Kia Ora. Done with my full two weeks of quarantine so I can officially say that I’m a seasoned quarantinee.
I have some tips on completing a 14 day isolation in NZ, some of which are related to diabetic survival and some of which fall into the bracket of general survival. Two weeks can feel like a long time to stay sane when you are caged in your hotel room! However, caged is the wrong word for my experience here because rather than feeling like a prisoner, I’ve been superbly and caringly looked after. I’d go as far as saying that it is almost as if I’ve had a holiday minus the sightseeing although even then we did have a number of eventful games of I spy. We spotted some America’s cup boats (namely Luna Rossa and American Magic) from our room, watched buskers on the street and even enjoyed Auckland Day fireworks. Wow! Anyway here are my tips:
Need-le help? The nurses are the friendly faces who you speak to every day. I needed to dispose of my stash of needles from my injections that had accumulated over the days as I normally use 4 per day. Upon asking the nurse about sharps disposal, she came back in a hazmat suit with a yellow box for sharps. She and I stood quite a distance apart as I extended my arm to drop my used needles the box. Nothing like a bit of human interaction to break up the day.
Yoga mat, get it flat – ensure that you roll out your yoga mat at least once a day for some type of activity. Stretch it out to loosen those muscles or do some press ups to break a sweat. My family, who are quarantining with me in a bubble, gathered in one of our hotel rooms for an arranged press up afternoon featuring my gym playlist.
Mindful eating – It is actually pretty exciting to have knock at your door signifying the arrival of food but occasionally I do feel a little like a lab rat. The meals have been fantastic and we are certainly well fed. My top tip would be to just make sure that during your stay you keep an eye on your calories as you are probably not doing as much activity as you would normally do. Here we are often treated with a blueberry muffin, white chocolate macadamia cookie, carrot cake or choc fudge brownie. From analysing the nutrition labels of these desserts I can safely say that in terms of carbohydrate content (I inject insulin to account for my carbohydrates), a diabetics best option is the choc fudge brownie. Imagine that, a world where the brownie is the diabetic dessert option of choice. Steer clear of the carrot cake because that is a carbohydrate and calorie bomb. Although my brothers are still suspicious as it has carrot in the name. Consequently, it became the currency of quarantine and was used as a medium of exchange and barter across my family bubble. My Dad now says he is “long” carrot cake – I think that’s banker speaker for saying he has a fridge full of it with only 1 day to go.
Smoking deck is a breath of fresh air, and smoking is not compulsory – I had to call to check that I could visit the level 2 deck. I did not remove my mask but I got to stand outdoors in the cool, fresh air staying at least 2 metres away from others of course. Glad I brought a jumper because even though it’s summer here wind has been a bit nippy. Don’t think the cup crews are complaining about the wind though.
I cannot stress how well I’ve been looked after during my stay. Thanks to all the staff at the Grand Mercure Auckland, NZDF, all the health staff, police and everyone who looked after us.
Bonus tip from my younger brother’s advice is to keep all of your leftover desserts in case you come across a meal you do not like.
Glucose upon publishing: 9.4mmol/L
Insulearning with Antonia 