If you follow me on social media, you know well and good that COVID-19 visited the Youree house. At present, Louisa and I are the only ones with a positive test. Bryan and Anna are somehow medical mysteries and will soon be sent to science for study (kidding . . . maybe).
You probably are not remotely interested in the ins and outs of coronavirus in our lives, but I am writing here to have an official record of what transpired. I mean it's not every day you have a virus in a pandemic during your childhood. I think, one day, Louisa will be interested to read all about this.
So . . .
Once upon a time, Louisa, Anna, and I had an unmasked exposure to coronavirus. This was on a Thursday. I remember thinking the following Monday during our Advent reading that Louisa sounded a little snotty.
Between the time Louisa went to bed on Monday night and when she woke up on Tuesday morning, we found out about our COVID-19 exposure. That morning was filled with switching our lives to quarantine life -- school, work, everyday life changed.
Not only were we juggling getting school work packets and rescheduling meetings, but we also discovered Louisa woke up with a full-blown cold and fever. Ugh. Throw in to the mix, trying to quarantine her from the rest of us while also trying to find a way to get a rapid test for her.
Our pediatrician saved the day with a late afternoon appointment. A rapid test informed us of her positive result within 20 minutes.
I called Bryan first; that was his cue to bow out of work and join us in quarantine. Next, I called her school. Louisa went to school on Monday and was likely contagious. Sigh.
That Tuesday evening I started running a low-grade fever, but I honestly ignored it. I was in "mom mode." I knew it was likely inevitable that I would get it. I mean how can someone caring for a positive kindergarten AVOID getting it? (Oh wait . . . ask Bryan.)
I remember wanting Friday to get here so I could know how severely her asthma would act up. I had a bit of anxiety about how well Louisa would handle COVID. She has struggled with asthma her entire life. No matter if it was a teeny tiny cold for Anna, it turns into a week-long ordeal for Louisa with lots of albuterol and nebulized treatments. Before 2018, we couldn't control Lou's asthma very well, but singular changed all that about two years ago. It didn't eliminate her asthma exacerbations during upper respiratory infections, but it helped us control them keeping her off oral steroids and out of the ER.
In her entire six years, she's had asthma issues every time she's been sick . . . except this time. She did not need one puff of albuterol . . . never coughed once with coronavirus. That's a miracle I'll take.
Louisa was sick for about seven days; three of those days she was fairly sick. Her symptoms included: nasal congestion, fever, headaches, fatigue, and gastro issues. I think her taste was altered some because she requested a LOT of salt on her food. She also slept a ton, which is unusual for her. On her worst day, she wouldn't get out of bed until 2:00 p.m.
Remember that low-grade fever I had? That turned into a positive coronavirus test for me too.
I fared worse than Louisa . . . feeling ill for nearly two weeks. Here we are weeks from my first symptom on December 8, and I still have daily headaches and fatigue. For the sake of keeping record, my ailments were: low-grade fever, headaches all the freaking time, head congestion, sore throat, throat congestion, ear pain, elevated heart rate, body aches, gastro issues, and fatigue like I've never known.
Something odd that was true for both Lou and me: Fever reducers didn't impact our temps.
And the final odd thing -- which I would love to know if you too experienced this: I had pain in my sternum area that radiated "underneath" my right breast. Like not below my breast, but it felt like something in my body, deep underneath my breast tissue was hurting . . . almost like the muscle was giving out. That also caused a stabbing pain in the top mid-right of my back. It was so painful it impacted my ability to get up and down from a chair or the bed. Bryan guessed myocarditis, so I started a steroid pack. Within two days of the meds, the pain had eased.
In summary: I hate coronavirus and never want it again. I am thankful my family survived as well as we did. I am heartbroken for the hundreds of thousands who did not.
I am thankful too for the many, many people who checked on us, prayed for us, and delivered dozens of goodies to our front porch. You made the recovery so much easier.
