Last summer I travelled to Thailand to visit family and friends for the first time in four years. For health-related reasons, I had previously been prevented from travelling, so I was looking forward to another trip, but then Covid-19 crept up in a fast, scary and unexpected way. Now, like many other individuals with underlying conditions -- in my case I am immunocompromised -- I am facing several months in self-isolation with all plans cancelled for the foreseeable future. However, I've realised that my experience of having had two stem cell transplants has prepared me well for another period of isolation.
In December 2015 at the age of 24, I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, an aggressive blood cancer. After an anxious waiting period, I was fortunate enough to find a matching stem cell donor for a transplant in 2016. I recovered well for a while but unfortunately, I relapsed and needed a second transplant in January 2018. After my first transplant, I was daunted by the prospect of spending six months of recovery time at home and avoiding all crowded places.
In that period I focused intensely on getting to the end of those six months so I could get a semblance of my regular life back. When I went through recovery the second time (which ended up being much longer than six months), I had the realisation that my life would never go back to "normal" so I had to fully change my mindset to think about making the most of the "new normal". This allowed me to think more creatively about how I could still spend my time doing the things that I love, but within new parameters.
As everyone is hunkering down and facing an undefined period of isolation or lockdown, I have found myself sharing my experiences and tips with friends and family. Here are a few questions I've gotten, and my responses.
How do you avoid feeling cooped up?
Keeping a sense of space is really important for mental well-being. Light is important for me, so at home, I try to get as much light into the rooms as possible. There were periods when I was in the hospital for two months straight and on the days that I was able to go outside -- even for 10 minutes -- that made a huge difference. I noticed myself tuning into and appreciating the small things more, like the sound of the wind or birds or the feeling of sunshine on my face.
What were your methods of coping? And what are your tips on breaking up the monotony of days?
I think I've realised the importance of living in the moment and taking each day as it comes. My tip would be to not fixate on the period of time as every day is a new day. I found it helps to keep a gratitude list for each day.
However, I also think it can be good to think back at the end of each day and take stock of what you've achieved, be it small or big. I think the key is to try to introduce variety to your days to break up the potential monotony.
How do you spend quality time with loved ones especially with no visits?
I think it's so important to stay connected and support each other through this time of uncertainty. I say, instead of social distancing, let's practise distanced socialising. We are lucky to have the technology to facilitate this through phone calls and video calls.
There are many ways we can stay connected and it's good to think creatively about it.
What are the things that bring you joy in times of isolation and tips on how to figure them out?
My approach to daily activities involves thinking what brings you short-term gratification and what brings you long-term gratification. For example, short term: watch an episode of a series you are enjoying. For the longer term, I took time to work on my Thai (my mum is Thai but I'm not a fluent speaker) and the gratification I got was seeing my Thai improve.
The same thinking works with goals. For example, when I was getting back into yoga, my short-term goal was to be able to build back my strength with each session and my long-term goal was to be able to balance in a handstand.
And how to figure them out? My advice is to try new things to figure out what will bring you joy. For example, I tried pottery for the first time during my recovery period and it has turned into a great new passion.
Even if we are physically apart, we are all in this together
This is an incredibly anxious time for all of us and especially for those of us who have underlying health conditions. However, I take comfort in the fact that everyone is acting in solidarity to stop the spread of the virus to protect the most vulnerable and to help our health systems cope. When I was going through treatment, I always felt left behind or felt I was missing out while everyone else was getting on with their own lives. Now that everyone is staying at home, we can all try to make the most of this unexpected and unwanted situation together.
As always my utmost gratitude goes to all healthcare workers who are supporting patients in these most unprecedented times.
Half Chinese-Thai, half Italian, Lara Casalotti is founder of Match4LaraThailand, a campaign that went viral globally in 2016 asking people to voluntarily donate their blood and get tested to see if their stem cells matched her's.
