THE CONCLUSION: Living with COVID-19 & No Travel to Boot!
Charlotte’s Coronavirus Test
Charlotte was sick with a fever, chills, and a cough over the weekend. I was 4-5 days into my symptoms. In retrospect, Charlotte was probably two days into the Coronavirus by Friday. It is funny how you remember small, seemingly insignificant details, with the advantage of hindsight. Charlotte recalls she had an eye infection earlier in the week, and now we hear that is a symptom of COVID-19, too. We both stayed home and away from people over the weekend. When Monday rolled around, Charlotte called our family doctor and reported she suspected she had COVID-19.
The doctor wrote orders for her to go to a newly set up, drive through testing site at a local hospital. She hopped in the car and drove there only to find no testing site and no one who knew anything about it either. The next day, we gave it another try. This place is an hour from our home, but with nothing to do, it was a welcomed distraction just to get out, even if it was only in our car! No signs were indicating where the drive-thru clinic was located, but with a little luck, we found it behind the hospital in the industrial area. The only indication was a sizeable mobile sign, the kind you see on the roads, flashing traffic information such as “detour.” Only this sign said, “Event Parking,” ha!
The entrance driveway was lined with orange traffic cones. Several hospital employees were standing along the way with hand made signs saying, “Don’t roll down your windows,” and “Pull forward to the tent.” Once at the tent, we were met by an attendant, holding another hand made sign which said they would need names and information to match the patient to the doctor’s orders. This was a swift process, and we were on our way in a couple of minutes. Moving up about 200 yards down a cone-lined drive brought us to a rear entrance of a medical building with a covered drive-through portico.
The medical staff was divided into two sections, the first to collect your personal information and match it with the doctor’s orders. The second station was where the test was administered. These people were decked out in full PPE (funny how we did not know that term until a few weeks ago). A lab tech asked Charlotte to roll her window down, and with just a few motions, stuck the swab up Charlotte’s nose, retrieved it, and placed it in a bio-hazard bag, sealed it, and said, “that was it.” We were in and out of the whole process in fifteen minutes!
Just as we pulled out to leave the hospital parking, Charlotte took a call from her doctor, who was concerned Charlotte may have COVID-19. Given that she recently had open-heart surgery, the doctor wanted her to go to the ER to have a chest x-ray. So, we pulled into the ER, and I let her out at the entrance door. I was not allowed inside, so I parked and waited a couple of hours for Charlotte to finish her visit. The good news is the x-ray showed her lungs to be clear, so all was well. We drove back home and, like many of you, spent the next days at our home. That was St. Paddy’s Day, March 17.
The Test Results
Four days later, on March 21, Charlotte received a call from the testing center confirming she had COVID-19. That call was followed up by a conversation with the local Department of Health. Charlotte had to provide information about who she was in contact with and where she had traveled. By this time, I was 12 days beyond my initial symptoms and Charlotte was 8-days out.
We passed it on to our family!
Earlier in the week, our son reported he was sick with Coronavirus symptoms. Then a day later, his wife and my daughter developed similar symptoms as well. So, within 10 days of my having the initial symptoms, at least five other family members exhibited the Coronavirus symptoms. There are four grandchildren to consider as well. They range in ages from 4-7 years. We suspect, at least two of them contracted the virus, but who knows for sure.
Our Symptoms
All five of us exhibited similar and varied symptoms. I experienced a dry cough, fever, and chills for about 12 hours. In retrospect, I suffered a loss of smell, loss of appetite, and feeling of lethargy that lingered for 7-10 days. Charlotte recalls she had an eye infection after returning from DC on March 9. When she got sick on the 13th, she had fever and chills overnight and into the next day. Additionally, she experienced periods of extreme sweats, loss of appetite and smell, severe head congestion, headaches, a runny nose, and a sense of being tired much of the time. My daughter and daughter-in-law were sick with fever and chills, coughs, and loss of appetite. My son had the worst case. He became ill on March 16 and exhibited symptoms for ten days. He was tested on March 25 and pronounced COVID-19 positive on March 30. His symptoms were much like what has been described above, in addition to extreme tiredness, sweats, and chills that went on for a week.
COVID-19 Negative?
During the first two weeks of April, we all noticed drastic improvements and our health getting back to normal. Charlotte was re-tested on April 10 and confirmed negative the same day. My son, had another test today and was confirmed negative. As for me, I am sure I had the Coronavirus but was not showing symptoms when the drive-through testing became available in our area. So, I was not eligible to have the test. Our hope is that all of us can give plasma once the “antibodies” test arrives in our area.
Conclusions
I am not a doctor or medical professional so my conclusions here are based on anecdotal information from my family and my personal experiences.
- The Coronavirus is very contagious.
- I am convinced a lot more of us have/had it than is reported.
- I imagine many people are infected but asymptomatic.
- We are fortunate all our cases were relatively mild and that we’ve had a full recovery.
- Most people in my neck of the woods are not doing a very good job of social distancing. It is crowded in our local supermarkets, whole families are wandering around in wads with little concern for the required 6-foot distancing.
- All things COVID-19-related have rolled out slowly. The drive-through tests, PPP loans, antibody tests, and plasma donations have all been delayed by days and caused us multiple trips to accomplish anything.
I pray for the day when this is all behind us and we can get back to life as normal. But, I think when it does happen, there will be a new normal. Maybe we won’t shake hands and give hugs, just a hello will do. When it comes to travel, I have a sinking feeling it will come back slowly. Maybe I will not even go to Europe this year! There is no way to predict anything because this is new for all of us. One thing I do know, this pandemic and its repercussions have not caught God off guard! He is in control of the situation and I pray that I can give up and let Him do the leading. All the best to you! Stay safe and stay home!
EPILOGUE
It was the first week of May 2020, when I got word I could have an antibodies test. By this time, testing had been ramped up in North Florida and there was not a shortage of COVID-19 test kits or Antibodies test kits. I went to a nearby Quest Diagnostics facility, had my blood drawn, and within two days had my results. I tested positive for the COVID-19 antibodies, meaning I had had the Coronavirus, had recovered, and now my body had generated antibodies to fight off another attack.
A few days later, the health department and our local blood bank called to ask if I would donate plasma. My son and daughter-in-law had donated their plasma a few weeks before and it was no big deal, so I was happy to donate as well. Unfortunately, I was not able to donate due to the blood-thinning medication I take.
