Social Distancing Helped Me Beat Bronchitis and Will Help Beat COVID-19

Social distancing will slow the progression of the virus. Together we can make it harder to spread

As the world ramps up to fight COVID-19 I hear people complaining the response is overblown. Social distancing, like cancelling events and people self-isolating is fear and panic.

No, it’s not.

Social distancing reduces the chance of exposure to COVID-19. If you're exposed, chances of passing it to others are lower. Slowing the spread gives hospitals more space to provide medical care to those who need it most.

This is not just theory for me. I'm a pretty healthy person now. I used to suffer from chronic bronchitis. Social distancing was part of the solution.

Dust and Powder Weakened My Lungs

I spent ten years working in the production areas of a pharmaceutical firm. There is a lot of dust and powder in the air of their production facilities. Part of the engineering department, I wasn't always around it but I was still exposed.

The exposure resulted in weak lungs. Weakness made worse by several years of chronic bronchitis. Two or more bouts annually defines chronic bronchitis. I usually had two rounds, spring and fall, like clockwork.

At times, I’d struggle with it for weeks before it would finally release its hold. A few years into this pattern I learned my ‘bad colds’ were in fact bronchitis. My doctor explained how to tell the difference and how to know when it was time to get antibiotics.

Most colds don’t actually need antibiotics. Working around medications in production can cause sensitivity to them. I have suspected or confirmed allergies to six antibiotic families, including penicillin.

I Learned I Could Help Manage Bronchitis

It took me time to learn I could make a difference in how often and how long I had bronchitis. There were two things I wasn't doing.

I wasn't practicing what is now called social distancing. I was 'powering through' instead of getting rest and fluids. I was sharing my germs with others who were not practicing social distancing.

The first lesson for me was the resting part.

I thought I was on the downside of a bad cold when I went in to see my doc one afternoon. She listened to my lungs, asked me about my plans for the day and then insisted I was to go straight home to bed. Not on the computer, she admonished, to bed.

I argued I was fine. She disagreed, informing me one lung was full of fluid and the other was sounding almost full. It was either home to bed or to the hospital, my choice. I was on the sharp edge of pneumonia.

I went home, but no way I was going to bed. I went to the computer to get some work done. A couple of hours later when I got up for something and almost passed out, I finally laid down. I spent a few days drifting in and out of sleep, getting up only to get some soup or something to drink. Within a few days, my lungs cleared and I was feeling much better.

Who would have thought rest and fluids would have solved the problem? Oh, just a few thousand doctors who have been preaching that for generations.

Practicing Social Distance Pays Off

Having had the earth-shattering realization of the power of rest and fluids. I also realized by staying home, I was not sharing my germs with others. I gave myself permission to expect others not to share with me.

Kindly, but firmly, I started asking people to move away from me if they were showing signs of colds. If they declined to do so, I removed myself. Social distancing and it worked.

Over the last decade, I’ve not had bronchitis. I’ve had some colds but with rest and fluids the moment they start, they are short-lived. I’ve not relented on the social distancing.

I’m over 60 with weakened lungs. I'm a high risk for COVID-19. I’ve learned a possible complication of the virus is kidney failure. With only have one kidney, the risk rises.

My health is important to me. Important enough to continue social distancing and being more vigilant than usual. I call that healthy caution. If you want to say fear and overblown, go for it.

Social Distancing Will Help You

Maybe your health and the health of your family are worth healthy fear and overblown response? Maybe you should be cautious of social contacts when you’re out.

It’ll be more effective than heading into busy stores to hoard goods. Supplies will continue to arrive if we’d all work to slow the spread of this virus. It might even save some lives.

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