Has COVID-19 affected you personally?

[mommy111]

My DD's friend's grandmother (posted re her in another thread) got it and passed away (if you can, please post on her blog comments)
and yesterday, I found out that a dear friend's son in DC was taken to the hospital in critical condition and died before they could get him a ventilator. I know this kid since when he started college, he had just graduated from grad school so must be in his late 20s. Not your typical suspect, but he got covid19 and was not terribly sick, then suddenly developed shortness of breath, got to the hospital alive but passed away moments later
And so it starts
How many other people we know, I wonder, will be victims before this terrible disease ends
I feel like I'm living in some Dickensian nightmare

[robinsmommy]

Earlier this week I woke up in the wee smalls with fever and chills. And starting coughing later in the day, and usually have a headache when I wake up. I am isolating myself in the bedroom, and have had to develop a routine to use a shared bathroom and hopefully minimize risk. So yes, DH, who is carrying the load, would say it affects us. Haven’t gotten tested- they don’t really have the testing capability at this point for people under 60 with no preexisting conditions- or if you get tested, your sample can be slow boated, sometimes to the point of invalidating it or making the data all but useless personally.

It’s not awful so far, but I hear too many stories of it changing course partway through.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Robinsmommy! I pray you make a quick turnaround! We are pulling for you!

I have a dear friend whose husband is a doctor and he has it worse. But they both have it. She said the breathing is painful. He’s using the inhaler and is on day 20.


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[Kestrel]

Very dear family friend had it. Single dad, (mother passed away years ago) college-age kids, 50yo. He got very high fever, dry cough keeping you up at night. Went to DR and got tested after day 8, got results on day 17... positive. Never got so bad he needed to be hospitalized, but says there are whole days he doesn't remember. Now recovering at home. expecting no further problems. DR did give massive antibiotics and required someone to be with him 24hours a day, but did not admit. At the time, that seamed crazy - now, it looks like it was the right call.
We are relieved and grateful he is still with us.

[mommy111]

Earlier this week I woke up in the wee smalls with fever and chills. And starting coughing later in the day, and usually have a headache when I wake up. I am isolating myself in the bedroom, and have had to develop a routine to use a shared bathroom and hopefully minimize risk. So yes, DH, who is carrying the load, would say it affects us. Haven’t gotten tested- they don’t really have the testing capability at this point for people under 60 with no preexisting conditions- or if you get tested, your sample can be slow boated, sometimes to the point of invalidating it or making the data all but useless personally.

It’s not awful so far, but I hear too many stories of it changing course partway through.

OMG, feel better soon!! Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery!!

[essnce629]

So DH's good friend back home in CT (aged 39) tested positive for coronavirus yesterday and his entire family (wife and two kids ages almost 2 and 4) are presumed positive as well. His wife (aged 43) recommended sharing their experience so far, so I'm copying and pasting her email (that she wrote right before the positive result). Also to note: when we went to their wedding 5 years ago they were both big cigarette smokers, as pretty much all DH's friends on the east coast are. I'm not sure if they both still smoke, but my guess is that DH's friend still does (like DH's brother does) but that his wife doesn't since she's been pregnant and/or breastfeeding for much of the past 4 years. We all know that cigarette smoking is a big risk factor for severe coronavirus disease, which may explain why DH's friend is doing much worse than everyone else in the house. Email below, with names changed:

"Just an update from the home front. Some of you know and many don’t that we are believed to have COVID 19. We are on day 11 of self isolation. The kids and I have been sick, fluctuating fevers, etc but are hopeful we will be mild cases and not get worse. John has been a different story. He’s had a very hard week. Pneumonia has entered both lungs and he was given antibiotics which will hopefully help him. He is home with me, but not out of the woods of a return to the hospital, so we take his vitals and temp every three hours and monitor his breathing. He is usually ok in the mornings with lower fevers but has seen 103 and higher for 5 days straight come afternoon. He’s been in a lot of pain and discomfort with headaches, nausea, stomach issues and body aches. This virus is no picnic. Hopefully this will end soon.

Questions you may have:
Yes, he’s been tested but it took us nearly a week to get a prescription and appointment for one, and takes up to a week to come back. Connecticut is EXTREMELY LOW on tests. The kids and I aren’t sick enough to warrant tests so If John is positive we will be listed as presumed positive. All doctors think he surely has it. He has all of the symptoms (even lack of smell).

We are a case of community spread... we don’t know anyone who has it...

We are ok. Tired but ok.

I am just trying to keep him well enough to avoid hospitalization. He’s hovered on the line of needing to return for a few days.

Finally. Things to have in your homes should you get this. An oximeter... checking oxygen as well as temps is important and helpful to doctors. Drinks with electrolytes. This sucker can be 14 days of fever. That’s an absurd amount of Gatorade.

If you are parents, come up with a plan if both of you get very sick. My milder case has allowed me to care full time for the kids, but I don’t know what we would do if I was more severe. John is too ill to assist.

Make a local helper group with friends. So if one of your family get it and you need to self isolate, the team can send meals and shop for you. My local friends have been holding me from the start and it’s been everything to me.

Most important. If you don’t have a great physician who will check in on you often, and you are lucky enough to have doctor friends ... ask them questions while apologizing profusely for bothering them at a difficult tie.

Our doctor friends have LITERALLY walked me through all of this. They taught me how to read pulse/oxygen and what symptoms to follow. They convinced John to be seen when the time came... and we would have likely not gone so soon to the hospital and gotten meds. (He has a cough but it’s still not terrible.. it was not the most present symptom at all when his pneumonia was diagnosed)

If you have a child with asthma who is showing symptoms DO NOT USE YOUR NEBULIZER. I can create droplets of the virus and move it around. Call your pediatrician and they can try to find you an inhaler.

John's oxygen finally went up a bit today, day #12 for him. Very relieved."

[essnce629]

This article seems to mirror exactly what DH's friends are going through. I told one of my best friends, who's single and lives alone in Oakland, to come up with a plan ahead of time in case she gets sick. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/m...us-family.html



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[Mommy_Mea]

Yes, a couple in my (very small) neighborhood have it and the husband died earlier this week and she is in critical condition. Made it very real for me

[Melaine]

My best friend is waiting on results. She either has pneumonia or COVID according to doc. She seems to be doing well but she does have some meds.

[daisyd]

This article seems to mirror exactly what DH's friends are going through. I told one of my best friends, who's single and lives alone in Oakland, to come up with a plan ahead of time in case she gets sick. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/m...us-family.html

Thanks for sharing. I hope your friends recover soon.

OP and PPs I'm sorry for your losses. This is so sad and scary.

My prayers for everyone's loved ones and neighbors a speedy return to health