I’m sure you’ve heard of coronavirus or COVID-19 many times a day. At first when it was in other countries I felt bad for those people but I wasn’t really nervous or scared. Then it started going to different countries and all the sudden it was here in the United States. Now it has made its way to Indiana where I live. Whoa. I’m not going to deny that I’m scared and nervous, but I often try to combat that and review the facts. I’m being very careful and washing my hands any chance I have. I started getting a little nervous about going to work where lots of adults and kids are. As I was starting to get more nervous, we got a call and e-mail that school was closed/ e-learning. As of now the plan is on Monday & Tuesday go into school w/o kids and discuss what’s happening/ what our roles will be. I’m so thankful to work in a caring community. They want us to make sure we are getting paid since we are hourly.

In this uncertain and scary time we may not have answers immediately or ideas right away and that is ok. We are treating people kindly and everyone wants to be protected from germs. It’s not like we have a stat sheet with instructions on how to deal with this pandemic and what we should be doing because at least in my 25 years of life I’ve never experienced or seen this happen before. Someone on twitter had tweeted something about last Wednesday we were watching basketball games and in 4 days so much has changed.

I remember being so excited that the Big Ten Tourney was finally here! I even said if Iowa goes to championship game I want to go to Indy (about a 2 1/2 hour drive). Then things started to get scarier as things were shutting down left and right Wednesday night-Friday and they still are. I remember watching Northwestern vs Minnesota with Minnesota advancing on to the next day. Then I watched Nebraska vs IU with IU coming out on top. I remember watching Fred Hoiberg (Nebraska head coach) on the sidelines when he said he wasn’t feeling well and as the game went on he wasn’t looking well. I figured he had to have been cleared by a doctor before coming out to the court which later found out he was. It feels weird to say thankfully it was just Influenza A. They announced in the middle of that game that moving forward in the big ten tourney it would be immediate family members, players, and essential staff only. Then after the Nebraska game Hoiberg left around the 4 minute mark I think the updates started coming he was headed to the hospital and he had previous heart issues so everyone was very alert and nervous. I kept checking twitter. Then I saw that the Nebraska team was quarantined in their locker room and no one was allowed near it. IU left as soon as possible- Archie wanted to get them to the hotel and shower immediately. Archie and Doc Sadler (the assistant coach at Nebraska) opted for an elbow bump no handshaking and the players made no contact no line to go through. Game was over and it was straight to the locker room with no post game conferences and no interviews from players. Tensions were high in Indy. Nebraska was served supper that was basically lined up outside of the locker room and they had to come and get it. No one was coming into contact with them because what if Hoiberg had just exposed all those people. I just want to take a side note and say I can’t even begin to imagine what Hoiberg was feeling with all this pressure on him on top of not feeling well. It came back that it was Influenza. I woke up Thursday morning surprised to see the big ten tourney was happening. As Tim Miles had said on the Big Ten Network he was very surprised to be broadcasting today. I watched Michigan and Rutgers warm up. I got on twitter and many reporters were tweeting an e-mail they received that the Big Ten Tourney was done and everything was cancelled. They said they were all kind of shocked and nervous to be playing. I think with everything that happened with Hoiberg kind of put everyone into high alert. Then they made the announcement in the studio and arena and the players got off fast. All of the tournaments started getting cancelled. The Big East was still playing so I watched Creighton vs St. John’s – I couldn’t believe they were playing still. Finally it was halftime and nothing was announced. I kept thinking surely the won’t send them back out and then they announced their tournament was cancelled. I was thinking oh no they are going to call off March Madness and I couldn’t even fathom it. Sure enough the announcement game March Madness was done and cancelled. It was heartbreaking I immediately thought of all the team members and coaches they’ve dreamed of this. I was hoping they could just postpone it and play in May or something but there are so many moving parts. Then the announcement of all spring sports were cancelled whoa it was hitting the sports fast they were shutting down literally everything. Then we learned that NBA player Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. Then the NBA suspended their season and the minor leagues baseball followed and soon almost all sports were cancelled or suspended or stopped. Major League Baseball, NASCAR, XFL, Masters were postponing and the rest of the golf tourneys stopped. There are no sports to watch right now and that’s crazy! I’ve been enjoying some previous basketball games that channels have on.

I know I usually talk about chronic illness and I’m about to tie it in here soon. If you know me sports are a huge part of my life. When I was active I loved playing basketball, golf, soccer, etc. Now that I can’t I enjoy watching it even more. So shutting down all the sports did have an impact on me so I’m just giving you my thoughts like I’m here talking to you on a sunny day outside. There is some concern since I have a compromised immune system, I don’t want to get COVI-19. There is fear and that is okay. I’m not scared 100% of the day. I watch the news or keep up on twitter to get facts for a little bit then I get off. I know many of us are literally planning day by day or minute by minute. I just want to share my perspective on this. As someone with a chronic illness that deals with pain also I can’t really plan days in advance. I have things on the calendar I hope to do but I never know what symptoms will decided to kick in to high gear or if I’ll have a migraine, I don’t know what my pain level will be. I literally live in a day to day world. I can “plan” things but I’ve had to stay home or miss events because I just can’t go out. It’s hard and it really stinks to have your plans ruined. So as your planning day to day just pause and think that this is kind of how a person with a chronic illness lives daily. I know it’s different because this is a virus and were being told to stay home but still everyone’s plans are getting messed up.

I’ve seen people post that we don’t need to fear at all because God’s got this. I believe in God and I believe that he protects us but if I’m feeling scared or fearful it’s okay to feel that emotion – this is scary no one knows what will happen next with this virus. I’ve seen people saying all these people getting groceries are so silly. To that I say, keep in mind there are many people with a chronic illness or compromised immune systems. We aren’t going to risk going out to the store next week when the virus has spread more. I’m getting it now so I don’t have to go out. Maybe they are picking things up for a neighbor or their Mom and Dad etc. I don’t think it’s okay to sit here and judge people on how they’re feeling and how they are handling it. You don’t know that person you could’ve seen come out of the store with 18 cans of soup could’ve just been released from the hospital or recovering from something so they went to the store early so they wouldn’t have to come back for awhile. I think the bottom line is to be kind. It is not our job to judge others especially in these times, remind yourself I’m not in their shoes and I don’t know their story. Everyone has no idea what’s going on and if your nervous that’s ok if your chill that’s ok too. We need to be kind and support each other right now. While you may not be worried about getting sick let me give you this scenario. You could carry the virus and you go out and don’t pay attention to any of the CDC’s guidelines and you come into contact with x amount of people. They now have it and carry it around I assume they go home and make contact with you and now the elderly or people who are immuno-suppressed now have exposure to this. So while you may not be worried about yourself think of others and do the right thing.

To summarize in short, March has truly been Madness. Sports are shutting down for now along with schools and so much change has happened in just a week. We have the power to spread kindness and support and prayers for others. We have the opportunity to be the one who doesn’t spread the virus to another person.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” – John 14:27

xoxo,

Abby