re allowed out, and obviously no sunbathing or picnics or anything like that are permitted, so we are super grateful to have a little bit of our own space, no matter how small it is!

The diary of me and my little guy in lockdown **Health Concerns**

Like many of you, back towards the end of March I received THAT letter from the NHS identifying me as someone at risk of severe illness if I catch Coronavirus. This means shielding and NOT LEAVING THE HOUSE for 12 weeks. This was because I take azathioprine which is an immune suppressant. I have recently stopped taking this medication (purely coincidence not because of my risk to Coronavirus) but it does stay in your bloodstream for 3-6 months.

The diary of me and my little guy in lockdown

Hello Stoma-licious people! I hope everyone is doing well. I’ve finally decided to try and use this time to be a bit more dedicated than I have been of late on this page! I’m hoping to provide some interesting, insightful and fun content for you during the current lockdown!