Today we dropped Amy off at the ER. Spoiler alert, the chest x-rays were ok and she came home. But when I dropped her off I honestly didn't know if that would be the last time my kids saw their mom. Let's talk about a few of the complete failures that got us here #coronavirus ...
A little background. On the 11th, she told me her throat was scratchy. On the 12th, she said she had a little fever. By the 13th, she had chest pain, coughing, sore throat and fever. Over the last 2+ weeks she's had a fever, she's dizzy, weak, cough and chest pain getting worse
She has Addison's disease, which means her immune system is barely functional. It also means that if her system gets overwhelmed it'll just shut down. And she's particularly susceptible to infections, like, say, pneumonia
She's also a nurse at a major DC hospital. So when her symptoms were worse on March 16, her boss cleared her for a test at the DC public health department, one of the few places in the area that had tests at the time. 40 minute drive, hour+ wait, 40 minutes home to get tested
They said results in 5 to 7 days. So we waited. On March 17, Calvin (8) developed a fever (101) and a cough. But 3 days later he seemed ok again. Meanwhile Amy's symptoms kept getting worse, with a fun round of heavy GI distress thrown into the mix.
On March 21, Lila (9) said she didn't feel good. I checked her temperature. 102. The next morning--7 days after Amy's test (T+7)--Lila's fever spiked to 104.5. Tylenol barely made a dent. Despite the uncertainty, we decided to try ibuprofen. We also put her into a luke-warm bath
She was so hot the baths (warmer than a heated pool) made her cry. Thankfully the ibuprofen plus the bath knocked the temperature down. Layered with Tylenol we could keep her temp down, but if we missed a dose by 30 minutes her temp skyrocketed again.
Meanwhile, at T+7, the lab told us well, it's gonna be 7-10 days now. Amy's symptoms, especially the cough, were getting very concerning. On the 26th (T+11) she almost fainted after sitting at the table for 15 minutes for dinner. At that point I said fuck this, no more waiting
She still wanted to wait. She didn't feel bad enough, her pulse ox reading was fine, she didn't want to burden the system... And most importantly, without a positive test result she was likely to get put through a whole batch of testing before they bothered checking her lungs
I gave her a couple days but kept a close eye on her. Lila, thankfully, suddenly snapped out of it on Friday. Back to her normal self almost immediately. Saturday (T+13), Amy spent most of the day sleeping.
I told her I was bringing her in Sunday, test or no. That I wasn't going to wait for an infection to take root in her lungs because her body isn't capable of fighting that infection and I wasn't willing to wait till she couldn't breathe and ended up on a ventilator
She kinda groaned but didn't argue. Then this morning she came downstairs fully dressed. She said "I think my body is losing this fight. I'm ready to get checked out."
When we got to the hospital (we went to where she works because the insurance covers more if we go there, and because she can expect better care as an employee) it looked like a SciFi movie. There's a HAZMAT-style tunnel at the door, and everyone's in full mask/gown/shields
I had the kids get out and hug her, and tried to encourage a good hug without scaring them. I hugged her for a long time. Based on her condition, what we know about the progression of this virus and the limits of her system, it was perfectly possible she'd never walk back out
The kids and I spent the day in the woods after that. It was a beautiful day. We played in the creek and picked flowers and climbed logs and sent pictures to Mom and the whole time I waited to hear if they were going to keep her there 
Like I said at the top, they didn't. They said her chest x-ray was ok, come back if she starts having trouble breathing. So now we're back to square one. At this point, fairly confident both kids have had it (but no testing to verify), and hoping like hell I'm just asymptomatic
We're extremely fortunate. I went full prepper at the beginning of March and stocked the pantry and freezer. We have good friends who can bring us extra supplies. And we're financially able to weather this storm.
But why weren't there tests? Why is getting a test still hard? Why haven't we activated the Defense Production Act so that we can provide enough masks and gloves and ventilators to keep front line workers safe and save people's lives when they get hit?
People ask how I am. I'm angry. Some day maybe I'll feel the sorrow and fear. I felt a taste of fear today. But for now I'm just furious. I'm sick and fucking tired of the kakistocracy that's putting the daily news cycle ahead of our lives, and the people who are enabling it
That's it for now I guess. I'm furious. We're not out of the woods, but at least Amy's lungs aren't filling with fluid yet. Maybe we'll get the test back tomorrow (T+15). Maybe not. But the whole situation was a choice, and it is unacceptable.
And as always, your kindness and generosity are so appreciated. So many are in far greater danger than my family. @unitehere members lost jobs overnight and are facing this with no income or healthcare. If you can, please chip in to help them survive secure.actblue.com/donate/unite-h…
