Hi Sir/Madam,

It’s your doctor. Your biopsy came back. It showed positive, I’m sorry, but you have cancer. April Foo... oh wait, except it’s not a joke. Take a moment and just think of what that might feel like. Close your eyes and let it sink in. It happened to me just last Friday, again. With every metastasis, it’s still as shocking as the initial diagnosis. Every time, it feels like a cruel joke. 

We are all currently living a life with a cancer diagnosis, right now. Globally calling it a quarantine.   The protocols they’ve put in place are basically cancer protocols my doctors gave me a year ago. Social distancing. No hugs. Not being allowed in large crowds. Extra cleansing precautions at the gym. Small groups preferred. Constant hand washing and sanitizing. Wearing masks on planes or in public. Elbow bumps. Not being able to eat out. Quarantine for days at a time.  Fear of going into public. Always contemplating if the activity is potentially worth exposing my low counts to the flu or that maybe hanging out with someone who may have hung out with someone with the flu could pass it on. Life online. With an unemployment rate of 32% thanks to the coronavirus, a lot of people had to put their pride aside to apply for unemployment. Me too, but millions weren’t doing it back then.  

People have been checking in to see how I’m dealing with the quarantine while going through chemo treatments every three weeks, doing biopsies, and echos at the hospital.  Scary stuff these days. Hospitals are scary different, and intense. But honestly, not much has changed in my world since the virus has started spreading compared to others. While the coronavirus and the flu are like apples and oranges. I’ve been on virus lookout since the flu season began, and now everyone is just kind of playing along with me. Working from home, now I have friends to chat with whenever during the day. 

The world has never been so clean and germ conscious. Like grocery stores, Trader Joe’s is doing one in one out and max 30 people (dream always.) Whole Foods with the early hour for the elderly, the best time to go to Whole Foods, in my opinion.  It’s one of my favorite things to do. Quiet, clean, and stocked. I miss the grocery store. But everyone is taking precautions; gyms, schools, airports, office buildings, restaurants, etc. all following new CDC regulations, and honestly, I appreciate the new standard! I just wish there wasn’t this global fear and so many deaths. 

I personally feel safer. My home is cleaner, and people are washing their hands correctly. Did you see how clean the planes are now? Let me give a small personal example of the impact this has made of the germ awareness of my family. Last summer, we were on vacation, we had to provide all the toiletries for the house, and my family didn’t put hand soap by any of the bathroom sinks for the first 2-3 days. I was doing hardcore chemo at the time. Now, no one can enter our home without washing their hands first and giving us a run down if they’ve traveled or been in contact with anyone with the virus. 

It does suck. I pray for the people suffering and dying right now,  but the world is not ending. Take this as a time to breathe. Remember, it’s only temporary. Life will be back to normal and like in the frigid days of winter we miss summer, and the scorching days of summer we miss winter, there will come a day we’ll miss working from our couches and beds, in our PJs with our dogs. It’s okay to take this time to rest, to stare at the wall, and not change out of your PJs for a few days. Its also okay to make checklists, get fit, and bake some bread for the first time. Whatever you are doing or aren’t doing is enough. 

But what I hope everyone takes from this is how severe germs and proper hand washing is. I’ve been in germ hiding since the flu season started in October. 61,000 people died from the flu from 2017-2018. To put that into perspective with the coronavirus, which has unfortunately taken 44,000 (4/1/2020, worldometer.info) lives in total so far. Scary, but less than the number of people from the flu that year and look how we’re acting. But every year, the flu puts cancer patients and the elderly on edge. So please continue hand washing, proper sanitization, and workout facilities keep it up too!!! By maintaining these standards, you could still be saving lives from other viruses and bacteria. Also, it will help keep the death toll down for the coronavirus. Please play your part now by staying at home, but also don’t turn a blind eye when they set us free. Take this as an opportunity to adopt new habits! Not necessarily for yourself but at the risk of others. 

To help play my part, I put together a Bloom Approved sanitization questionnaire for one of our partners, SweatNet (SweatNet.com), so their partners can provide a safe and clean space for cancer patients, immune-compromised, and really everyone. Studios and faculties that meet these standards can become Bloom Approved, meaning it’s safe for those going through chemo, mild treatments, or low immune systems to workout or eat in these spaces. If you want to be Bloom Approved, please don’t hesitate to contact me to see what the requirements are. They're more straightforward than you think but give patients peace of mind and allows cancer patients to participate in the community. I continued to go to studios during my time of active treatment, but the instructors are my friends and were able to create my safe space. Not everyone has that luxury. Even with this privilege, I still suffered from panic attacks from getting to class late and being next to people sweating on my mat. Not fun or zen. I hope by studios becoming Bloom Approved, and it will be a small step towards safer and cleaner studio spaces not just for cancer patients but for everyone that could potentially pass the flu or germs to someone they love. Let us help you, help us!

Contact Erika@bloomfoundation.gives for details on how to become Bloom Approved.

Peace, good handwashing and love always,

Erika & BFG