Corona Hits Home

I was in Home Depot buying paint when I got the text from my son telling me he was COVID-19 positive. And Influenza B as a bonus. I was relieved, crazy as that might sound. There was finally a confirmed explanation for the misery and anxiety of the past 8 days.  And  I’ll probably never go into Home Depot again without remembering.

I asked the question on Facebook about a month back whether anyone knows of anybody, personally, who has this virus.  I was skeptical about the seriousness of the whole thing. Well, I’m not a skeptic anymore. 

My son told me half-jokingly, before he got sick, that all the plague disaster films start with the government telling everyone there’s nothing to worry about.  And that’s how they were talking, way back in the good old days, three months ago.

He was exposed second-hand to someone who had been with someone that had tested positive a week or so earlier.  Because of this exposure his family was ordered by the health department to be in two-week quarantine.  It’s a fortunate thing they were thus ordered, otherwise they would have been in contact with many other people before the symptoms appeared. The person directly exposed to the confirmed case experienced only mild symptoms, and had therefore not been tested for the virus.  As my son’s health deteriorated with fevers, sweats, nausea, vomiting and a persistent dry cough we felt certain he had also contracted this new and scary bug. 

Paul and I were in Florida where we have taken to riding out some of the miserable winter weather that is common in our area of Ohio.  Even though our son is an adult with a family of his own, during the week of hearing about his deteriorating condition, I just wanted to get on the next flight home.  Paul, the voice of reason, reminded me I wouldn’t be allowed to see Erik anyway, and that I could worry just as well in the sunshine of Florida as I could in the bleak and blustery weather of Ohio.  He was right of course but I still wanted to slap some sense into him.

Every day I checked in, sometimes several times.  He continued to tell me that the fever was back up, he had experienced terrible sweats, he couldn’t eat or keep anything down, he was unable to sleep, he was too dizzy to stay upright, and by the end of the first week he had lost fifteen pounds. This from someone who has never been overweight.

My anxiety started to climb.  And climb.  Very concerned, I finally convinced him to go to the local ER for help on about day eight. After IVs and a whole lot of tests, they discharged him to sweat it out at home.  I was somewhat reassured because now there were doctors involved, there were IV fluids in, and there were medical people staying in touch with him.  Several more days of misery followed until, finally, his fever broke and he started the long road back, gradually building up his strength again.

I feel overwhelmed with thankfulness.  For friends who pray when we are too busy freaking out to do more than blurt out “God help!” now and then.  For doctors, nurses, and techs putting themselves in harm’s way to care for those who need them.  For a God who can be trusted.  And I’m so thankful that this horrible virus never went to his lungs and that his family has suffered only minor symptoms. 

I’m also frustrated.  When I see posts about how this is all a hoax or it’s just like a “bad flu.”  Uh, yeah, no it’s not.  I hear people say there are no cases around here, or hardly any.  Also not true.  Not nearly all the cases are being counted but that doesn’t make than any less real.  I hear people say that it’s different here in the country than it is in NYC.  Well, obviously, in many ways it is.  But my son, living in a small Midwestern town many miles from any major metropolis, got slammed with this bug from the other side of the world.  He hasn’t traveled outside the state since long before Corona was anything more than beer from Mexico.

I’m frustrated when I hear people complain that we’ve been suffering through this social distancing and yet our local hospitals don’t seem to be full. That’s the whole point, isn’t it?! Most hospitals in the country aren’t being overrun BECAUSE THE QUARANTINES ARE WORKING.

Having said all that, I also realize we can’t stay shut down forever because it is simply not economically feasible.  Our small family-owned business depends on tourism.  Our checking account is looking a lot less healthy than it did a month ago.  So my frustration (at least in this blog) is not about businesses opening or staying closed.  It’s not about which side of the political aisle people are looking for their salvation.  My frustration is about people blithely comparing this to a “bad flu” or insisting that this quarantine is nothing but a political plot by the left, right, or deep state to destroy this country.  That social distancing means we’re all sheep who do anything we’re told.  That it’s all about NOTHING.  That it only kills old people.

I challenge the naysayers to promote all their questionably researched theories after someone they love has been put through the COVID wringer.  Someone who is in the prime of their life and with no underlying health challenges.  I challenge them to imagine that the body bags they’ve run out of in NYC were needed for some of their own nearest and dearest.  I challenge them to contemplate the possibility that they could be incorrect in some of their opinions. It just might change their perspectives. 

RANT OVER.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. Psalm 28:7