“I took hold of that scourge -filled ship and crushed it between my limbs, hurtling it into the second sun, the red one that gave me strength. But I was too late." Terraformer
When it hit the United States, it was in my backyard. Seattle is much, much too close for us to feel safe from the virus and the more I heard about it on the news, the more worried I became. My fears were compounded when my mother sent me to the store in early March with a grocery list, and I found produce shelves empty and the refrigerated section ransacked. My Covid-19 experience had begun. To read about more such articles visit nican .
I told my husband we needed to hunker down for a while. We were going to be smart. Though my mom and I were at high risk, we did our research, we were careful. My husband and I both worked from home. He closed his downtown counseling office and began working with clients online and for all his employees he got the best employee monitoring software so he can know how the work was going for all the business, since all the employees were working from home as well. We canceled all appointments and learned how to groom our dogs ourselves. I gave him a haircut and he tried to give me and my mother a pedicure. We even baked our own bread, though not always successfully.
The thing is, my mom, who lives with us, couldn’t hunker down at home with us. She’s a nurse. Yep. She’s still reporting for duty at seventy years old. In fact, she’s older than some of her patients at the nursing home, though you’d never know it to look at her. My mom looks great for her age. She’ll probably live to be one hundred.
Still, she was careful. My mom had prepared. Every night she wiped down her steering wheel, took off her shoes at the door, walked straight to her room and threw her clothes into her laundry (she has her own laundry room). Then she’d shower and come have dinner with us.
That plan worked well.
For three months.
Until there was an outbreak.
Then there was a Corona-virus outbreak at the nursing home where my mom worked. When she arrived home, she immediately isolated herself. We took precautions, sanitizing our home again, leaving meals for her outside her door, and keeping our dogs with us.
That night, a Thursday, she had a terrible headache, she didn’t sleep, she called our doctor and asked to be tested. She stayed home from work on Friday and was tested by our PCP. Her results came on Sunday morning. She was positive for Covid-19.
My Mom is sixty-nine years old. She’s overall very healthy with controlled type two diabetes and hypertension. She’s still working and very active. She never presented with the big warning symptoms and yet she would be the first to tell you, she felt like she was dying.
My mom’s first week wasn’t as bad as her second. The worst part of it was the isolation. It’s not right to leave someone alone, dropping food at the door, knowing they’re sick or need bedding changed, or would like someone to sit and visit with them. I couldn’t nurse her properly because I was a high risk. My poor mom was alone for that whole week and I couldn’t help even though I already knew I had Covid-19 too.
How did I know? Sunday evening I was sewing a quilt for my nephew and my back hurt. I took some Tylenol PM and went to bed. Usually, that knocks me out pretty well, but that night, I couldn’t get comfortable. In fact, for the next forty-eight hours I had such severe body aches, I couldn’t find a place to sit or lay down that didn’t hurt. Every joint in my body was swollen, aching, and on fire.
Monday morning, I went in to be tested, presenting with body aches and a very slight fever of 99.3. My test results of Covid-19 positive didn’t come until Thursday, a full week after my mother came home with the news. Thus began my Covid-19 experience.
My husband had a headache, ringing in the ears, and slight body aches. He tested Tuesday and his result of Covid-19 positive came that next Friday.
The county contacted us, warning us to stay inside our home. We were already doing that. They said to watch out for warning signs indicating that we needed to go to the hospital. I’d already looked up all the emergency information on the CDC website. Our doctor also gave us her personal phone number so we could text her with any questions. She’s awesome like that.
After our body aches went away, my hubby and I had mild cold symptoms that disappeared after a few days. General fatigue still lingers as of today into week two and my husband had a brief two or three days of loss of taste and smell, which, for a Deaf man, was an interesting loss of senses. He was like one of those sets of monkeys, but all in one guy. Lucky for him, his eyes were still working.
Unfortunately, my mom’s case didn’t turn out so lucky. In week two, she developed severe gastrointestinal problems. Her nausea was so severe, she couldn’t eat at all. She had constant low grade fevers and chills and seemed slightly disoriented.
I called the doctor and tried to research online to figure out what was happening. She wasn’t having problems breathing. There was no cough or pain in her chest, but I knew fever meant infection. She was fighting the virus somewhere in her body. You can also find Best doctors Here.
Most of the articles I looked up talked about how to keep seniors engaged and encouraged mask-wearing. They said to watch for the same warning signs everyone else was talking about. But no one was talking about what happened when a senior was struggling with the virus in a way that didn’t reflect the typical warning signs. Finally, I discovered a few articles on how seniors were responding differently to the virus.
I knew she had to keep fluids down and get enough nutrition to stay alive. We said a lot of prayers. I called my sisters and had them give her the tough mom talks when she wouldn’t eat or drink and when she refused to listen to me.
The doctor prescribed Ondansetron which helped with some of her symptoms but not with persistent nausea. When I became desperate, I called a sister for help. She was familiar with Ondansetron having had lots of experience with nausea, after giving birth to five children and having terrible bouts of motion sickness. She told me that the only medicine that helped her was Dramamine. I ordered some online and mom finally agreed to try it. Her nausea diminished and she finally began eating and drinking.
A chest X-ray showed no signs of pneumonia. Within a few days, the fevers abated and she felt better. Her recovery is going slow. Though she’s extremely fatigued, she’s improving daily and is finally out of the woods. There you have it, my Covid-19 experience.
The good news is that when my mom returns to work, she will recognize the warning signs and she can advocate for those who need her. I’m so grateful that we’re all on the road to recovery. My heart goes out to those who’ve lost loved ones. If you’d like to share your own thoughts or experiences with the virus, please feel free to leave comments or links to your own blogs.
Also, realize that I’m not a medical professional in any way. Though my mom is a nurse, and she read my blog, I’d hate to think anyone was basing their care plan on my experiences, so please consult professional help if you suspect you or your loved ones have contracted this virus.
Take care of yourselves. And be careful.
Love your grandma? Write her a poem. Here’s one I wrote to inspire you.
Or you can bake her some cookies. Here’s a recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip.
Madison Hayes’ Famous Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
This entry was posted in Articles, Life Events.
New York Times Bestselling author Colleen Houck is a lifelong reader whose literary interests include action, adventure, paranormal, science fiction, and romance. When she's not busy writing, she likes to spend time chatting on the phone with one of her six siblings, watching plays, and shopping online. Colleen has lived in Arizona, Idaho, Utah, California, and North Carolina and is now permanently settled in Salem, Oregon with her husband and a huge assortment of plush tigers.