Reflections on One Year of Quarantine

Today marks one year since the first case of SARS-COV-2 was detected in my home state. It’s one year since I went into quarantine, for what I initially thought may just be a month or so. I could sit here and write about how hard the isolation of the past year has been or how much my personal life has changed as a result of the pandemic, but I have already devoted similar blog posts to that topic. Something struck me last night when I was reflecting back on this time instead, and I am GRATEFUL.

That seems crazy to say, but I have my life, my job, and my family. I still have my home and access to medical care. I have technology to stay in touch with the people that matter to me. In all the ways that matter most, I am blessed beyond measure. I’m still here a year later.

I was diagnosed with Primary Immunodeficiency less than a year before a global pandemic broke out. Would I still be here if my diagnosis had been delayed by another year? That’s a question that I cannot answer with certainty. Had I not known a year ago that I had a high risk condition, I may not have been as cautious as I have been. That is the “what-if” scenario I have been grappling with for some time now. Maybe I wouldn’t have been working remotely for a year or having groceries delivered to my porch. Maybe I wouldn’t have thought to wear a mask before it was widely recommended. It is possible that my team of doctors saved my life.

I suppose you could say that protecting me from any pathogen could have saved my life, but protecting me from one as aggressive and difficult to treat as SARS-COV-2? I have to believe in my heart that I dodged a bullet, figuratively speaking. The deaths, the organ damage, the long term complications. I was potentially spared by a timely diagnosis.

So today, on the one year anniversary of our lives being flipped upside down, I am choosing to be grateful for the knowledge that has protected me. I mourn those who may have still been undiagnosed and didn’t fare so well. I thank my lucky stars for all of you that I have met along this journey, and I promise to keep committing myself to raising awareness for those who may be spared by a timely PI diagnosis.

For information and free resources on the warning signs of Primary Immunodeficiency, you can visit www.info4pi.org or www.primaryimmune.org.

Chronically yours,

Jen