Well 2020 has been a roller coaster and one we will never forget right?! I had to share about our COVID 19 story. And to tell our story I have to start from the beginning. Please stick with me, I know this is long.
I was THAT mom. My teenager and I literally had fights about wearing masks when out in public. We followed the rules exactly! I was very careful and strict about who the kids and I hung out with and where they went. I stayed home and worked from home.
My husband is a first responder and must go to work. And that is just the way it is like 1000s of other Americans right now. They are essential workers and have to work.
Texas opened up really really early! And everyone thought it was all good! In Houston No one followed rules. The Governor overruled our Houston Mayor and Harris County Judge who said we were not ready. They were right! But I digress.
We actually went to San Antonio after everything was opened. We had been distracted like so many by other things happening in the world. COVID was no longer the top story in the daily news. I was so impressed with how San Antonio followed social distancing and face masks rules. I thought “wow! I wish Houston was doing this good!”
And then BAMMM! The Houston spike hit! No surprise! Yet somehow I still felt immune or invincible. I mean we (my family) were following all the rules. I get it, it is crazy Texas HOT and we are wearing masks! Not fun! But we were doing it! Hand Sanitizing like crazy! We were doing everything right.
So what is my point. Ok here it is.
On a Monday morning in June my husband called me from work and said he didn’t feel well. He was coming home. It sounded like a sinus infection. Pressure in his face, head congestion, clammy, sweating, etc. We called and made an appointment with our PCP. I had just gotten over a cold so we honestly thought it was nothing. He DID NOT have a fever or cough… no obvious covid symptoms so no worries. While waiting for his afternoon appt he got a call that he had been exposed / been in contact the week prior with someone who just tested positive for COVID over the weekend. The man did not know he had been exposed and certainly didn’t know he was positive. But that is the way it spreads.
Joel (my husband) was required to go in for precaution for work and get a test. We still thought he had a sinus issue but he went ahead and canceled the PCP appt since he had to go to the ER anyway. He was super fortunate in that he got to get a rapid test and had results in 1 HOUR!
He was Positive!
Wait what? He didn’t touch the guy! He didn’t hug the guy! What in the world? How??? Remember he had none of those famous symptoms they always check for and call out!!! No fever! No cough! No shortness of breath! How was he positive???
Worry set in fast! You see, just the day before we had Father’s Day with all my in laws and family! So now they were all exposed! I was exposed! Kids were exposed! His brothers, their kids and wives, his parents, His grandma in her 80s with a head injury was exposed!
Please God no! This can’t be happening to us!
So he called his whole family and shared the news and they all needed to get tested. When my little man heard he burst into tears and thought his daddy was going to die! Kids have seen so much negative news this year. They were terrified. I was too and I am an adult! That was too much! We all cried that night. All of us!
I slept on the couch and isolated him in the bedroom but by the next morning I felt bad. Cough, tight chest, and fever. So me and the kids went to the same ER. The DR said before she even did the test “You have COVID”. They did a chest X-ray, ekg, breathing treatment, blood work, fluids, and I think that is all. But I was in a fog. My daughter got it on SnapChat. 😉
I was positive! What the heck? How? I was so careful!
I got a rapid test and the kids didn’t have symptoms so they got the standard test. (Results in a week!!!)
Now I was praying harder. I was scared. What if we both end up in the hospital! What if our kids got sick? What if? What if? Dr said the kids need to isolate. But what if we have to go to the hospital? What if?
Over the next 2 weeks we all 4 quarantined at home. I stayed in bed hardly able to get up and do anything. Joel sat in his recliner. Our symptoms were different and evolved over the next few weeks.
Joel’s: Head congestion, slight cough, body aches, stomach issues, runny nose, tired.
Me: I slept a lot, disorientated, cough, tight chest, headache, fever, body aches, stomach issues, brain fog, balance issues, fatigue.
As you can see it varied and some things would come and go or change over time. Get better and something else would come up.
We got our kids tests back and they were both negative! Praise God! We were told to assume they are asymptotic so they still had to complete the 14 day quarantine. Poor kids had to fend for themselves while mom and dad tried to recover.
And remember the family who was all exposed! No one tested positive! Everyone could have gotten it! But God had other plans! We could have spent weeks in a hospital room instead of recovering at home but God had other plans. Praise God. I praise him in the good and the bad. Cause let me tell you we had a lot of people praying for us! And I felt it and was at peace with whatever was about to happen.
So friends! My message to you is covid is real. I know you are tired of hearing about and ready to get back to normal. Goodness knows I am too! And I know it is crazy hot and no one wants to wear a mask. I know businesses are suffering. I know many of us are taking pay cuts or losing jobs. But friends please know that your health and the health of others is more important! Please don’t be selfish. This started with no one doing anything wrong. No one who passed it along knew. And with tests taking weeks to get back it is no wonder. So let’s live cautiously and as if we do and we want to protect others because we love them! Protect yourself. If you don’t care about you do it for them. If you don’t care about them do it for your family.
We were lucky. Very lucky and so many others, thousands are fighting for their lives in hospitals right this minute. People I know are fighting! Please do what you can to help!
If you made it to the end thanks for reading our story! Love to you all! Stay safe and well friends! And come on 2021!
