What should I do if I have symptoms?
If you develop symptoms of coronavirus (such as high fever, a deep dry cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath), call your provider.
“What’s really important is if you get sick, let someone know,” Pergam said. “Call your provider and tell them if you have respiratory symptoms. Sometimes, they may advise you to stay home. If you’re feeling that you need to go to an ER because you’re feeling very ill, call ahead and let them know you have respiratory symptoms. They can provide guidelines and protect you when you walk in the door.”
And if the symptoms are minor, Pergam said, just stay home. Remember, it’s still flu and cold season.
“We don’t want to overburden the health care system with the worried well,” he said. “It’s a balance. We want to be prepared but also make sure people don’t panic. If we panic, there will be a run on the health care system.”
Testing for COVID-19 in Seattle has been greatly aided by the UW Medicine Clinical Virology Lab, which started testing people immediately after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave its OK. The lab anticipates it will soon be able to test more than 1,000 samples a day; researchers said eventually they will be able to test 4,000 and perhaps even 5,000 samples a day.
Currently, a doctor’s recommendation is the only requirement for the COVID-19 test.
What if a family member develops symptoms?
“Your family is important and you don’t want to avoid them, but if someone in your household gets sick, use some social distancing,” Pergam said. “Wear gloves, have them sleep in a different room if you can, make sure you wipe down areas with some sort of bleach wipes and keep washing your hands regularly. That’s really important.”
It’s also crucial not to bring a sick family member into your cancer treatment center.
“We need less people who are ill, not more,” Pergam said. “You don’t want someone going in with you even if they only have minor symptoms.”
Finally, he said it’s important to bring just one caregiver with you to treatment, not your entire family.
Should cancer patients (and survivors) avoid public transportation and events?
Pergam said people currently in treatment, if at all possible, should avoid taking public buses or trains. But he also acknowledged not every patient can afford Lyft or Uber or some other rideshare service.
“Talk to your care team about what options exist to support you getting there without taking public transportation,” Pergam said. “Some hospital systems have services set up for patients.”
If you have no choice but to use the bus or a train, take precautions and distance yourself from others.
“Protect yourself,” Pergam said. “Sit in the back of the bus or other areas with less exposures and if you see someone who seems ill, coughing, move away.”
Pergam said cancer patients a few years out of treatment “should be OK,” but whenever possible should also avoid crowded buses or trains.
“If you have to get on a bus, practice distancing,” he said. “Or stay home if you can. It increases your risk when you are in public spaces.”
As for other public gathering places, Pergam again advised caution. Instead of going out to a movie, watch something at home instead, he said. Get take-out or delivery from your favorite restaurant instead of showing up in person. Or cook at home. Many grocery stores offer delivery service. You can even ask your pastor if they can set up a computer so you can go to “virtual church.”
“This doesn’t mean you have to be a hermit, just limit close interactions, particularly in public spaces,” he said.
Are there ways to keep your immune system strong?
Both Lyman and Pergam stressed the importance of sleep in recharging the immune system.
“Sleep deprivation is one of the most potent ways of suppressing the immune system,” Lyman said. “Everybody has a different threshold but if you’re not getting a minimum of six or seven or, ideally, eight hours of sleep a night, there’s demonstrable scientific evidence that the immune system may be compromised.”
Also helpful: exercise, preferably something aerobic, like walking or jogging, that will get the heart pumping.
“Take a walk outside in the fresh air; that’s really good for you,” said Pergam, who’s also at risk as a kidney transplant recipient and cancer survivor. “Right now, that’s better than going to the gym.”
Another step to staying strong and healthy through the COVID-19 crisis: getting good nutrition.
“It appears that 70%-80% of our immune system is in the gastrointestinal tract,” Lyman said. “And [it is] directly impacted by the food we eat and the microbes that thrive in our gut. A balanced diet, eating fruits and vegetables, is very important.”
As is staying up to date on vaccinations, including the flu vaccine; avoiding smoke or smoking (cancer patients can get smoking-cessation help here) and making sure you have any and all other medical conditions (high blood pressure, lung disease, diabetes, etc.) under control, he said.
Stress also appears to be bad for the immune system. Although both researchers admitted it’s not easy to stay relaxed at a time like this.
“Some things we cannot control,” said Lyman, whose age and health issues put him at risk, as well. “But you can control what you eat, whether you exercise and how much you sleep. These are definitely the things I’m doing.”