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March 30, 2020
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Dear LWI Family and Friends,

I wanted to write a short note to you all with a few updates and several links to key information. First, thank you for cooperating (at least the great majority of you ☺) with this very awkward and psychologically uncomfortable societal need to adhere to the social distancing guidelines. PLEASE continue this effort for It is now “crunch time”. In the next 2-3 weeks, we will know whether our collective efforts at maintaining this “together-alone” strategy are being effective. If so, we will see the beginnings of the flattening of the curve which indicates numbers of new COVID-19 patients. When the curve stops reaching for the sky, as it is continuing to do today, we can start to mildly exhale - hopeful that a massive influx of severely sick patients will not overrun our collective ability to provide appropriate life-saving care. If that curve doesn’t flatten, we will quickly have a health care crisis never seen before in our lifetime, not only as we’re starting to see in New York, but gradually throughout our entire country. Our health care facilities will be overrun and our front-line medical providers will be far too few to manage the onslaught. We CAN prevent that from happening if we are willing to stay the course and continue to adhere to the expert’s advice regarding hygiene and distancing. Right now, it’s our only hope.The good news is, we can CHOOSE to have a positive outcome. Let’s all continue to do our part for the collective societal good.

I’d like to share with you a link to a brilliant video of a talk given by David Price MD for family and friends on how to empower and protect your family during the COVID-19 crisis. He is a pulmonary critical-care specialist at Weill Cornell Medical Center, in charge of a 1200 bed hospital in NYC now almost exclusively filled with COVID-19 patients. This is the most practical and informative piece of information I’ve come across and I HIGHLY urge you to watch this whole video with your family. You NEED this information and Dr. Price has a perspective not able to be shared by ivory tower pundits who haven’t seen what he deals with every day, 12 hours a day. Please be patient and watch the entire program including the Q&A. You will be glad you did!

A word about the status of testing.
Ideally, everyone could be tested, preferably yesterday! Unfortunately, we have neither the testing kits, the necessary medical staff, the volume of protective equipment for the testers, the appropriate amount of reagents to run the tests, or the needed machines to run the tests in order to accomplish that. A test has just been approved that will hopefully change that. It can be widely available and processed in less than hour. Whereas now it can take as long as 9-10 days to get results back. It remains to be seen how quickly this testing can be made available. We will keep you abreast of that information. 

Today in San Diego County: A number of testing sites are being set up in different geographic locations. These locations change daily based on the real-time demographics of anticipated need. if you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, you can call 211 between the hours of 8am and 8pm and a public health nurse practitioner will take your history and will make an appointment for you to be tested within 24 hours at a testing site near your home. Scripps, Sharp, Kaiser and UCSD also have their own testing sites which can be accessed by calling them directly. Time for results have been varying from as little as 2 days to 9-10 days.

The reality is that unless you meet the above-mentioned criteria (in which case you should be tested), the treatment recommendations are to stay home, isolate from family in terms of social distance and total avoidance of touching anything that might be contaminated and frequent hand washing or Purell sanitizing, as well as total avoidance of touching your face. That last part (face touching) may be both the most difficult and also the most important.

If I'm feeling sick, when do I need to go the hospital or ER?
All the current evidence points not to fatigue, or fever, or muscle aches or headache, but to “shortness of breath” – meaning having true difficulty in breathing, not when you’re out for a run, but just when you climb stairs or go from your bedroom to the restroom. It’s a matter of feeling like you can’t get enough air when doing very normal things that shouldn’t take much energy. If that occurs, it’s time to go to the Emergency Room now! Otherwise, call us and we’ll help you to decide the most appropriate next steps.

I believe that boosting your immune system is the key to gaining admission to the “80-85% Club” –that group of people who will become eventually infected by this virus (in reality, most of us eventually will) but will have a mild to moderate clinical course at home, kind of like the common cold or the typical flu. The priorities here will be no surprise:

1. Food and Nutrition: Now is the time to eat whole unprocessed foods, mostly plant-based sources with lots of color and variety. 

  • Choose foods high in potassium: beans, avocados, spinach, chard, brussel sprouts, dried apricots, sweet potatoes, dates, coconut water 
  • Drink 2-3 liters of water each day: flat or sparkling water (flavored or not), herbal teas, vegetable juices, limit caffeinated beverages to 1-2 cups per day and fruit juice to 1/2 cup per day---try adding fruit juices to sparkling water!
  • Avoid raw fish and meat for now---thoroughly cook animal proteins. More on this to come.
  • Thoroughly wash all produce then enjoy--we believe it is safe to eat fresh produce. If you are still worried, heat kills coronavirus!  So blanch, roast, bake, saute, or even cook fruits together, like pears and blueberries, for delicious toppings for oatmeal, yogurt, protein pancakes/waffles, or even ice cream (I know no one eats this).

2.  Motion: Move your body.  This is not a time for max exertion or strenuous training.  Try for 3.5 hours of comfortable aerobic type activity per week and several sessions of some type of resistance (strength) training. 

  • Go for a 30 minute walk or bike ride outside.
  • Yoga or stretching. 
  • Mobility exercises---see Meghan demonstrate here!
  • Exercises that use your own body weight against gravity, like sit-ups, push-ups, door-squats,  toe raises
There are many excellent ways to maintain muscle tone during this time. Be creative and have fun.

3.  Your Mind: Choose your attitude!  Don’t succumb to “victim” mentality. 

  • Meditate. 
  • Focus on gratitude and joy. 
  • Practice patience and kindness. 
  • Nurture relationships in whatever way is available to you. 
  • Write letters or connect on social media. 
  • Keep a gratitude or blessings journal. 
  • Share feelings. 
  • Be a good listener for others, without judgement.
  • Let go of worrying about things you can’t control. 
  • Laugh and smile a lot.  
The power of attitude is incredible.  Allow it to work positively for you.  Practice choosing to live in abundance.


4.  Sleep: Practice good sleep hygiene and try to average at least 7 hours nightly, preferably 8.  I’m convinced that sleep deprivation is one of the least appreciated causes of everything from increased feelings of stress to decreased immune response, increased inflammation, premature aging, lousy relationships, depression, general fatigue, loss of libido, increased use of coping substances, loss of happiness and loss of enjoyment in life.  So get some sleep!

Lastly, for those of you who are feeling sports deprived, I’m including a link to an event that we were hoping to witness this summer: the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Japan. This short video captures an absolutely stunning practice session that will put a “wow” on anyone’s face. Enjoy it!

Let’s stay 6 feet apart only in physical space, closer than usual in our hearts. Wash hands often, use moisturizer freely and DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE (except after bathing) ☺

Peace and love,

Lee and your LWI Wellness Team

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