Wednesday, November 25, 2020

DEAD SOUL or a Covid Update

That girl there. She's always had a way with words, and always been the extroverted Gherkin in the midst of introverts. 

Today, as we assembled to discuss what to cook for a Quarantined Thanksgiving and we checked in on everyone's symptoms, she burst out, "MY SOUL IS DEAD. I am living ALONE when I grow up. " 

Yikes, this sounds rather drastic. It appears her soul is dying as she is cut off from work, church, young nephews....and she has determined if she lives alone she will never again have to deal with others bringing a pandemic into her living space. 

Further discussion led to the understanding that what we are calling, "overwhelming exhaustion," she is labeling "dead soul." 

Covid - hmm....what to say. Is it as bad as we hear? Yes and no. Is it just like the flu - that's NOT been our experience. 

Alex seems to be consistently feeling well. 

Krista still deals with pretty strong symptoms that come and go. They both got sick on the 10th/11th. Alex tested positive on Nov 18th. They were SICK, had high fevers, the respiratory and the GI symptoms...

Michael was laid LOW for 4 days....could NOT get up, dizzy and sore throat, fever. We aren't sure if the dizziness is Parkinsons or Covid. He is up and about and feels pretty good....but there are times he simply needs to sit or lay down...and does. 

Nolan - all the symptoms of Alex and Krista...still lingering. He also lost his taste and smell. His fever is gone, but he is certainly not feeling good. 

I began by feeling "off" and losing my sense of taste and smell. That was all for the first few days. Today, I'm tired, nauseated, have a splitting headache and GI issues. I haven't had an official "fever" - but I tend to run 97.2 and I'm at 98.8. Others are feeling better - so I spent several hours sleeping and more hours just lying on the couch today. Krista made dinner - which was a very good thing. 

Stacia is "soul dead" and had what appeared to be a bad cold. 

This is what I'm leading up too - we've not experienced the extreme hype of Covid. We've not been hospitalized, but we've experienced much more than the annual flu. That which we feared in the spring - Grandpa catching Covid - is confirmed to be upon us.  

Grandpa has tested positive. Of the 5 who have tested (all with symptoms) 3 got positive results and 2 got negative results. We believe false negatives as they've had the same symptoms. We are starting to believe some folks have something in their bodies which simply won't test positive....because KRISTA is the one who brought this to us from her classroom and she was SICK. She is considering an anti-body test when everyone is well so she can go back to work and not have to quarantine an additional 2 weeks. 

Grandpa was SICK Friday - Sunday. Horrible cramps, retching for days, diarreah...we are thanking God it is NOT respiratory and his oxygen levels have stayed at 95 or above. He hasn't developed a fever. He is very tired....but weathering it well...and he is 79 3/4 years old with many co-morbidities. We appreciate your continued prayers for him as he weathers this challenge. 

I would NOT say I'm no longer worried about Grandpa and Covid, but I'm fully at peace, knowing God numbers our days...as Dad says, "I'm tougher than people think." 

In our home - Alex and Krista seem to have had the most severe symptoms, but all of us have been miserable in one way or another. 

The way the school district, and our state, guidelines are written those of us who have NOT TESTED positive will be quarantined 2 weeks past point where the last one who DID test positive tests negative.  And yet the docs seem o.k. booking Dad's appointments 2 weeks past the last positive result. I have given up figuring out how long we are supposed to stay home. Krista says Dec 13th now. Stacia and I are not testing. We aren't being required, or asked, to do so. We figure at least one of us would test negative anyway and we're ALREADY QUARANTINED. 

We are thankful we have not had terrible symptoms. We are also more determined than ever to social distance, wear our masks and do all we can to make sure no one else catches this from us...because it really isn't a lark. Even the isolation for weeks on end could be devastating in a large family where employment is still needed. 

Before anyone says "I told you so," we HAVE worn our masks, we have limited our outings, we have social distanced, Dad and I haven't been out except to see a dentist since he came home on Oct 8th...but unless everyone in your circle stays home, you could do everything "right" and still catch this thing.  We DO have 4 in our home with jobs.  We have had 8 health professionals in our home each week since October. We are hearing  the soonest anyone has been re-infected is 6 - 8 months....we are hoping for immunity and the ability to get out a bit in the upcoming winter months. 

There you go - an update and covid thoughts for the day. 

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