April 14, 2020 Finding the positives to self-isolation

In her own words, a long-time and dedicated volunteer from Salmon Arm, British Columbia tells us how she’s spending her time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nel Peach has been living with diabetes since 1983 and continues to use her voice as a passionate advocate and supporter, even during this troubling and uncertain time.

There have been some big positive plusses to this pandemic and the self-isolation. I have been in regular contact with family and friends across the globe via telephone, email and Facebook. House cleaning has taken on a different purpose & my husband and I have busied ourselves with other jobs such as reviewing our wills - including working on our living wills. And an ongoing job is to discard a lot of outdated paper files.

Since we like to support our local eateries, we opted for take-out foods on our usual Saturday dining out. We set the table with our second-best set of dishes and I manage to “dress-up” for the occasion.

I have also been following the Diabetes Canada website and shared their concerns and resources in various online diabetes groups which has kept me very much occupied in a good way. 

I was contacted by a local Reporter to talk about diabetes and COVID-19 from a patient perspective. I have also been in awe of how well our Salmon Arm community members are paying heed to physical distancing measures while still going outside for walks in the neighbourhood. We have a 15-year old toothless canine who also needs regular outings.

My husband and I have established a weekly grocery shopping routine – alternating who goes each week. I still get to say hello to one mother of a son who lives with type 1 diabetes and recently learned from a cashier that her daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I passed along one of my business cards from my Regional Chair days with our phone number in case she had any questions about diabetes during these newly diagnosed days.

I’m also already planning a virtual birthday party for my magical 80th birthday celebration and hope to raise funds for Diabetes Canada’s D-camps program in British Columbia.