real quarantine

Okay, so I alluded to this in my August post, but Covid hit our house :( Kevin had been at the lake with the youth all day (August 21st) and complained of a headache that evening, but I just figured it was from too much sun.  Well, fast forward to the next morning and he wasn't feeling great.  He still woke up to get on his Bishopric zoom meetings, but by the time he was done, he had the chills and was running a fever.  I was already completely ready for church (as were the kids), so I sent Kevin to bed and headed out the door. 

Before leaving, I commented to Kevin that he would probably need to be tested for Covid because I wouldn't be able to have my surgery (8/25) if he tested positive.  When we arrived home a few hours later, he was sound asleep. An hour later I checked on him and found out that he wasn't able to find an appointment to get tested.  I called the Urgent Care I went to in December and found out that they did offer rapid tests, but the wait was nearly 3 hours.  So, I made the 15 minute drive over there, went inside to get the paperwork, filled it out in the car, then turned it back in so Kevin could stay home and sleep.

At the 2.5 hour mark, Kevin drove back to the Urgent Care and waited in the car for his turn.  He ended up waiting another 2 hours before being called in!  And plot twist, he tested positive. He was told to go home and isolate for the next 10 days, but that the kids and I didn't need to quarantine unless we had symptoms. That seemed weird to me because we were all probably exposed, but I also didn't want to keep the kids home if they were perfectly healthy.

After the back and forth dilemma regarding the "right" thing (and calling the school nurse who confirmed that they could come if they were symptom-free), we decided to send the kids to school.  I explained the importance of wearing a mask (which we hadn't been doing) just to make sure we didn't expose anyone, and that if they didn't feel good, they needed to tell their teachers. Not just for their sake, but for other people's well being also. 

Well, I received a phone call from the school nurse about 10:15 stating that Colby had been in her office because he thought he had a fever.  He didn't, so she had sent him back to class, but I decided to pick him up anyway just in case he wasn't feeling quite right.  He was happy as a clam to be picked up, asked to watch a movie, then requested "something yummy to eat."  It was very clear that he wasn't sick at all, but I think I might have made him overly worried when I talked about making sure he told his teacher if he didn't feel right.  Or maybe he was worried about Kevin?  Or maybe he just saw an opportunity and took it, haha?  Kevin and I joked that he learned a new trick and it only took him 3.2 days of school :) 

After his movie and snacks, he wanted to go race cars at the park.  Since we weren't sick, we went...

The next morning (Tuesday), the kids both went to school and all was well. Little did I know, that was gonna be my last day to myself before the read lockdown happened, haha. On Wednesday morning, Brooke asked if I thought she had a fever. I checked and she didn't, but her concern about a fever was a little suspicious to me.  We carried on with our morning routine and she seemed totally fine, but once we pulled into the parking lot of the school. Brooke shared with me that her head was hurting. I immediately knew that something was up because she LOVES school, so I told her that she would need to stay home.  Once Colby heard that, he announced that he wasn't going to school either. I explained that he didn't have any symptoms and that he still needed to go to school, but after going round and round with him (and calling Kevin to discuss), we decided that we would keep both kids home given the circumstances.  

Brooke came home and laid in her bed for 15 minutes, then wanted to get up and play. Her and Colby played all day, and I just felt frustrated that they weren't at school because they seemed perfectly fine. That evening, Brooke started having a few cold symptoms, so I decided that I would go get them tested for Covid the next morning.  The next morning, we discovered that Brooke apparently had a bloody nose in the night.  She had dried blood all over her pajamas and crusted blood in her nose. I called Cook Children's, but they didn't have any appointments until Friday morning.  The kids were more mellow on Thursday, but still had their fair share of play time...

That night, while I was putting the kids to bed, Kevin apparently went for a drive.  When I couldn't find him, I called to find out where he was.  He was on his way home from In-N-Out, and made some joke about how his meal came with a free toy.  I had no idea what he was talking about, but turns out he bought himself a guitar on Craigslist, which is what prompted the drive and the food stop.  I guess when you've been hunkered down for 5 days, you start getting bored.  He was super sick on Sunday, then seemed perfectly fine on Monday and Tuesday (but isolated in our room to avoid spreading it to the rest of us), slept a lot on Wednesday and Thursday, then stayed up Thursday night tuning his new guitar. I took this picture by the door of "sick bay" as we called it...

Friday morning I was reading to Colby in the guest room bed (where I was sleeping), when Brooke walked in. She was having another bloody nose (even after I added a humidifier to her room), then went to the bathroom.  As she was walking back towards the bed, she sort of stumbled into the nightstand, was super pale, and mumbled something to me.  I asked if she was okay and she basically like crumbled to the floor.  Somehow I was out of the bed and behind her in no time and helped ease her to the floor. (She claims she just "sat down because she felt dizzy".)  I screamed for Kevin because it freaked me out, and he came rushing up the stairs half asleep. He grabbed the pulse oximeter to check her sats, and everything seemed normal. She said that after she washed her hands, her legs were shaking even though she wasn't cold, then couldn't put the soap back on the counter because she was really dizzy.  She was coming to tell me when the whole incident happened.  I sat on the floor holding my girl for 5 minutes or so until I helped her into her bed and got her a snack.  I was SO grateful that we already had an appointment with her doctor that morning because this was all starting to freak me out. 

Well, sure enough, she tested positive for Covid and Colby was negative.  But the nurse made a comment that "he probably has it as well." I had been tested the day before (with a PCR test), and got the results a few days later that I was also negative. Both my parents and Jerry and Bev were very concerned about Brooke, but besides the near-fainting experience, she didn't seem too sick.  Her temperature never went above 100 and she had mild cold symptoms, but her biggest complaint was that of a headache. 

The kids were going stir crazy in the house, so one day I took Colby on a walk to burn some energy. It was seriously hot, but still good to get some fresh air.  

We fed the ducks and turtles, then sat on a bench to rest. Colby asked if I knew a shortcut home so that it wouldn't take so long, haha, but when I said there wasn't a shortcut, he asked about a taxi. I guess his legs were feeling pretty tired after our mile walk. 

That afternoon we painted,

On Sunday, Grandma and Papa delivered dinner for us on the porch.  I tried to decline because that's a long way to drive just for a drop-off, but they insisted on being "Meals on Wheels."  

That night, Colby complained of a headache about 7 PM. I checked his temperature, and he was right at 100.  He had the chills as well, so after taking a shower, we snuggled up to watch a movie.  He was SO tired and was having the hardest time staying awake, so I tucked him into bed and he was asleep in minutes. I thought for sure he would wake up with more symptoms during the night, but he slept until nearly 8 the next day and despite still having a temp of 100, said he felt fine.  The fever was gone within an hour, and he seemed fine all day. 

We were getting desperate for entertainment (and I was sick of the fighting), so I allowed the kids to paint their faces and their hands, haha. It kept them entertained for a while :)  I have spent my time working on this blog, and am super happy to report that I have posted everything from January until now!  

We also worked on popsicle stick crafts...

About 6:30 PM that night, Colby mentioned that he was tired.  This NEVER happens, so I checked his temperature and he was surprisingly fever-free. I read him a few book and he was sound asleep by 7:15.  Then he was fine the next day!  Covid is so weird, but I'm glad that his symptoms were mild.  Just like Brooke, he said his head hurt, and he had mild cold symptoms which were also pretty much the same as his allergy symptoms. 

Brooke reading in her bed with her favorite blanket...

Kevin went back to work on Wednesday, September 1st, and although he didn't have a ton of energy or much of an appetite, he was ready to go back to work. He expressed how depressing it was to be stuck in that room for so many days and I think he just wanted something productive to do.  He had two employees out with Covid (one of which is who I think got Kevin sick), and they seemed to be having a much harder time with it than Kevin.  So again, we felt grateful that it wasn't worse for us.

We were also grateful for sweet friends that sent gifts for the kids and brought dinner.  It really meant a lot to us!!  Auntie Mel Mel sent a fun disco party light, but I only have videos and no pictures.  That kept the kids entertained for a while as they danced in my closet, haha. Charli Elieson (and her mom) sent this box of goodies...

The Richeys had this food delivered from Uncle Julio's Mexican Restaurant and we ate on it for days...

Rachel Smith also brought dinner and we just felt so grateful for thoughtful and sweet friends!

But by Friday of that week, I was ready to be DONE with quarantine.  It was really hard to be forced to stay home, and the heat made it unbearable to be outside.  I was supposed to get tested for Covid again so that they could reschedule my surgery, and although I had been having headaches and a slightly sore throat, I was pretty sure I would test negative.  Well, they called me Saturday morning to let me know that I was postitive.  Uggh, now I had to start another 10 day quarantine period!  The nightmare continued, haha.  But honestly, I felt grateful that we hadn't been too sick.  Brother Anderson in our ward also had Covid during this time and spent over a week in the hospital because he was having a hard time breathing and ended up with pneumonia.  We were praying so hard for him, and I was checking in daily with his sweet wife (our RS President) Shawna.  Another older couple in the ward also had Covid and the recovery process was slow for them. 

I felt decent on Saturday, but by Sunday, I felt awful. I had the worst headache and nothing I took helped a bit.  Kevin ended up taking the kids to a fishing pond an hour away to get them some fresh air and allow me to sleep in a quiet house.  I appreciated that SO much!  Monday was Labor Day, and we had a very mellow day here at home. Lots of episodes of our new favorite show (Just Add Magic), a few games, and simple food. 

By Tuesday, the kids had finished their 10 days of quarantine and were symptom free, so they went back to school.  Colby wasn't super excited about it, but we still had a good morning and he went to school without any problems. After drop-off, I came home and rested.  I still couldn't get rid of my headaches and had zero energy.  Starting Wednesday, I also had a weird achiness in my lungs.  It didn't really make sense since I wasn't coughing and didn't really have cold or respiratory symptoms.  By Thursday it was worse and I made the mistake of telling my parents.  They wanted me to go see my doctor, but I told them it didn't make much sense because it would be a virtual visit and she wouldn't even be able to listen to the lungs.  Besides, it was nearly 3 and almost time for me to get my kids from school. (I was doing the car rider line so as not to expose anyone to my germs.) That night the achy/tight feeling was worse and my heart also felt strange.  I decided that I would call my doctor in the morning, but turns out that her office isn't open on Fridays :(

I told my parents, and they were still pretty concerned.  I felt like my only option was to go to a place like Minute Clinic, even though I don't feel like they have the best doctors.  I looked online and it showed that they accepted walk-in patients, so I headed over only to find that they DON'T offer walk-in appointments.  I made the one and only appointment left for the day (5:30 PM) on the kiosk, then looked on my phone at available appointments at other locations.  Before allowing you to book, it specifically asks if you have tested positive in the last 10 days, and when I selected YES, a box popped up saying that they couldn't see me based on my selections "for the safety of other patients."  

So, I started texting my friend that used to be an ER nurse.  Based on her questions to me, I began to be a bit more concerned for myself.  Maybe I should have been more worried about my pleuritic pain, I just wasn't sure since I was breathing just fine.  Anyway, I decided to go to Urgent Care and get my lungs checked out and speak with a doctor.  It took nearly 2 hours to be seen, and the doctor was pretty grouchy towards me (apparently I should have gone to the ER if I already tested positive and was having new symptoms), but she listened to my lungs and wasn't concerned.  They also did a chest x-ray since I was there and it was quick and easy, but that didn't show anything of concern either.  I was told that it was just a side effect of Covid.  But I did get a prescription for an antiviral mediation for the canker sores that were developing all over my mouth.  Apparently, those can be a result of stress and a compromised immune system. Mom and Dad felt bad that I went there due to their stress and worry, so they send me the $75 co-pay through Venmo.  That definitely wasn't necessary, but very thoughtful. 
 

We had another pretty lazy weekend as we tried to get our energy back, and I was excited to finally be done with my quarantine!! 

Can't wait to feel better, run errands, see friends, and feel less like an outcast.