Thread by @pixielauren

Twitter, I need to tell you about the dystopian nightmare I'm living, here in Ohio.

A THREAD. 1/

I did everything right, Twitter. The university where I teach (and where my partner also works) was one of the first in the nation to shut down, so we were home full-time weeks ago, before there were documented cases in Ohio.

2/

But the university that my youngest child attends did NOT make good decisions. They allowed students to return from Spring Break, and THEN shut the campus down a week later. This meant I had to make two road trips in two weeks, and then be exposed to Spring-Breaker contagion.

3/

Just a few days after moving my kid back home from his campus, I started feeling sick. Weird symptoms: Hives on my legs! Exhaustion. Terrible stomach upset, no matter what I tried to eat.

These weren't COVID-19 symptoms, though, so I tried not to worry.

4/

Day after day, though, I got worse. I work out regularly, but exercising was impossible. Just walking the dogs caused exhaustion. My headache was horrible.

No fever, though, so I tried not to worry.

But my partner is high-risk: She's a cancer survivor with asthma.

5/

The "turn for the worse" was three days ago, when I began experiencing a dry cough.

I don't have a doctor -- a poverty-borne habit from back when I didn't have insurance or any $$$ for things like that. So I called my health insurance's "Nurse Line."

6/

I was on hold forever, of course, but when I got to the nurse, I answered her Q's. Specifically: No, I don't have asthma, heart disease, diabetes. And no, I didn't have direct contact with a known COVID-19 case.

Because of those answers, I was told I cannot get a COVID test.

7/

The nurse said I should go to a "Flu Center" to be evaluated by a nurse or physician's assistant. She told me that "no doctor" would see me because of my symptoms.

What the HECK is a Flu Center? I wondered. And where?

Turns out, the closest Flu Center was an hours' drive.

8/

The phone nurse was VERY clear: at the Flu Center, they would swab me "for the flu" and evaluate me to see whether I needed further medical attention.

The phone nurse was SUPER careful to not say "COVID" or "coronavirus." Like, she was pathologically allergic to those words.

9/

The nurse had clearly been instructed to NOT say "coronavirus."

EVEN THOUGH, I had since discovered a cluster of patients in MY AREA who have identical symptoms to mine:

fox8.com/news/coronavir…

10/

So, with a headache so bad I kept shutting one eye, I drove to the "Flu Center" an hour from my house.

Google said the address the nurse gave me was just a Mercy Hospital Medical Center building, not a "Flu Center."

When I arrived, the parking lot was full.

11/

All the doors on the building had "STOP! Do Not Enter" signs taped to them. And on the main entrance, a printed sign that said "Flu Center" was also taped to the door.

There was a cop in gloves and mask at the front door. When I parked, he yelled, "Stay in your vehicle!"

12/

The cop came to my car. He handed me a mask and told me to put it on. He went back in the building and came out again. This time he was gloveless, but his hands were soaked with sanitizer. It was running down his arms toward his elbows.

He wrote down my name and birthdate.

13/

The cop went back inside. When it was my turn he came to get me. Inside, there was a minimal amount of paperwork -- not the usual medical-history questionnaire. But every time somebody interacted with me, everything got doused with sanitizer: Pens, clipboards, chair.

14/

Everyone in the place had masks on, of course, plus gloves, plus full gowns. So much PPE necessary for this operation.

I had vitals taken, and I was asked again whether I had any risks (asthma, etc.) or had been in direct contact with a known case. No, and no.

15/

I was tested for the flu via nose swab.

When it came back negative, the physician's assistant said it was likely I have coronavirus.

Finally, someone willing to say it!

16/

But: I can't get tested, because there are only enough tests for high-risk patients or those with known COVID contact.

So I'm not counted.

I wonder how many thousands -- hundreds of thousands? -- are like me? Infected, but uncounted?

17/

And therefore, people who have been in contact with me can't get tested, since I'm not a "known contact" with a positive test result. Even though, it's highly likely, I have it.

She told me to stay home. Keep my whole family home. (Already, we haven't left home for days.)

18/

I'm trying not to feel rage. WHERE ARE THE TESTS!?!? #WhereAreTheTests

Also, what sort of fucked-up doublespeak is it, to call these centers "Flu Centers?" I feel like I'm in a fucking Orwell novel. NOBODY is visiting the "Flu Center" because they're worried about the flu.

19/

I was told to stay home unless I am "too weak to dress myself" or I'm making that "stridor" noise when I breathe.

I was given a prescription for Tessalon Perles for my dry cough.

I feel worse every day. But there is NOTHING for me in our medical system.

20/

The best in the world! AMERICA!

But I can't even get TESTED.

I sit at home terrified I've infected my partner, for whom COVID is likely to be life-threatening.

Meanwhile, my 19-year-old has a cough and fever, too.

21/

And the most fucked-up thing about ALL of this is that there are likely THOUSANDS -- hundreds of thousands? -- of Americans like me. Symptomatic but unable to get tested. Told to stay away from the doctors and hospitals until it is possibly too late for us.

22/

We KNOW how quickly people deteriorate with COVID. They go from "fine" to crashing and intubated within hours.

I'm a "healthy' 50-year-old, so I might recover without serious incident. But how many in my shoes -- unable to even get tested at the "Flu Center" -- won't?

23/

And how are we not indicting ALL of our politicians and our health-insurance CEOs and our for-profit hospital administrators and our whole fucked-up SYSTEM right now?

FEET TO THE FIRE, until this is FIXED, permanently, for ALL Americans.

Hopefully I'll live to see it.

/END

3/28 UPDATE:

I think I am feeling a little better today. *fingers crossed*

But, terrifyingly, my partner (asthma, cancer survivor) is starting to feel sick.

I'd take any amount of personal suffering if she would just not get this. I'm seriously messed up thinking about it ☹️