I've been thinking about writing this for a while and I have some pretty pointed views on Covid and the world's response to it, but I'm going to attempt just sharing about my family's experience with this virus. Here we go:
Back in July, my family and I arrived back to the US from Ecuador. My sister came to South Bend with my niece to visit us. We (my wife and kids, sister, niece and I) were all staying together at my parents home. On a Monday, a few days after arriving to the US, my mom got sick. She spent the next few days in bed and we all figured she had the flu. We had to take her to the hospital on Wednesday due to a pain in her lower stomach area. They tested her for Covid and two days later (on Friday) we received a call from her doctor saying she tested positive for Covid, which made it her 5th day with Covid. Up to that point, nobody else had any symptoms, but we had been around her and others for a week at that point. This is where our family experience really begins.
Friday: The day my mom found out she had Covid, my sister had traveled home with my niece and my dad and I started with symptoms. My mom was still feeling pretty bad. My dad and I were pretty sick all through the night. It was like a terrible flu, with strong body aches and migrane headaches. I definitely didn't sleep well. We had to call a few different friends who came to visit throughout the day on Thursday to let them know. Interestingly enough, 2 of the 3 groups of friends that came ended up being all good, but the 3rd group did get Covid.
Saturday: The same symptoms continued all throughout the day, but my dad and I both lost our sense of smell. Thankfully, the family doctor prescribed my mom, dad and I a 7 day dose of Hydroxychloroquine and Zinc. We got that in the evening and took our first dose. I slept a bit better that night, but was still battling the flu like symptoms. We also started taking a lot of vitamins (thank you Marcia Wilson for blessing us with so many vitamins!)
Sunday: We still felt bad, but not as bad throughout the day on Sunday. My dad and I went to get tested, but we knew we had it. That morning my sister called saying she and my niece had fevers and didn't feel well. (My sister was back in North Carolina with her mom and step dad). It concerned us a bit, because both my sister and niece have asthma. I was also a bit concerned for my wife (asthma) and kids, but they were still doing well. Sunday night was pretty good overall and we slept much better.
Monday: My mom, dad and I woke up feeling pretty good. All the body aches and head aches were gone, but we still couldn't smell. My sister was pretty sick at that point with a strong fever, body aches and headache, but my niece was doing a lot better. My sister went ahead and got tested too. Our one group of friends that came to visit on Thursday started with symptoms that day (and they sadly had it a solid 2 weeks, but fully recovered). That day, my dad and I started having some chest congestion, but it was clear in color.
Tuesday: My sister was still pretty bad and her mom and step dad both started with symptoms, which lasted a solid 2 weeks. My mom and dad were both able to get on a Z-pak for the chest congestion (walking pneumonia), but for reasons I won't get into, I couldn't get a prescription. I called a doctor friend in NY for advice and he was AMAZING! (Thank you Dr. Lamont Barlow!) He gave me great advice and explained a lot of things. He told me I definitely had walking pneumonia based on my symptoms and needed a Z-pak. He said getting a bacterial infection is normal after having any kind of viral infection. At that point, it was just fatigue that my mom, dad and I were fighting. I don't know if that was from Covid or the walking pneumonia. Maybe it was a combination of both.
Wednesday: From that point on, we felt a lot better. We still struggled with fatigue, but all other Covid symptoms disappeared. I was getting worse with the walking pneumonia and was coughing up a darker yellow mucus, but I still couldn't get my hands on a Z-pak (a very frustrating situation). My wife and kids were still completely ok. My sister was not doing well. She had high fevers (up to 104), body aches and headaches.
Thursday: I was coughing up a lot of green mucus, but thanks to a lady from my church, I was able to get my hands on a Z-pak and I got over the walking pneumonia really quickly. My parents were also doing pretty well. We all still struggled with fatigue.
After that, my parents had to take another round of the Z-pak for their walking pneumonia, but we were all better (though fatigue was still a factor for another week). My sister, her mom and step dad were all pretty sick for the full 2 weeks, but totally recovered. Their doctors only gave them Tylenol, which I believe had something to do with its longevity and severity. My wife and kids never had symptoms. They got tested because a doctor told me it was pretty much impossible that they didn't have it, so we wanted to see. My wife came back positive, but was asymptomatic. We're assuming the kids also had it early on and were also asymptomatic since the whole family had it. We ended up finding out that Carolina's 97 y/o grandma in Ecuador had it, but was asymptomatic. Other family members in Ecuador also had it, but all were fine. With the 30+ people of our family and friends in the US and Ecuador that have had it, everyone got better, but one. Sadly my wife lost an uncle in his 70's who had an underlying heart condition. We are thankful to the Lord that all our other family and friends who have had Covid are doing great and pray that will continue to be the case. This is our Covid story!
