Regina couple with cystic fibrosis ‘frustrated’ with the province’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic | The Canadian News

Cassandra and Dillon Bumpus have been in isolation since March 2020 due to their incurable and lifelong diagnosis of cystic fibrosis, and they say the ongoing pandemic is taking a significant toll on their lives.

Cassandra underwent double lung transplant surgery in November 2016 at an Edmonton hospital.

The operation was her only chance to survive after the disease had damaged her lungs and she is now considered immunosuppressed.

“Part of the drug regiment is a couple of different immunosuppressive drugs. Basically, they really suppress your immune system, ”Cassandra said.

“Something like a common cold could be really harmful and could have a lot of negative effects and could be enough to land you in the hospital.”

Cassandra said that her delicate health condition made her much more cautious and more aware of the need to practice proper hand hygiene even before the pandemic, in addition to keeping distance from family members if they are sick.

It’s a reality when you have a genetic lung disease, he said. “I’ve been … living that way my whole life with cystic fibrosis.”

Cassandra said that with the transplant surgery, added immunosuppressive medications, and the continuing pandemic, her high alert for potential viruses and bacteria has only increased.

Her husband Dillion is also immunosuppressed. Considering the high number of COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions Saskatchewan is still experiencing, he said both remain very vigilant, despite being twice vaccinated.

“So it feels … a bit like we’re being held hostage in our house by people who aren’t vaccinated and Prime Minister (Scott) Moe, whose inaction is pretty frustrating, and that’s, I’d say, pretty cool.”

When it comes to staying safe, Cassandra said the doctors who performed the transplant surgery advised her to act like she wasn’t vaccinated to be even more cautious and protect against COVID-19 and its evolving strains.

Like the province’s health experts, Dillon and Cassandra said they advocate for more restrictions, such as a cap on collection sizes and expansion of the mask and vaccination policy test.

They said this would help alleviate the tremendous beating their mental health suffered.

“It has been severely affected or deteriorated. For me, it is almost entirely, if not entirely, due to the precautions we must take and the isolation we live in, “said Dillon.

Dillon said wait times to see mental health experts and other specialists for his cystic fibrosis continue to lengthen due to the pandemic. That, in turn, adds to her cycle of distress, Cassandra said.

“I have spent a lot of my life in the hospital and because of this I have come to have great respect for nurses, doctors and other health professionals and the work they do.”

“Now I am at the age where I have friends who are nurses and it is very, very discouraging to see the way that (they), and really all health workers, are being treated in this province by the government,” he added. Cassandra. .

“Every time I talk to friends who are in health care, it is very difficult to hear what they are going through and it feels a bit desperate,” he said. “I don’t know what to do to help them because I feel like the prime minister is not listening.”

In addition to living with cystic fibrosis, Cassandra said she has had digestive problems that she has not been able to resolve for the past year and a half.

Cystic fibrosis affects not just the lungs, but many other things, and one of them is the digestive system, he explained.

“During the course of the transplant, I have had digestive problems that have caused me quite a few problems. I lost about 30 pounds during the course of the pandemic, and it has been frustrating trying to deal with that from home by talking to doctors on the phone and having virtual appointments, “said Cassandra.

He said he fears having to go to the hospital or end up in the emergency department during the pandemic. That makes her feel more stressed, she said.

On top of that, she said that she is anxious about having to regain all the weight she has lost to be healthier. She said she constantly wonders how she will do it when she feels trapped in despair.

Obstacles like these are causing her and her husband to lose a lot of sleep and peace of mind.

“It’s just affected my daily energy level and things like that and then of course my husband cares about me and my family cares about me,” Cassandra said.

“I find that the pandemic has just exacerbated some of the problems that I think we already have in the province in terms of medical care and accessibility to medical care.”