Day 7 - COVID19: Information Whiplash

Information Whiplash and Reactions to Test Results

DAY 7: Sunday morning, March 15. Joseph is a person of routine. No matter how early or how late he goes to bed the previous night, this 3-year-old will wake up at the same time the following morning.

T.J. usually takes care of breakfast on weekends: eggs, bacon, pancakes, the works. However, after the three of us finished our breakfast he said he was feeling tired. He decided to take a nap. It was relatively early, maybe 9:00 AM. We figured that he was still exhausted from all the traveling and especially from the coronavirus stress of the week. He was also experiencing a low grade fever. He woke up about an hour or two later. Though he was tired he needed to run a few errands before his work week started the following day. He didn't get to run his errands.

It was around 11:00 AM when he received an unexpected phone call. He was surprised to hear from the doctor who had taken the cell samples the previous day at the hospital. The doctor called him for one reason alone, and that was to inform him that he had tested positive for COVID19. You can imagine the varied emotions T.J. felt at that moment: shock, anger, worry, confusion, frustration, fill in the blank. One of T.J.'s questions to the doctor was why he received different information the previous day from the E.R. supervisor. The doctor explained that T.J. was one of the first cases the hospital had had so far. That means that he was most likely, if not the first, the second or third patient that tested positive at this hospital location.

The hospital did not have a protocol for COVID19 patients. T.J.'s online medical chart displayed negative results for the old coronaviruses but not the new one. We now speak about the coronavirus (COVID19), myself included, as if it was the only one that exists. However, there are several coronaviruses out there that cause our common colds as well as other respiratory infections. That is why this coronavirus is labeled COVID19 or called the new / novel coronavirus.

As soon as T.J. explained what was happening he started moving things around in our bedroom and in Joseph's bedroom. He needed to quarantine himself completely, even from us. And some of you might wonder, well, what was the point of doing that if he had already had contact with his wife and son throughout the week. I don't disagree but you see, there was always that possibility that Joseph and I were still okay. That we hadn't contracted the virus.

That weekend, while everyone was sending each other memes through the many social media mediums as a way to alleviate the surreal feeling of a non-visible enemy, the memes that were also making us laugh, became irrelevant to us. For us, one unexpected phone call had not only changed our routine again but made the virus all to real. T.J.'s exhaustion wasn't due just to jet-lag but to the virus. His low grade fever and need for a nap Sunday morning was due, again, to the virus. The other symptoms he was feeling were also due to the virus.

I was scared. There was so much information out there. Nothing exactly conclusive. We had been reading everywhere and everything about the virus the whole week. Those at higher risk are the elderly and the immunocompromised. Severe symptoms for them can be deadly. Though not as common, younger and healthy folk can also experience severe symptoms. Death also a possibility. Yes, my thoughts where flying at an exorbitant speed. I was thinking worse case scenarios. My husband has asthma. Was this going to be a factor?

T.J. isolating himself in Joseph's room was the first step. His second step was calling his co-workers that he had had contact with mid-week and his two buddies that he had seen the previous day. I want to say that his phone call interactions were supportive with all those he made sure to inform. Unfortunately, it did not happen that way. One of his long-time buddies that same evening and for the following several days took to social media to rant about T.J. This folks, is why as we're all practicing social distancing and quarantining ourselves, regardless of whether you have the coronavirus or not. It is not just the responsibility of individuals like my husband to isolate themselves when they know for a fact they're sick but also the responsibility of everyone else who is not sick, who might simply not know they're sick, or live with someone who is sick to stay home or practice social distancing. Everyone is responsible for protecting those you love and even those you do not know.

We cannot control how others react but we can individually always choose how to react. This isn't an easy moment, for anyone.

My husband was experiencing mild symptoms and we did not know if they would get worse. He thought he had tested negative and had no need to worry. He went to visit friends. He finds out not even 24 hours later that he tested positive. Information whiplash. Now he had a lot more to worry about.

Later that same afternoon Joanna from the Health Department called T.J. The hospital had sent his results to the Health Department. T.J. had now officially become one of the first 100 confirmed cases in the state of Florida. Joanna needed to know where T.J. had traveled to and where he had been since his return. T.J. also told Joanna about the way the hospital relayed the information to him and about the results not being correctly listed on his medical chart.

I had to now call my supervisor to inform her of the unexpected news. I had spoken to her the previous day to tell her about my husband's results. However, now, again there was a need to worry about me. Now I also had to get tested. I'm a teacher. I have close contact with students. We also needed to call Joseph's daycare. He also needed to get tested.

Not everyone can get tested. Not everyone will be able to get tested. However, my place of employment was requiring I confirm whether I had contracted the virus or not.