My Corona

Tuesday, 4:58pm. That's when I got the call. The call telling me I had been in contact with people that have tested positive for Covid-19. Holy s, Batman?!?

I always wear my mask. I leave my house when I absolutely need a grocery item - typically for school lunches. I leave to drop off my daughter for school, and then head to work, then pick her up and go home. Any out of our home activities we do are alone. Can't catch anything when you're driving in your own vehicle through the Wildlife Safari. Can't catch anything when you're alone in a river away from people. 

Ready for the swab!

But the ONE time you get near people, and don't wear a mask because everyone APPEARS healthy and you try to stay socially distant... well that's when you can get the call.

What got me to leave my house? A birthday party for a little girl. I spent most of my time only near my mom and daughter, but as at any birthday party surely we are all going to accidentally get too close. Everyone else there was family to each other, and had been near each other all the time as we are with family, so they didn't really need to worry... right?!?

In the end there were 15 people. Yeah, we should have worn masks. Damn that one time we didn't. Would we pay for it? Am I going to end up in the hospital with things going in my body in who knows what places? Would I be the source of work gossip? With all the women in that building I'd surely be talked badly about. What was going to happen?? How many people would end up sick from this party?

15 people.  FOUR tested positive. Was I one of them? Let's proceed and find out.

Back to the phone call. . . my mom and I were both there, we both got the calls, we were both told to be on high alert. We spent the days after taking our temperature. We wore our masks like we always do. We replayed the whole party trying to see who were we by and how long. My mom decided to go get tested the next day. She was told that at this point it could be too soon to get a positive result if she did contract the 'Rona, and to come back Saturday since that would be a week since the exposure. We decided to go do this together, and drag my step-dad along for testing since he clearly lives with my mom. 

At 11am this morning we were on a FaceTime doctor visit with a woman in Eugene. She agreed we should get the rapid test here in town. By 11:05am we were in the car and on our way to the clinic. We never even had to get out of the car! 

First up for the swab was my step-dad. He was dreading it and wanted to get it over with. Next was my mom. Finally, my turn, the one least afraid of it. I had so much shoved up my nose during my CSF leak, this little q-tip was nothing at all to fear.

Truth.... it wasn't pleasant. I can't say how it would feel for you since, like I said, I've had a lot of up my nose. Cameras, swabs, SIX pledgets for over 24 hours... this was a piece of cake! It did make my eyes water. A dabbing of the eyes and blowing of my nose did the trick. My mom's experience of the swab up the nose: Thank God it was quick. 20 seconds of discomfort administered by a young man with a wonderful sense of humor, but did that sucker reach my tear ducts? She always said it almost felt like she felt it in her ears!

Once done we asked if they just call us with the result and we were stunned when he said if we just wait 20 minutes he can give us our results in writing! WHAT?!?! Um, YES!! 

Last Saturday we felt awesome. Fine. Healthy. Having a lot of fun. We had been doing this Covid stuff like a boss. I have an insane collection of masks. I can wear one a day for a month without repeating, and I have more on the way and in my home production queue. But then that phone call changed it all. We all worried about it non-stop. Did we have it? Most important, would we get someone sick? We all know that for some, getting Covid-19 can be a death sentence. All of this worry would come to an end OR we would have to quarantine even more and prepare for who knows what. 

It didn't take long and our swab guy was coming back. When he came to do the tests he had on a mask AND face shield AND gloves AND full body hospital protective gear. This time it was just a mask. Did that mean he wasn't terrified of us and we were free of the virus?? If we had it would he be head to do in protective gear and ready to throw us in a bubble??

I really liked him. He delivered our results with dramatic flair. A sense of antici.....

.... pation.

First up he did MY results. Such a pause. Oh my gosh. I have it, I have to have it. He doesn't want to tell me the bad news. Oh my gosh, seriously!?!? And then he said it... I AM NEGATIVE!!

Next, my step-dad, who was no longer with us... more dramatics, also Negative.

And then the REAL pause. He hemmed and hawed. He gave my mom a look. He definitely presented her result in a good, story-telling fashion. We were nervous, but I appreciated his desire to leave us on pins and needles.

NEGATIVE!!

We all passed the test! Hot diggity dog!

So what have we learned from this?

Assume everyone has it. Of the 4 who do have it, only 1.5 showed symptoms at that party. Yeah, I gave someone a half of a point instead of a whole. It's my blog, I can do that. Being asymptomatic is real. Covid-19 is real. Ditch your political bias or belief that it is a hoax. That is annoying as F, and so ... stupid! Wear your mask. Stop bitching about it. Wear a damn mask. Wear it over your NOSE AND MOUTH. If you have a problem with this, stay away from me and family. I don't want to lose any loved ones because someone thinks they are smarter than SCIENCE. 26.66% of the birthday party attendees were positive. Think about that next time you are with a large group of people - especially if you are all feeling safe without your mask on. 

Right now we are experiencing a huge sense of relief, all of us ready to pass out now after not really sleeping well since we got that phone call. I can guarantee you we will all continue to wear our masks. And we might even be more vocal about it after having this close call. We all feel like we have a fresh start and are going to double up our efforts to protect ourselves and others. And by the way, our friends that tested positive are doing well!

We are celebrating by ... watching Cats?!? Yes, I've been dying for a Cats drinking game with my mom. This movie is so bad you guys!