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Vila Health: Health Challenges in Different Populations

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I guess I’m as good as I can be today. My pain’s still there, but it’s not as bad as it can be some days, and I’m far enough out from the last round of chemo that the nausea’s gone. So that’s good.

But it’s just hard. It’s hard living with this checklist of things I have to do to keep from getting some kind of infection. Wash my hands, sure, I can do that. I should be doing that anyway! But I’m not used to having to do it so much! And I lose a lot of sleep worrying about what would happen if I got an infection- on top of all the sleep I’m losing worrying about cancer.

It just gets to be a lot. Cooking for myself and washing all the produce. And I’m at the mercy of Sara, my daughter, helping to get groceries for me since I can’t really go out into crowds like that. I don’t mean to complain! She’s been a blessing. but she’s a busy woman and as much as she helps, she has to fit it in between the rest of the things she does in her life- going to work, taking care of the kids. And then every time she comes over, it’s hard for her to have to deal with all the cleanliness, too. She spends a lot of time here when I’m at my worst, right after chemo, but that means that she has less time to spend other times.

It’s also hard for Sara to bring the kids over, because of germs. So I feel like I never see my grandkids, right when I really need to see them. We talk on Skype, and that helps a little, but it’s not the same. I used to have a lot of friends at the senior center, but I think I was just making people feel uncomfortable, going there in a surgical mask and washing my hands all the time. I can’t even have a cat for company!

Delia Jensen Elderly Home Health Care

Delia Jensen, 79, an immunocompromised cancer patient. She lives at home alone, and is visited daily by a home health care nurse.

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INTRO CARL ALOMAR KEVIN MILLARD CONCLUSIONDELIA JENSEN