Confinement: a patient recounts his experience

Treated at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (HMR) for cancer, André Papineau went through a long period of confinement. Read his testimony.

photo of André Papineau, a patient being treated for cancer at the HMR.Isolated during his treatment

In this time of voluntary confinement and quarantine to limit the spread of VIDOC-19, read the testimony of one patient, André Papineau, who, for his survival, had to live in isolation for almost the entire duration of his treatments, close to a year.

Confined…one year

I was in mandatory confinement for several months because of the chemotherapy treatments for my bone marrow cancer. If I did not respect this confinement, my life, but my life alone, would have been at risk.

I lived this confinement as serenely as possible. Of course, it wasn’t always easy. I was scared to death, but with my loved ones we managed to get through this ordeal with flying colours. A lot of music, a lot of reading, a lot of cinema, a lot of small meals, a lot of love.

This new confinement is completely different. It is purely altruistic. We become self-absorbed; my wife works from home; my daughter is revising her curriculum. I go to my office, work on upcoming files and manage the very few orders there are. But it’s mostly about the state of deep reflection, the joy I feel now about this slowdown, which I hated so much last year. I had no choice. I was fighting for my life. Today we have a choice, we are fighting for the survival of others. Let’s pass on the information, not the virus. André Papineau, HMR patient.

Do as André and his family are doing, pass on the information, not the virus. That’s how we’ll get through this, without getting out.

Discover André’s reprogrammed story

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