Our household is recovering from Covid-19.
We followed all the protocols, wore masks when outside our home, hand washed/sanitized, social distanced in public places. We didn’t visit friends or family, were so very careful.
I initially had symptoms almost 2 weeks after an eye appointment, one where the doctor made me take my mask off because it was fogging up the lenses in his equipment. He fogged them up from his side so he also took his mask off. (I’ve since learned that a number of people became infected who’d visited that office.)
At first I had light headedness, some dizziness and initially thought it was a reaction to my new eye prescription. Sometimes when I get a new prescription I have trouble adjusting to the trifocals. One evening I had a light cough and I’d noticed when I was out walking I had trouble catching my breath. In bed, I couldn’t lie on my back because I couldn’t get a full lung full of air.
Within 3 days of the initial symptoms I was having chills, sweats, a scratchy throat, a severe headache and nausea. I never recorded a temperature. I began to have diarrhea and was so tired I could hardly do anything without lying down, closing my eyes. I never lost smell or taste, but did experience phantom smells. A Covid test was ordered, but my doctor told my husband she could almost guarantee I didn’t have Covid.
A couple days later, my husband started to have a cough. He was having more and more trouble catching his breath, and within 3 days he couldn’t speak 2 consecutive words without gasping for air, coughing violently. I sent him to the ER. He was given a rapid test and it was determined he was positive for Covid and had pneumonia. His blood oxygen saturation level was 71%. They admitted him and put him on oxygen.
At about the same time my husband was admitted to the hospital our son began to have a terrible sounding cough, a runny nose, scratchy throat and fatigue.
My husband had been in the hospital for 3 days when I got the call that my Covid test was positive. We asked to have our son tested and they denied that request, telling us tests are finite, it’s almost guaranteed he’s positive, living with two positive parents.
Once I’d had my test we’d quarantined me from the family, all wore masks in the house, my husband slept in a different bedroom and used a different bathroom, but those efforts were obviously too late.
My husband was in the hospital for five and a half days, on oxygen until the night of the fifth day, as they tried to see what his blood oxygen saturation level was on room air, without oxygen. He had 5 doses of Remdesivir, was on antibiotics, steroids and pearls. When he came home he had an emergency inhaler, steroids and was eventually given pearls for use at home.
My son and I were directed to take tylenol, drink lots of water, and if necessary use over the counter cough medicine for coughing. We were told if we started having trouble breathing to get to the ER, but otherwise, let it run it’s course.
Our family physician did a tele-visit and did the math with us recently, letting us know we are no longer contagious, but should continue to mask, wash our hands, and social distance when outside the home.
All 3 of us had different symptoms, different combinations of symptoms. Our son’s symptoms are nearly gone, my husband is doing breathing exercises at home to increase his lung capacity and prevent the pneumonia from settling in the back of his lungs, walking more to build up stamina so he can return to work in 2 weeks. My symptoms have come in waves, they are intense for 2-3 days, then subside for a few days, then return again. As time goes by they are less intense with each new wave, but I’m still dealing with dizziness, nausea, diarrhea. I’ve not escaped the fatigue yet, I’m hopeful that will come soon.
While I was sick, as my husband was in the hospital, I had to continue to keep the house running, cook the meals, figure out how to get groceries, pay bills, etc., while quarantined. I was pleased to discover that a lot of our neighbors and friends volunteered to help us out, deliver groceries, help us out.
When my husband came home, we had a huge snow storm. I couldn’t find anyone to shovel sidewalks or our parking area, so I did that over the course of two days. I seriously hurt my back. I’m suffering terribly still. I needed us to be able to get out, should my husband need to go back to the ER, should I need an ambulance to pick him up, etc. I really had no choice, but to push through the pain and do what I could to dig us out from under 24″ of snow.
We’ve got family, both my husband and I, who refuse to wear masks, who complain that their rights are being taken away, their freedoms stripped, who post things on Facebook about how if you think people who won’t wear masks don’t care about anyone but themselves, YOU are the one who doesn’t care about workers out of work, people struggling to pay bills and buy groceries, people who are at risk to lose their homes, etc.
My cousin had planned a family Christmas party and had a major melt down when family members expressed fear about gathering for a party. Two of her family members work in health care as nurses. She cancelled the party saying “I guess we’re cancelling Christmas this year, everyone is so scared of this Covid bullsh*t, I’m not scared.” Her CNA sister has since been diagnosed positive with Covid-19.
We know so many people who don’t believe Covid-19 is real, that it’s nothing but the flu, that it’s political, just to take our freedoms, it’s a democratic power grab. People say they don’t care if they get it.
I hope none of those people have to know their spouse or loved one is in the hospital, can’t breathe, and they can’t visit them. I hope they don’t ever know the fear that they could lose their loved one, while people they know are proclaiming the positivity numbers, the death numbers are inflated to manipulate people, that it’s nothing but a flu and the government is labeling every death, regardless of what it is, as Covid.
The city I live in is rated 19 out of top 20 highest positive test results in the country. Our doctor told us our county is at 48% positivity.
This has been a terribly frightening and draining time for my family. I sincerely hope that no one reading this, who has not been touched by Covid-19 has to experience this awful virus.