COVID-19 Hit our House

COVID-19 hit our house.

It was early on a Sunday morning when my husband’s phone rang. It was our neighbors. “We started feeling bad last night, and we think it might be COVID-19.”

COVID-19.

Our daughter had just played with their kids the day before. Their symptoms were headache and fatigue. Not major but suspicious that they both got them at the same time. They planned to get tested the next morning, and the following few days dragged as we waited to hear their results. They called us Wednesday morning. They tested positive.

Off to Get Tested

We put aside our work and headed off to get tested. It wasn’t bad. It had changed, we were told, and the swabs were much shorter and didn’t go as far up the nostril. That was good news. Within 15 minutes, we had been tested and were on our way home.

Then, the waiting began. I wasn’t too worried. None of us felt sick. In the back of my head, there was a lingering thought that we might have gotten it, but I felt pretty confident we would all be fine.

Getting our Results

On Friday, we called urgent care to see if our results were back. My husband’s had come back, and it was negative. Whew. One down, two to go. Later that afternoon, we called back. Our results still weren’t in, but they would call LabCorp to find out. Labcorp. I immediately went to their website and created an account. A few hours later, my results were in my portal. SARS-CoV2, NAA: Not Detected.

I let out a sigh of relief. I was more concerned about myself than the rest of my family since I have a weakened immune system. I quickly added Lucy onto my account as a dependent, and I immediately got an email that a lab had been published to our portal. I switched to her account and clicked on the lab. Then, my heart stopped beating.

SARS-CoV2, NAA: Detected.

COVID-19 hit our house. I felt like I was going to vomit. I had had panic attacks when the virus first started ravaging the country. I knew if I got it, I would probably get very sick from it. As the days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, I thought, you know, we may actually make it through this pandemic unscathed.

That was not to be.

This is not your typical virus. We’ve had friends get very sick from it and survive. We know someone who passed away from it. We had done everything we could to protect ourselves.

We Took Precautions

For several months, my husband left the house only to get groceries. Lucy and I stayed home. When summer rolled around, we saw our families a couple of times, but we still distanced more than we usual would have.

What did we do?

• Signed our daughter up for virtual school to reduce the risk of her getting it.
• Didn’t eat in restaurants.
• No frivolous shopping
• We didn’t go to playgrounds.
• Whenever any of us went out, we wore our masks and sanitized frequently.

We didn’t do anything that could potentially expose us.

But, we did let our daughter play with the neighborhood kids. It was the one bit of normalcy she had, and it wasn’t something we allowed right away. There are only a few kids on our street. They never went anywhere, either, and they did virtual school just like we did. So, we thought that one thing would be fine.

Getting our Results were So Emotional

It wasn’t. Our neighbors felt terrible. We felt terrible as parents. But, there was nothing we could do. We had to break the news to Lucy, and we knew it wouldn’t go well. She had already been a ball of nerves as we waited for our results.

It went as well as we expected. She cried and was scared. But, then she realized she was fine. Yes, this would change how we lived for a little bit, but she wasn’t sick. She was 6 days from exposure and hadn’t shown any symptoms. My brother, who is an epidemiologist and works with COVID-19, told us that was good because on average, symptoms begin to show around 5 days past exposure. I wasn’t really surprised. This is a girl who never gets sick. She has a great immune system.

Lucy looked at me and said, “I’m going to be able to say I beat COVID-19.” And then, she excitedly asked when she would be included in the daily COVID-19 statistics.

Our Friends Cheered Us Up

Our friends are so amazing. Lucy got care packages in the mail, and we received gift cards to get meals delivered. It was all so thoughtful, and the gift cards sure came in handy.

Lucy’s favorite gifts were a Baby Yoda toy and a bag of churro marshmallows!

We Knew We Had to Distance

That night, a Friday, we spent trying to figure out the logistics of distancing in a 1,200-square foot home to keep me as safe as possible since I have a weakened immune system. Lucy had to quarantine for 8 more days, and then she would no longer be contagious. Joe and I had to quarantine an additional 14 days after Lucy’s ended.

We Came Up With a Plan

Joe took care of Lucy, distancing as much as he could. I would stay 6 feet away from them. If they ever needed to be closer than 6 feet to me, we all wore our masks.

Outdoor time was important. We would go outside separately, and I would stay distanced while still getting to spend time with them. Family time that night was me on my bed and them in the hallway. When we had prayer time before bed, we all distanced and held our arms out as we normally hold hands.

We Needed a Cleaning Plan, Too

My brother told us we needed Clorox wipes to wipe down anything Lucy touched, especially doorknobs and handles in the bathroom. We didn’t have any, and I couldn’t find any in stock anywhere.

This is when we were glad my husband was a regular at the new Dollar General down the street. The next morning, he called up. “Hey, it’s Joe.” He told them what was going on and said we needed Clorox wipes and paper towels. Good news – the truck had just come. They grabbed everything we needed for us and brought it out to the car. We counted our blessings.

Quaranting was Hard

It was daunting to think of how long we had to distance before making sure Joe and I were in the clear. So, we took it one day at a time. Each day none of us showed symptoms was a victory. Dinners were me on the couch, Joe by the fireplace and Lucy by the kitchen. Family movie night consisted of Joe and Lucy in the living room, and me in the bedroom watching a movie on Netflix at the same time. It wasn’t fun, but we made it work. And I wasn’t completely isolated for almost 3 weeks.

The After Effects

While my daughter made it through COVID-19 without any symptons, it caught up with her several weeks later. She is currently at our local children’s hospital with multi-system inflammation from COVID-19. We don’t know what has been affected or if she will be admitted.

COVID-19 is real. Yes, many cases are very mild or asymptomatic. But, there are so, so many who were very sick from it and have complications that may last the rest of their lives. Please take this seriously. Wear your masks. Social distance. We won’t have to do it forever but it could spare you the emotional turmoil we went through and possibly getting very sick.

And, speaking of being sick – our story doesn’t end here. Stay tuned for part 2 of our battle with COVID-19.

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