By Guest Blogger, Martha Garvey

My days of quarantine came to an end about two weeks ago. I’m an instructor at a college in the Twin Cities, and we are back on campus as our students settle into their new normal: masks, sanitizing stations as far as the eye can see, and an awkward distance between staff, friends, and classmates.

When quarantine started for me back in March, I thought of all the times I had been hospitalized and home sick with respiratory exacerbations from my cystic fibrosis. I had always made goals of things I wanted to do when I got better or when I had the time, but those two things never matched up. When you’re home sick for eight weeks on IVs with a lung infection, you have the time but not the strength. When you’re finally healthy, you’re playing catch up and have no time to spare. So I knew this was a unique opportunity for me. I finally had the time and, thanks to the new medication Trikafta, I finally had the stamina to truly do whatever I wanted, as long as it was COVID-friendly and kept in place this social distracting! I thought of all the times I missed out on things that brought me joy and decided I was taking back my time. These last five months were truly my time to shine!

I was now only hanging out with my dog, so, to be honest, everything was on my terms. I did whatever I wanted, and it was awesome! I slept in, made an enormous breakfast, played soccer and wandered local trails with my dog. I ordered tacos to be delivered to my door at least twice a week. I worked from my backyard in a hammock and hardly ever wore jeans. I kayaked, painted furniture, pretended I knew how to make things from clay and failed. Started doggy daycare. I ordered more tacos, taught my dog to shake hands, closed doggy daycare, kayaked more days than not. Life was great, and I was so well rested and happy. I was living in a complete bubble and thriving.

I feel like people with cystic fibrosis or any chronic illness really learn to appreciate life differently than maybe those who are healthy. We know the value of a moment and find happiness in the little things that maybe aren’t always guaranteed in our lives. We know how easy it is to miss out on things and how quickly plans can change for the worse. I felt so happy being able to take advantage of my time to focus on just me for once. Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely heartbroken that we are dealing with a global pandemic. I had extreme anxiety in the beginning of quarantine and was convinced I had COVID-19 every other day. I learned that as humans we can only do our part and that we don’t have control over everything and everyone. I can wear a mask and stay home in order to help slow the spread of this disease, but I cannot force other people to do the same. I can only encourage them. I felt guilty at times for enjoying my time during quarantine, almost as if I needed to feel sad during this time in order to be respectful about the current situation.

I think people across the world are learning to take back their time and to really enjoy the moments we are being given. We don’t know what the future holds, whether that’s in regards to CF, COVID-19, or just life in general. But I think we need to stop feeling guilty about doing things that make us happy. We need to take what we can get and do our part to protect those around us so they are able to stay healthy and do the same.

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