The Isolation Diet

Day 4 of isolation: I am up early as I can’t sleep but no one else in the house is awake.

After my husband’s immediate evacuation from our bedroom when my covid was first confirmed, the coffee machine moved in to sit on his bedside table. I have just made myself a cup of coffee and stupidly I don’t have a mug. My large water glass will do for now.

Note to self: always make sure there is a mug in the room before you go to bed. I am still learning how to deal with not being able to wander freely around the house.

In reality, I just feel ill. However, we all know that this illness comes packaged with a far greater magnitude, with the Covid label well and truly fastened. A bombardment of official texts and emails (since my positive testing) have confirmed the severity – as if we need reminding of the chaos this virus has caused. I know for many it has been a desperate experience, a distraught ending, or a life-changing illness so I am in no way belittling it, but for me I just feel ill. I am lucky so far with a cold, cough and a slight headache. As I write this, I hope that it does not progress into something more sinister.

In pre-covid life, if I ever had a cold or cough, I would have just dosed myself up and gone into work. Today, I am isolating in my bedroom with my family rallying around. Our social lives have been put on hold: trips have been cancelled, tickets wasted and family social events avoided. There is an impact on our day to day lives but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not the end of the world.

We are finding a way of dealing with it and now on Day 4, we’re almost halfway. Inane discussions are had about mundane things. On its rare openings, we speak at a safe distance over the threshold of my bedroom door. Yesterday we discussed pizza. I had some leftover slices – should they go in a Tupperware pot and be put in the fridge? Would that contaminate things? In the end my son’s observation was that my bedroom was like ‘a bloody fridge’.

Looking at the wide open windows, it dawned on me that perhaps my room was cold to them but that my body temperature was not as it should be. Interestingly, my feet seem to be permanently cold even though the rest of me is mostly overheated. (Fluffy socks are a big part of my life at the moment.) My now makeshift fridge of a windowsill currently holds 3 slices of pizza and a small jug of milk and thanks to the family technical team, I now have a TV set up in the bedroom for entertainment. Each day brings something new…

Yesterday, I had breakfast al fresco which added some welcomed relief to self-isolation. My husband had set up a garden chair and table for me at a safe distance. It felt so good to be outside. It may have been a grey and slightly damp day, but I felt wonderfully cosy and warm in my crocheted cardigan and scarf wrapped up in a blanket whilst we chatted. I looked around the garden and pondered on staying outside and doing some digging – safe away from anyone. If I’d had the energy I would have, but I don’t so I won’t.

In fact, if I had the energy I would definitely do more. I love to be out and about and active so this sedentary isolation doesn’t sit well with me. I tried some gentle pacing of the room yesterday but it’s not quite the same. On the plus side, I seem to have lost a kilo in weight. So despite the lethargy and inactivity, the upside is a lighter me! I am aiming for another kilo before Day 10. You heard it here first…

The Isolation Diet:when your family forget to feed you!