Nothing Much Happens in Isolation

This is not so much a geographical reference, as it affects so much of how we live and how our health is affected. We can choose to isolate ourselves in a physical way, withdrawing from the world around us, and although I don’t recommend it, I have done it myself. This was for me an attempt to escape the totality that was at the time - overwhelming. We can live and spend a great deal of time surrounded by people and still feel or emote in a way that would imply isolation or withdrawal, as some call it. There is no doubt that we all do this from time to time, or at least most of us do it in some form. The phrase “in our thoughts” or similar refers to the same. Quite natural, I suspect. It is impossible for all of us to have 100% focus in the moment. Certainly, it is impossible for me. Maybe this happens because there are other issues in my life that are causing distraction or requiring a lot of thought. Sound familiar? Again, I think that this kind of thing is quite normal.

Coping with brain fog

Recently I saw a brilliant scientist being interviewed about his own Covid-19 experience and what symptoms he experienced. The one biggest challenge he experienced was what we call brain fog in the hep C community (and elsewhere, to be fair). He mentioned how he struggled to find words and construct sentences that made sense, and only now, several weeks later, he said he felt like he was seeing improvement. It reminded me of my own hep C experience, and the stories I have heard over the years from others who were affected in similar ways.

Hepatitis C can affect the whole body

The thing I have believed about viral infections (like hep C, but not exclusively) is that it does not occur or affect us in isolation, affecting only one system in our body. I think it varies from person to person and like with hep C, we hear mostly about the effect on the liver. Is that any surprise, considering the name? Like other viral infections or any range of other assaults by disease on our health, there is rarely just one part/system affected.

What is the solution? Perhaps there is no therapy or intervention available now, other than to treat each issue in isolation. Well, I think we need more investigation/research that looks at the how and why, and that may lead us to better ways to prevent or manage. Mostly, we need our healthcare providers and systems to better acknowledge these are real things caused by the virus, directly or indirectly. Currently, they are not well known.