#nomaskbans — Public Fediverse posts

Educate each other about our intersecting movements.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHULkS5qYHk

Panda Express walked back their employee mask ban in response to public outcry.

Starbucks is also attempting to prohibit their employees from masking unless they have a doctors note.

Get loud. Call, email & boycott. These ableist decisions are reversible, we just need to keep up the fight!

#nomaskbans #ableism #discrimination #fascism #uglylaws #eugenics #starbucks #pandaexpress #disability #covidisnotover

Texas becomes the latest State to propose a mask ban (while in the midst of a measles outbreak that’s currently over 100 cases).

These are ugly laws. They’re discriminatory & push disabled people further out of society. They increase the likelihood of police harassment. They paint maskers as “bad”.

There’s an excellent document with scripts for how to call & fight back! 🧵 1/2

https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1704ui-FIcCqF97SX5uVnjP-Xi4A6m4WUXjce2ZonKEI/mobilebasic

#uspoli #maskbans #nomaskbans #uglylaws #infectioncontrol #publichealth #texas #measles #covidisairborne #covidisnotover #ableism #eugenics #disability

When I was first diagnosed with MCAS I thought “a condition I can control!”

I genuinely believed that since there were clear & obvious triggers - I could put in the work, overhaul my life and be free of attacks.

When a patient plans - mast cells laugh.

I threw myself into research trying to learn how to adopt a low histamine diet, clean my air and change my body care and cleaning products.

I (falsely) assumed that if I made enough changes - sacrificed HARD enough - I wouldn’t have to deal with flare ups.

It was exhausting. Many of the changes DID help. A low histamine diet, cleaner air, a proper med and supplement schedule and non toxic cleaning products all helped to reduce my overall “bucket” so that my symptoms were less severe.

The problem was - I continued having attacks. From minor attacks to full blown anaphylaxis - no matter how much work I put in the attacks didn’t stop.

It was incredibly frustrating - and I began tracking everything I ate, used or did in an effort to find patterns.

In the end I realized that sometimes - there are no answers. “Putting in the work” doesn’t guarantee you won’t have attacks.

It’s a help - and we should do whatever we can to minimize our symptoms - but chronic illness (and especially MCAS) doesn’t care about your plans.

I had to learn to let go. Constantly blaming myself, over analyzing every situation and trying to nail down exact triggers was exhausting me.

It wasn’t helping my physical health and was destroying my mental health

At a certain point - we have to accept that chronic illness can be wildly unpredictable - and flares are NOT our fault.

Setbacks happen - and the best thing you can do is give yourself grace and remember that the pain WILL pass.

This applies to Covid as well. I see far too many people who are covid cautious being blamed for their infections. Being grilled as to what their exact precautions were as people try and exploit a perceived weakness somewhere.

This isn’t helping.

If you’re masking and doing everything you can do to avoid covid - you’re doing a great job. If you got infected anyways - that’s the fault of our institutions and governments who’ve allowed the virus to run rampant and encouraged people NOT to take precautions

Just like we have to let go of trying to find every possible trigger for our chronic illness - we have to let go of the blame when people get infected with Covid.

Blame, shame and guilt aren’t helping anyone - and they aren’t good for your health.

To be clear - “letting go” doesn’t have to mean giving up. It doesn’t mean you stop trying to improve your health or stop mitigating for COVID.

It simply means you stop fighting the reality that you’re sick. You lean IN to the conditions and try and find ways to accommodate

It’s a difficult thing to do. I’m still having to work at it every single day. But it’s worth making the effort.

Society, HCWs and even friends & family can be cruel to those with chronic illness - we don’t need to be cruel to ourselves.

Which brings me to my third and final article in my series on living with MCAS - Learning to Let Go.

This post explains how I learned to be kinder & gentler with myself and accept that setbacks WILL happen and they’re not my fault:

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/learning-to-let-go-how-to-accept

1/2

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidCautious #CovidIsNotOver #CleanAir #WearaMask #Disability #LongCovid #Ableism #Denial #CleanAir #Pandemic #PublicHealth #InfectionControl #Eugenics #SafeHealthcare #N95 #Respirators #MasksWork #MaskUp #Spoonie #Discrimination #Dysautonomia #mecfs #pots #mcas #communitycare #wearamask #chronicillness #keepmasksinhealthcare #MaskBans #NoMaskBans #MastCellActivationSyndrome #mastcells #histamine #lowhistaminediet #mastocytosis #anaphylaxis

A study came out recently that showed a single COVID infection increases your risk of serious cardiovascular events for 3 years post infection.

That’s terrifying - but there’s a bigger discussion being missed.

That finding means a Covid infection makes you a “vulnerable”.

First off - the study didn't show that after three years your risk returns to pre-COVID levels. It's three years because that's all the data we have.

For all we know your risk never goes back to where it was before.

The increased risk factor was after ONE infection. Now I don't know about everyone else - but I don't know many people who are stopping at one infection.

Most have had it at LEAST three times - and because we aren't mitigating it at all - are getting it annually (or more frequently than that).

In time I'm sure we will see studies that make it clear how much risk reinfections pose - but if we know ONE infection raises your risk for three years - it's safe to assume multiple infections aren't doing your heart any favours.

There's also the fact that the increased risk applies even for those who had "mild" acute infections - once again proving that there really is no such thing as "mild COVID."

You may be asymptomatic. You may recover quickly. It’s still damaging your body in a myriad of ways.

"Only the vulnerable" need to worry.

Wrong again. The study showed that increased cardiovascular risk impacted everyone who had Covid - not JUST the vulnerable.

There's also decent odds you're now IN the vulnerable category because you had Covid.

Don't understand what I mean? Think it's fear mongering?

What makes someone vulnerable? Preexisting conditions, old age, compromised immune systems.
When a study finds an increased risk of severe cardiac issues - that means you have a comorbid condition!

That "increased risk" is because you now have cardiovascular issues. High blood pressure, narrowed arteries, increased clotting etc.

Congratulations - you're now one of the “vulnerable" for at least the next three years!

We've also seen a number of studies showing that COVID impairs the immune system. We even know it prematurely AGES you.

So you "feel" fine. You think you had a “mild" case. But the reality is you're immune compromised AND have cardiovascular disease.

You may actually be more "vulnerable" than disabled people like me who you look down.

Why? Because I know l'm vulnerable so I do everything I can to avoid COVID infections.
I'm not repeatedly stressing my body with constant reinfections. 1/2 🧵

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidCautious #CovidIsNotOver #CleanAir #WearaMask #Disability #LongCovid #Ableism #Denial #CleanAir #Pandemic #PublicHealth #InfectionControl #Eugenics #SafeHealthcare #N95 #Respirators #MasksWork #MaskUp #Spoonie #Discrimination #Dysautonomia #mecfs #pots #mcas #communitycare #wearamask #chronicillness #keepmasksinhealthcare #MaskBans #NoMaskBans #silentkiller

People make insensitive comments about disability ALL the time. Implying we’re “lucky” that we don’t have to work, that they wish they could “lay around” etc.

They don’t understand the “crip tax”.

It’s expensive being chronically ill. And no one teaches you HOW to cope.

Even if you’re fortunate to have good insurance and/or live somewhere with universal healthcare (like Canada)… the costs add up quick.

Take Canada for example - seeing a doctor is covered - medications, dental and vision aren’t.

If you have complex chronic illness - prescription costs alone can quickly spiral out of control.

Even if you have private coverage - many things aren’t covered. Almost half of what I take wouldn’t be covered by insurance - even with specialist prescription.

Other costs people don’t consider:

💰 Special diet (mine is incredibly restrictive)

💰 Medical and first aid supplies, home healthcare supplies etc

💰 Delivery, homecare, cleaning services, transportation, mobility aids.

If you have MCAS and/or Long Covid or are covid cautious … you can add a whole bunch more expenses to the list:

💰Air purifiers
💰Specialized body & oral care products
💰MCAS safe cleaning products
💰Respirators
💰Rapid tests

The bottom line is being disabled is expensive. Losing your autonomy and independence costs money.

Juggling everything we need to stay alive and maintain a baseline while also trying to ensure we keep a roof over our heads is a full time job.

As if that wasn’t enough - we also have to chase down doctors, follow up on tests, deal with medical gaslighting, covid risk in hospitals, HCWs who won’t mask etc. We do this while suffering the pain of being abandoned by family, friends & society.

It’s not lucky. It’s hard.

There’s other costs people never even consider - like the cost of relying on delivery services that more often than not get it wrong.

In my case - my diet is so restrictive that if a shopper brings the wrong item - it’s going to go to waste.

When you only have about ten safe foods and your delivery screws up five of them - you’re either going to go hungry for a week OR you have to place another order.

But orders have minimum spends and you have to tip a shopper twice. That adds up FAST.

I can’t tell you how much I miss being able to just pop to the store and get my own groceries. Grab a single ingredient without having to meet a minimum spend.

Many non disabled people see grocery shopping as a chore - I see it as a luxury I no longer have.

These are the types of issues you have to deal with when you become disabled that NO ONE teaches you about. 1/2 🧵

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidCautious #CovidIsNotOver #CleanAir #WearaMask #Disability #LongCovid #Ableism #Denial #CleanAir #Pandemic #PublicHealth #InfectionControl #Eugenics #SafeHealthcare #N95 #Respirators #MasksWork #MaskUp #Spoonie #Discrimination #Dysautonomia #mecfs #pots #mcas #communitycare #wearamask #chronicillness #keepmasksinhealthcare #MaskBans #NoMaskBans #bullying #CleanAirClassrooms #criptax