HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-03-20 Public Comment - K. Vardanega - cancer patient and MSU student perspective on Covid in Bozeman!From:Kristen Vardanega
To:Agenda
Subject:cancer patient and MSU student perspective on Covid in Bozeman!
Date:Friday, July 3, 2020 5:40:53 PM
Hi there,
My name is Kristen Vardanega and I am currently a student of community health at MSU. I
recently returned to my home in Bozeman after receiving a life saving bone marrow transplantfor acute leukemia.
A bone marrow transplant wipes out a problematic immune system and replaces it with
someone else’s! Thanks to a donor, I was able to begin growing my new immune system onFebruary 21st of this year, just before Covid-19 made its way into our communities. I have
successfully protected my five month old immune system by staying home, and luckily haveenough assistance to consider myself very low exposure even though I am very high risk. (I’m
26 and an avid skier and cyclist- not who you might visually peg as high risk).
I would like the council to consider that individuals like me exist in our beautiful valley. Even
though I do not go in public without an N-95 per my doctors request, my partner does all ofour household shopping and must subject himself to exposure. We live in a one bedroom
studio, so his exposure is my exposure.
Requiring masks indoors and when social distancing is not possible would enable people like
me to participate more fully in the local economy. Until there is a vaccine, I have to chosebetween not shopping at businesses where employees and patrons are unmasked or risking
exposing myself to a deadly virus. I’ve spent more time in a hospital this year than most willspend their entire lives, about three months in total.
Often, the news mentions “at risk populations” without stating who those people are and what
their lives may look like. I would like to offer my perspective as a Montanan, a cancer patient,and an undergraduate scholar of public health.
Please feel free to reach out for any questions or comment.
Sincerely, Kristen Vardanega
Just a girl who already almost died in 2020 and doesn’t need to explore that route again :)