“I had no immune system for months after my bone marrow transplant. Here’s how I avoided viral illness, and how you can, too.

[hsouter]

“I had no immune system for months after my bone marrow transplant. Here’s how I avoided viral illness, and how you can, too. It’s easier than you think.”

A.M. Carter

Mar 22 · 12 min read

medium.com/@amcarter/i-had-...

[cajunjeff]

This was a very helpful article, thanks for posting it. Loaded with good and common sense information for anyone with a compromised immune system.

[Sushibruno]

Thank you for sharing hsouter.

[WinJ3]

Thank you for taking time to write and share this! It’s loaded with lots of good common sense information that could save lives.

I am more motivated to turn these into habits 😁

Win

[cllady01 Former Volunteer]

Excellent article. Thank you--I am going to see about getting it printed in our

Newsletter or at least have the url printed, though everyone does not have a computer access.

[Newdawn Administrator]

Excellent advice with simple but effective solutions. Thanks for posting!

Newdawn

[Peggy4]

Great advice. Thank you.

Peggy 😀

[DMary]

Great read. Thank you, I needed practical and non-scary advice.

[josephinef]

Very sensible advice.

Thanks for sharing.

[Santoshax]

Thank you for posting and sharing.

Great, practical advice.

🌻🌈🇦🇺 Helen

[1ofakind]

What a great article!

So simple and direct and the humor of those misconceptions kind of puts it all in perspective!

Thanks for sharing !!

Be Well!!

[very]

Great, advice.

[JigFettler Volunteer]

Very helpful. Thank you.

A must read for all.

Jig

[Psmithuk]

So helpful as we try to steer our way through the advice, good and bad. Thank you so much for posting. We could do with this in full in this forum I think, for people like me who rarely follow up url s!

Cx

[jaypax]

That is a very helpful article. A lot of sound common sense. Well done you! Thanks very much for sharing your experiences with us . Best wishes. Jeff

[Fran57]

Thanks very much; very well written.

Fran 😉

[Patc890USA]

Can anyone tell me why she had to avoid strawberries?

[hsouter in reply to Patc890USA]

Strawberries often carry molds.

[Patc890USA in reply to hsouter]

Thanks I figure it was something like that and the fact that strawberries have many

crevices etc for things to hide.

[hsouter in reply to Patc890USA]

It seems that irrigation water can carry nasty things....

[RSixtyThree]

Thank you for sharing!!!

[Smakwater]

Good read hsouter,

You're on the money with this one!

These behaviors are quite similar to what I practiced the past 18 months during treatment having to travel frequently on planes through Seattle and Portland. There is some adjusting for caution depending on the risk level presented by individual circumstance. However one can overcome much with increased awareness, and for me these behaviors are a lifestyle through habit.

During this time I did not acquire a single symptom of illness.

I am also reminded that these simple but effective practices are what my mother taught me as a child. It was only a few generations ago that running hot and cold water, refrigeration, disinfectants, vaccines, antibiotics and the like were not even common. I remember teachers at school inspecting students hands to assure that they were washed. I think to some extent society has become complacent through the aforementioned luxuries.

In the recent past when vaccines and antibiotics were non existent even the most healthy people learned to avoid illness and death through the practice of cleanliness and social management. Examples from recent history: Polio - Cholera - Typhoid - Influenza - Measles - Small Pox - Bubonic Plague...

Add - livescience.com/worst-epide...

With the ever increasing populous and mass international travel it is obvious and apparent that these simple, yet effective practices once passed on by parents will once again become the required norm.

I think my Mom must have been a scientist.

Thanks hsouter - A.M Carter

JM

[hsouter in reply to Smakwater]

My late step-mom is my model. She was an old-school nurse and managed to live to 86 in spite of two serious bouts with cancer, idiopathic hypertension and heart disease. She taught me how to cook and eat in a moderate healthful manner, wash my hands always and even keep my hair brush and comb in my bed room and NOT the bathroom. Our Elders really understood how simple things done consistently can keep us safe and well.

I treasure this knowledge, too!

[mikeS101 in reply to hsouter]

Do you mean essential hypertension, or if was idiopathic, what did the doctor do to cause it?

[Smakwater]

You are the treasure and a blessing for passing it on.

[Sepsur]

Great article - thanks for posting

[Que-sera-sera]

I have probably mentioned before in this forum, that I'm NOT someone who gets the flu easily, even now with CLL I still dont, and I think is precisely because it was in the 90's when I became "religious" about washing my hands!

I remember I used to wash my hands prior to leaving the building because I was going to lunch, but then I was like; ok I'm watching my hands now, but I'm still going to touch a ton of things before I get to eat!

So, ever since then, I became slightly "ocd" about making sure my hands are clean, especially before touching food.

And I say "ocd", not in a bad way, because you almost have to these days, when I'm actually even wiping bottles and things that I brought from the store and that I will touch with clean hands, forgetting that others touched before I brought home, including the cashier that rang everybody else's groceries!

Anyway..it might sound like much but I think is helping. Theres also one other tip, that I dont remember where I saw and I dont hear about it often, but someone said it was a good idea, after being out in public, to blow your nose and cough into a napkin and that you might actually be expelling something trying to get into your nasal passages.

Dont know if anybody has heard that or if it's crazy, but I do it...."just in case" ;-)!

[Donnamccll]

Thank you so much for sharing this article.

[HikerBiker]

Many thanks for the straightforward advice. I especially appreciate your dispelling a number of the myths that have been circulating, some supposedly lessons learned from China. People are so desperate for things they can do to protect themselves that they don't stop to really consider whether the proposed step makes any sense. I laughed out loud the first time I read the suggestion to drink every 5 minutes to wash the virus into your stomach. At least that's something that won't hurt you - the hair dryer up the nose, on the other hand....

Be well!

[lexie]

Well timed, straight talking post. Thank you.

[Emerfly]

Thank you for sharing this article . I’ve passed it on to some of my fellow CLL patients in Ireland . Kind regards . Emer