On Wednesday of this week I received my Covid-19 test results. I tested positive. I am one of the 2,110 positive Covid-19 cases reported on that day in the State of Utah. I had been sick for nearly 5 days before I decided to get tested. My daughter started coughing and feeling crummy a couple of days before I did and then my son showed symptoms a day or so later.
Then me.
I was doing all right until Sunday when I had some trouble breathing. I told my wife that, if I were an asthmatic, I would be using an inhaler. But, I don’t have asthma and I don’t have an inhaler. I was a little scared because of the direction my sickness was going. Evidence was stacking up that it was Covid-19. So, I decided to get tested in order to know for sure. I made an appointment for Monday morning early – 7 a.m.
I had the nasal swab. It is a nasty test. This one was my third. The other two I had taken early in the pandemic and both were negative. They push a cotton swab into your sinuses – way back in the top of your head through your nose – and swirl it around for 5-10 seconds. Then, they do it again in the other nostril. Very unpleasant. But, it got done and I went home to recuperate.
The day after my test, my wife and mother started showing symptoms. So, we got them tested on Wednesday. I drove them to the testing center because my wife wasn’t up to it and my mother doesn’t drive anymore. Same test as I had. Same discomfort for both of them. But, it got done.
When we got home, I received both text and email notification that my test results were in. Anxiously, I opened the email and then went to the patient portal.
Scroll, scroll, testing was done by. . . yada, yada, scroll, scroll.
Abruptly stop scrolling. And your results are. . .
Positive
There is a big difference in suspecting that something is true and knowing it.
Even though I suspected it, the truth of my sickness hit me like a ton of bricks.
Positive
Well, you know what that means, don’t you? Everyone who is sick in my household is probably positive as well.
I told my son and daughter who were sick. They weren’t going to get tested. But, with this news, they immediately scheduled themselves and were tested that very day.
There is still a lot that we don’t know about Covid-19. Of course, my mind raced to the most dire of outcomes. When there is a lack of information, we always make up stories and those stories are almost always the most grim. I don’t mind saying that I was more than a little nervous about my future. I have prepared a lot financially for my death. But, there are so many more things than financial to prepare. And I suddenly felt less than prepared.
Then my thoughts turned to members of my family. I thought about my daughter who has a heart condition. She is at greater risk. I thought about my mother who is in her eighties. She is also at greater risk. I am concerned for them. I remain concerned for them.
But, what can I do? The disease is already at our doors. It is here. Even though we thought we were taking adequate protection measures, obviously we weren’t and now we are sick.
As of this writing, I am coming out of it. My son has had no symptoms for the past two days. Every day I feel better. I have not had problems breathing like I did last Sunday.
Now we look to the future with a different perspective. We still have more than a week before I will feel like my mother and wife are out of the woods. But, three of us are clearly at the tail end of this.
Now, we have been infected and have successfully fought it off. Now, we have the antibodies against Covid-19 and don’t have to worry about the disease. Now, instead of the fear I had in my positive test result, I have hope knowing that we don’t have to fear this disease any more.
I don’t wish Covid-19 on anybody. If it were up to me, I would rather live Covid free and get vaccinated when a vaccine becomes available. But, now we don’t have to worry about it. We are part of the herd immunity.
Covid-19 is real. It is painful and scary. We were lucky. I urge you all to continue to be cautious and protective. Of yourselves. Of one another. This disease is still virulent and deadly. I still don’t know if there will be any long-term effects. I pray that there won’t be. Nevertheless, I trust in God and His will, regardless of the outcome.
It will be all right. We will get through this and we will be stronger.