Autoimmune Disease: My Life During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! 

Today is going to be another personal post, this one about my life during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a person living with autoimmune disease.

Let's get into the post!

King, Alexandria. Musings of an Arthritic Artist. 2021.

Since the start of this pandemic, everyone's life has changed, though luckily, a lot of people have begun to get back to their normal. For me, it's a bit more complicated than a simple vaccine, which I can't get. My autoimmune disease doesn't count under the main list of health issues and I'm too young. Plus for people with autoimmune diseases, a certain amount of time has to pass since your last flare-up before you get it. I'm in the middle of a flare right now, so obviously I couldn't get it even if I wanted to.

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Honestly, my life has only mildly changed. My family and I used to physically go to the library. My family and I used to physically go to the grocery store instead of ordering things online, which makes things simultaneously easier and harder. Otherwise, my life is essentially the same.

Here's some examples.

During quarantine I have:

1. drawn

2. read

3. written

4. done schoolwork

5. watched movies/tv shows

6. played video games

7. watched sports (hockey, figure skating, baseball, bull riding, and some football games)

8. spent time with my sister/parents

9.  cruised the internet

10. taken photos

11. had a flare-up

12. tried my best to manage my arthritis

These are things I do every day. I will say the only thing that has changed is that prior to December 2019, I hadn't had a flare-up since 2017, so that was technically new. However, considering I have spent most of my life either on medications or in the middle of a flare, I don't really consider it "different." I consider it an inconvenience and annoying, but not different.

The main things that have changed in my life (though this changed before the pandemic began) are that:

1. I live in a new house

2. I have a new room

3. I have a new mattress

Otherwise, nothing is really different. I already don't have to go to public school because I'm homeschooled, however I never really used to go out to begin with. 

As far as my life during the pandemic goes, let's start with how it all began. March 2020, the month where the world changed.

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The beginning of quarantine was difficult for me mentally. Some months were harder than others. I went into detail on this topic in a post from a few weeks ago (linked here: Does Writing Improve My Autoimmune Disease and Mental Health? (opens in new window)), so I won't cover the same things here.

It was difficult seeing the news and hearing the numbers of cases and fatalities. It got to me. I tend to detox by watching hockey and reading, and since I couldn't do the former (all sports were canceled), I focused on the latter. Before everything closed down in my hometown, my family and I checked out books at our local library. I picked up some books I wanted to read during quarantine. I had checked out the first book in The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan, which I'm honestly so grateful for.

I began reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series in 2017. I read the entire series. Then I began The Heroes of Olympus, reading all of those in 2018. In 2019, I read the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series. I had wanted to read The Trials of Apollo in 2019, but I didn't get to it because I ran out of time. By the time I finished Magnus Chase, it was going to be Christmas. I was going to read The Trials of Apollo before Magnus Chase, but I changed my mind. I wanted to read something with less books, knowing that The Trials of Apollo would have 5 novels.

Because I hadn't read it, I started The Trials of Apollo in March 2020. Best decision ever. Those four books (The Tower of Nero hadn't been released yet) were the only things that kept me from going insane for those first few weeks. The Trials of Apollo was one of the only positive things about my days then. Otherwise, I worried about my family and the world. 

My empathy levels are so high and active that I could feel the pain of the thousands of families who were going through what they went through at the beginning. That's why I don't like watching or reading the news. I can feel all of it, whether I know the people or not. I can feel the emotions through the screens, and I don't like it, because I have enough stress in my life as it is. 

When I was a child, I couldn't watch certain movies or read certain books because I would feel the emotional pain of the character. I hated stories similar to The Ugly Duckling when I was a child, but I digress. That's another story for potentially another time.

The point is, the craziness going on in the world impacted me negatively, and I treasured every moment where I could pick up my tablet and read about the adventures of Apollo and Meg McCaffrey. I read The Trials of Apollo wherever and whenever I could. It was exactly what I needed at the time. Even The Burning Maze (which is the most tragic book in The Trials of Apollo) was a ray of light. Even though I like Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus more than The Trials of Apollo, it will always hold a special place in my heart for helping me through a tough time.

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At the beginning of the pandemic, I was hanging out with my older sister a lot. Just before the pandemic began, my family and I moved into a new house, which has been one of the main reasons why my mental health hasn't deteriorated excessively. Due to this move, my sister and I were hanging out in the room we called the loft (which has now become my sister's room) a lot. 

I spent 12 hours of my night (I was a night owl at the time; my sleep schedule was messed up, which is something that isn't anything new) reading and watching my sister play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on her boyfriend's Nintendo Switch. Minus the quarantine part, it wasn't different. I can't count how many times I've just watched my sister play a video game for hours. I don't recall her ever playing twelve hours straight on one game, but there's a first time for everything. 

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My sister and I do many things in quarantine, though we always turn back to the same things.

Last year, I read the entire Twilight Saga. No matter how many days pass by, somehow my sister and I always cycle back to Twilight rants (I start them). I've probably ranted about the same things at least ten times by now. I'm glad I read it during quarantine. It gave me something to rant about that wasn't the world. 

Another thing we cycle back to is music. My sister and I both love music (though my sister loves it more), and one of our sister bonding activities is listening to music, both familiar and foreign, so we found and listened to a lot of music. 

We also play a lot of games, ranging from card games, board games, video games, and other games that we make up or find on the internet. We could spend hours watching videos on YouTube.  

I have to give credit where credit is due. Even with The Trials of Apollo, my mental health still wouldn't have necessarily been fine if it wasn't for my sister. To be honest, as many times as she's annoyed me over the past 18 years, I've never wished I was an only child. She's just lucky I don't like being lonely. 

If I were asked in the future who I would pick to be in quarantine with, I'd definitely pick my sister. I'd pick my mother or father as well, but I would pick my sister first, because if I have one parent, I have to have the other. I need both. I only have one sibling. Our age gap is large (8 years, 10 months), but she's my best friend and I do almost everything with her.

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The pandemic is interesting because there are thousands of people wearing masks, and I distinctly remember that when I was a child I would wear masks during flu season. My older sister was involved in band, so we would go see high school football games every Friday and when December would come, I'd wear a surgical mask to the games. 

I used to get weird looks from people when I did, but it protected me, so I only mildly cared. I can't remember getting sick from any of my sister's events that we went to when she was in high school. If anything, it happened once, but I honestly don't remember. 

I haven't been out in public since March 7. March 7, 2020. That isn't to say that I haven't gone out. My family and I have taken rides around our city and neighborhood. We've taken walks, but I haven't been inside a store, library, or other public place in about a year. When this post goes up, my sister and I will be on day 402 of quarantine. And in case you're wondering: No, I haven't gone insane.  

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As for the rest of quarantine, I'm left in the boat I originally thought I was going to be in: waiting out the pandemic until I feel safe enough to be out in public, which won't be for a while. I'd rather be safe than sorry. I already had one experience with a flu. COVID-19 can be worse with pneumonia, so I don't want to deal with that. There's a chance that if I contracted it I'd have a flare-up (the chances are pretty high, considering a pneumonia is worse than a flu), and I'd rather not potentially end up with another medical condition that could've been prevented by staying quarantined at home. I'd rather not be bed-ridden and unable to walk or draw.

One flare-up is bad enough.

That's it for this post! 

Thank you for tuning into this installment of Musings of an Arthritic Artist! I hope you enjoyed it!

See you Thursday,

Lexi K🖌