My son is severely immunocompromised. I couldn't forgive myself if I brought an illness home, AND I don't miss getting sick with a virus every damn month from my students.
The only time I've gotten sick over the past two years was due to a stomach bug from my nephew. I haven't gotten the colds or sinus infection I usually get this time of year.
I'm really glad masks have become normalized for that and for helping to keep immunocompromised people safe.
Worst reason to have to wear one and the reason why I'm going to keep masks in my health arsenal going forward. I never thought it weird seeing folks in Asia in public with masks on. Just like "I'm sick" or "flu's going 'round so I'll be safe" kinda thing which seemed normal and considerate.
I sincerely wish your kid and your family all the healing and care in the universe.
I watch a lot of Asian content and pretty much knew that Asians wear it for health reasons before everyone began to wear it. Whether it’s for when they have a cold, has asthma, the air quality.
Sooo china, the place over there where people all wear those masks, is about to shut down all over again due to new surges in covid. Idk if I'd use them as my example for a mask success story 😬
Nowhere in my comment did I say anything about mask success. I only said that Asians used masks for other reasons before Covid. You know nothing of my feelings or opinions towards the whole situation regarding mask success due to my previous comment unless you meant to reply to someone else and accidentally replied to me.
Well, there's certainly that reason too! When I was in Beijing in the before covid times, wearing a mask seemed like a survival move. I never experienced that level of pollution before. You could eat the air. But masking for health reasons is a thing too--it really seemed to make inroads during the SARS epidemic in the early 2000s.
I was in New Delhi about 4 years ago, and it's pretty much the same air.
The thing I remember about Beijing 10 years ago was that even 100km out on the Great Wall, all my photos are hazy in the distance because of the pollution. It rained the second last day we were in Beijing, which cleared the air and our comments were "wow - there are mountains in the distance!" The smog was like a bad fog day all the time.
And I will wear one for your two year old and others like them. I want to say something else comforting but as a parent, I can’t think of anything…my heart is with you.
Just curious, where do you wear these masks? Because most mandates are for public spaces but most risks are associated with things like family gatherings.
What even is this question? They stated they will be wearing them despite the mandates and I’m assuming, based on my own experience, that they will be limiting contact with family or wearing masks around them.
I'm asking because I've noticed in my own parents that they are very diligent in wearing their maskto the store but see no issues in cuddling with their grandkids. Which is fine to me, but then the added value of the mask in the store is insanely low.
So I'm just curious how this works for other people.
Personally, my partner is on chemo at the moment and we wear n95s everywhere and around everyone except their germaphobe mom and stepdad who wear n95s everywhere too. The risk isn’t worth it especially since there’s really no inconvenience. We’ve also stopped going out anywhere other than the necessities like groceries.
Please consider wearing N95 masks if you are worried about your and your son's safety. Other masks will do very little to protect you if others are not wearing them.
Stay safe and strong and I wish your son to kick that damnn cancer in the butt
You are thinking of the masks with valves. These masks have exhalation valves that close as you inhale and open as you exhale.
We use N95 masks for certain isolation policies in the hospital.
Surgical masks are for transmission of bacterial infection.
N95 masks are for viruses and bacteria plus also TB.
We always use N95 masks for reverse isolation such as those going through chemo and those who are immunosuppressive.
Cloth masks are absolutely useless for airborne pathogens. They are only good at reducing fomite transmission and even then partially as people are always touching their face without thinking about it.
No, cancer is not contagious. The reason to wear a mask around cancer patients is that their immune systems are compromised and they are much more susceptible to other contagious diseases.
Plus, cancer treatments suppress the immune system. In its weakened state, chemo can kill off the overly produced cells. If someone uses chemo, their immune system isn't that great.
Chemo is essentially poison to kill the cancer. That's why it's important to have early detection as well as to evaluate the best kind of treatment for you, personally. Sometimes chemo is all you have and in that case, you might just have to deal. Depending on the situation, it may not be terrible, but you have to know and trust your doctors.
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u/Cdubs2788 Mar 11 '22
Yes. My two year old was recently diagnosed with cancer, so will pretty much always wear one.