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How do you explain the seriousness of getting sick to others?
My homebound days are starting to affect my service dog. Because we’re not getting out much, she sleeps all day (she loves to just cuddle and be lazy) and doesn’t get much exercise. As a result, I can see she’s beginning to gain weight.
I ended up hiring someone using that Rover app, and she starts in a few hours. But because it’s cold and flu season, I had to warn her about germs.
I felt a little awkward texting her about it— just because I’m afraid I’m going to overwhelm people who don’t understand life with SMA, and I didn’t want to scare her away.
That being said, I also didn’t want to get into the whole spiel of why I need to be so careful. Typically, I just say something as simple as a cold can be incredibly dangerous to my health— is that enough? Does it give a clear message to STAY AWAY? What do you typically tell someone who doesn’t know SMA?
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6 Replies
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Mom and I were just talking about this topic. Even family and friends don’t always understand our aversion to germs. All you can really do is let them know. You shouldn’t have to get into detail. It kind of depends on the person if they get it or not.
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I hear you. A lot of it is out of our control. Just last week a nurse showed up for her shift sick as a dog, and she has been told several times the danger of me getting sick. Like you said.. they either get it or they don’t.
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I think explaining that it’s potentially dangerous is perfect. If you want you could also mention that she needs to tell you right away if she’s not feeling well. It’s not cool that you’re nurse showed up so sick. I have had nurses who have done that and I’ve never understood why. They of all people should understand that they are endangering our lives if they do that.
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I don’t understand it either, Halsey. It honestly makes me lose some respect when they have no regard for their patient’s well-being. Isn’t that kind of the whole point of their job?! haha
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When it comes to this household and our family, we all know that my son will always come first. The first time I ever had to explain how serious it was that my LO ( Vince) didn’t get sick was. A couple people laughed at the fact that he had SMA because they didn’t understand. Until I mentioned how something as a simple cough in his face could change everything.
vince has never been sick since he was born in 2018. I have those set rules to shower always after being in a public place, wash your hands like you have OCD ( because literally almost all Sma parents do) and most importantly if you are sick at all or have been around sick people: STAY AWAY!
everyone in my family understands this. The only issue I have now is my husbands sister also lives here with her 3 yr old daughter, I’m slowly learning how to parent two kids at the same time, but explaining what he has to a 3 yr old is hard and it’s hard to get her to remember not to cough or sneeze around him when our house is very dry even with the humidifiers going as well as our essential oil diffusers.
Despite all that I feel like sickness is still my #1 fear. Sickness is silent until it just hits you.In all honesty- I feel very lucky to have kept Vince healthy and strong.
SMA Type 1 ( The Holtes)
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Mikah, first I’d like to say kiddos for being proactive with your little one’s health. It’s a tough one with a 3 year old in the mix because they touch everything and are in such close proximity. I shuttered the other day when my friend’s kid sneezed in my face. Too close for comfort. My only suggestion would be to start instilling good practices like frequent hand washing.
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