Contagious People

All the viruses that have plagued our home for the last couple of weeks are now gone and we are finally starting to get back to a normal life. The last thing we want is another cold or flu coming around us and risking Greg's health once again. Unfortunately, some people do not understand the importance of keeping germs away from my husband. They feel that as long as they do not touch him or breathe directly into his face, that he will be fine and the cold they have will not spread. They are wrong.

Being in a closed environment with a contagious person is a bad thing for anyone who is immune system suppressed. Germs and bacteria live on hard surfaces for a couple of hours and the bugs can also be recirculated through a vent system without the building. There are even some people which compromised immune systems that wont even go into a public place if they know there will be more than a couple of people with something they can catch. This is one of the reasons why we don't even attend the church anymore because there are tons of sick people looking to get well there.

Nonetheless, a family member of mine has called and told me that she is in the area and will be popping by in the next couple of days to see us. She has a horrible cold that she hasn't been able to shake for a month now and sounds like some nasty little buggers are living in her lungs. Great! That is all we need - someone with not only a cold but a chest cold coming into the home of someone who had a double lung transplant! I have told her point blank that she better lose the cold before she comes over and she has agreed that she does not want to infect my husband in the least bit. The problem is that she is still making arrangements to come by even though the cold is not gone yet. Why? I would like to say it is because she wants to see me, but I would be lying. It seems she had a package shipped to my house for her because she knew she would be traveling cross-country and that my location would be the closest to where she was at that given time. Of course, she didn't tell me about the package being delivered until she told me she was only a couple of states away and heading my way!

Sure, she is a direct relative but my priority is my husband. I have no problem putting her package outside and waving to her from the window. There is no way that I am risking Greg's second chance at life for someone who decides to pop over with a highly contagious chest cold.