We Got Lucky - A Covid Story

 I've written parts of the post a few times over the past week.  I can't decide how to open it.  Wait, it's not *bad* news but it's also not great news. When I started it, I was in the anger phase.  Now I'm in the Frustration phase. 

I'm just going to go with the original opening line:

So, I had to fist bump my husband last night as we were saying goodnight.  No, it wasn't a "job well done" or a joke.  It's because we have to quarantine away from each other.  Yep.  Separate bedrooms and bathrooms, distance in common spaces, stay home. Quarantine.

He has Covid and he's been really sick.  At first we thought maybe it was a cold but after two nights of also high temperatures, fatigue, and heart palpitations that he didn't tell me about, it was obviously Covid.

Because someone he works with - whom he can't avoid - refuses to get vaccinated, Kevin has Covid.

To quote two of my friends: Almost two years spent doing the right thing and STILL Covid happened.  Thank you sweet, tiny. 8 lb. 6 oz baby jesus Kevin WAS vaccinated.  Because if he wasn't, I suspect this might have been a very different story.  That isn't hyperbole, that is para-phrasing Kevin himself.

Not to mention thank the universe for the timing that he didn't expose his parents or any other members of the family.  Or his friends.  It was pure dumb luck that it worked out that way.  Had it been the weekend prior, the number of exposed would have been so much higher.  That would have ruined him, knowing he infected someone. It's a hit I don't know that he would get up from, frankly.

This is how it played out:

He's been really sick since Friday night, became symptomatic on Thursday night with what sounded like a cold.   His temp has wavered from normal to Super HIGH but seems to have leveled out but still a temp.  It can be kept at normal range with meds, until the evenings when resistance is low.  It reached "we're going to the hospital" levels at night but meds brought it down to a soothing 102.  He didn't disclose that he had episodes of dizziness and heart palpitations, which is just super.  

We went to his clinic Monday where they screened him, said they were Capital C Confident it was Covid, and tested him.  His lungs are clear and that's the most important part: keeping them clear. The next morning the positive result arrived with a phone call to advise us to shut everything down.  Luckily, we already had so there wasn't panic, other than the kind that comes with a Covid diagnosis.

Right now he has a tickle-like cough, he's TIRED, and a little forgetful.   And he is one of the lucky ones that has lost the sense of smell.  He's happy it wasn't taste too but it's bumming him out.  Also, he's been advised that while he feels okay today, tomorrow can start all over again if the Covid wishes to.

Because someone refuses to get vaccinated, Kevin was probably the sickest I've ever seen him and this includes radiation treatment.

Now let's circle around that he has an auto-immune disease.  Colds and Flu of any kind irritates the scar tissue in the area where he had radiation.  He will, no doubt, have a cough for a long time.  Because coughs are great to have during a pandemic.

Now to the math part: Because of the Graves Disease, his "normal" temperature is 95 degrees. I had to literally write a scale so we knew what it actually was.  I'm not good at math on a good day, let alone stressed and tired and decimals.  We have to tell the doctor/nurse every time that he has Graves Disease so they can adjust the actual temperature. So this can get complicated.  Imagine, seeing a thermometer and you're all "Oh, it's only 100 degrees."  Nope, it's 103 and time to worry.

Side note: he is in remission with his auto-immune disease.  He had radiation and takes daily medication to keep it at bay.  He is not on an immunosuppressant.  So any comments of "Oh, he was already sick" will result in me throwing something at your head.  Other than Covid, he's perfectly healthy.

During his screening, they didn't want to unnecessarily test me.  But they said it was required if he tested positive.   The next day, while he was still on the phone with his doctor with the results, I called mine.  They said to go to the Urgent Care and just walk in.  Ummm, how about no.  I did a search and there is a drive-through testing site that makes it  Super easy.  Super EASY.  24-ish hours later, I had a negative test.  Whew. 

I'm asymptomatic and I have a few more days in the danger zone. They wanted us to self-quarantine in this tiny house for ten to fourteen days since symptoms AND ALSO AFTER 24-hours asymptomatic AND feeling "normal".   I've moved out of the main bathroom and I’m sleeping on the air mattress in my office.   I have to retest at the end of the week and it's recommended that I stay away from humankind until I get the results.  Not required, but suggested; which I will because I couldn't inflict that onto another human.  I couldn't sit in that space, knowing that I was arrogant or selfish enough to risk another humans health and safety.

Because someone didn't get vaccinated.

Then there's the phone calls. The doctor's offices, the state health department, calls to work, friends and family to let them know and/or keep them updated.  It's all exhausting.  

And then the hoping there is no long-haul effects for him.  i.e. the loss of smell.  The cough. Hopefully those subside, but excuse the pun: I'm not holding my breath.

Now let's think about the details no one mentions:  Everything is extra because we can't share towels, bathrooms, kitchen space. The the massive amounts of laundry I've done in the past week, bedding that has been washed multiple times, the bedding on my temporary bed.  The sanitizing of every surface in the house. The stress of having to think "Don't touch the remote" or "Don't touch the refrigerator handle." and having to remember to use the other bathroom. Eating separately. Not riding in the car together.  Now my office is a studio apartment instead of my office.  No one mentions the stress of that.  Or the loneliness or how not to let the sick person feel like a pariah.

All of this because someone didn't get vaccinated.

Then there's the worry on the family members.  This has easily shaved a year off the Parents lives.  The only shiny thing from this situation is that the mother-in-law has finally realized that the pandemic is not over and she shouldn't just go around like it is and not expect a consequence.  Her son becoming sick had much more impact than any doctor, news reports, or anything we would ever say.

We were also lucky that this didn't financially impact us.  This isn't to humblebrag, not at all. It's to highlight that so many, many others aren't so lucky.  We have sick pay, I work from home, we can afford extra loads of laundry and an extra order of groceries.  Many others have none of that and even if they recover, the after-effects financially will last for years.

All because someone didn't get vaccinated.

I've had to stay off of social media during this because there is a video being circulated that espouses more anti-vax propaganda; of which has been flagged, pulled down, and banned on the youtube.  But that happening doesn't unring the bell, the people don't change their mind or suddenly post "Oh, sorry, that was misinformation."  At the same time, the state is beginning mandating vaccines for health care workers and some people on my friend's list are outraged.  Because 'Merica.

It's taken everything in me not to post "WE HAVE COVID IN THIS HOUSE BECAUSE OF YOUR SELFISHNESS AND ARROGANCE"  I will never understand how people disregard doctors and science worldwide. Not just here in the states, but worldwide.  It's not just mainstream media, it's everyone's media.  It's nearly 700,000 people dead just in our country and millions with long haul symptoms. So, yeah, staying off of social media for a little while until the need to verbally, and well, physically, punch people passes. It's a good time to just post puppy photos and not scroll. 

Which brings me to this:  My family remains anti-vax.  I haven't notified anyone of Kevin's diagnosis because sigh...it just doesn't matter.  They won't change and I don't need to hear their nonsense or faux sympathy.  Also, this gets me out of any family function until everyone is vaccinated, which is going to be never.

Because we're not doing this again.  We got LUCKY this time.

All because someone didn't get vaccinated.