After Round Two

Months went by after round two with little celebration. The world is in COVID lockdown, but as time passed, the demands for loosening restrictions became louder. It was interesting times—yet sad, to watch.

What I learned from the first few months of the COVID lockdown was handwashing was an art form lost on many.

I continued on knowing that I’ve got this powerful drug within my system, and I need to stay away from large groups of people. The one drawback, and a major one, was I had to do monthly blood tests—a requirement for four years after my last infusion.

I became a regular at the blood clinic. However, they never really knew my face because I was always hidden behind a mask. I figured the best thing to do was smile with my eyes and choose words that were always kind.

In late spring we looked at going camping, but provincial parks were still closed. However, the government was looking at opening soon for camping—the idea would be that only people from certain areas are allowed to visit. As opening was a few weeks away, we thought we would check out one of our local parks and get takeout from our favourite BBQ place. We got the BBQ, went and ate near the water, and then took our dog for a walk within the camping park boundaries.

It’s a place we’ve been to many times and found it eerily quiet. 

So, we walked up and down the many roads inside the park and had the entire place to ourselves. Or so we thought. I stepped out onto a main roadway and observed a park worker closing in on me with his golf cart. 

“The parks not open,” he said.

“I know, we are just going for a walk. It’s quite peaceful here,” I responded.

“Just don’t touch anything,” he said, forcefully.

“I hope you haven’t touched anything so far,” he followed up.

I remembered that I leaned against a tree while I did my business (washrooms were locked).

“I did lean up against a tree,” I said.

“Well, I don’t know which tree you touched, so you guys should really leave,” he stammered.

He struggled with that sentence. Here is a man, of retirement age, struggling to say what he just said.

Almost like he knew how awkward that sentence sounded.

I possibly could have pointed out the tree, but to what end? Would he have to somehow mark the tree? Would he have to take a jar of hand sanitizer and rub it all over the bark of the tree? Would he grab a chainsaw and remove the tree?

Up to this point, I had stayed away from people, and after this interaction, I’m glad I had.

I had been in COVID/Lemtrada state of isolation. 

Common sense was really, sadly, missing.

People driving in their cars with masks on. People walking on sidewalks, nobody around, with masks on. A good portion of people were scared of the consequences of a COVID infection.

I was grateful for the Lemtrada, and the isolation that it imposed(although I had lengthened it).

The summer came and went. No issues with Lemtrada. I did my monthly bloodwork and watched how my body rebuilt the parts that Lemtrada stripped away.

The doctor was interested to see how my white and red blood cell counts rebounded. The clinic was also looking at lymphocytes and hematocrit (whatever that is). 

Little did I know, but there was other stuff to look for. Like kidney and platelet function.

I was just happy to get it done as long as the results showed I was healthy and becoming more so.

Between the blood sessions, I went and did a little exploring with cameras in tow. I toured the Redcoat Trail in Saskatchewan looking for ghost towns. I found them with the thought of going back for late evening/early morning photography sessions. My first stop was a small, seemingly abandoned town, of Aneroid. It was an interesting town with a newish-looking, abandoned, church. A check on the town showed it was one of the first places where the KKK met. Kinda a grim history, and then I learned NHL great Patrick Marleau was from there.

I carried on and eventually made my way to Bents, Sask. Very cool, historical, place.

All the while thinking—why didn’t I do Lemtrada sooner? I felt good and strong (with the odd MS days).

However, my feet are still numb and the world is abnormal.