Weekly Wrap Up 9/10/21-- Our Covid experience--break through cases!

 It was bound to happen sooner or later and we now have first hand experience of Covid in our family.  It has been a rocky ride.  All of us are fully vaccinated, my husband since February and the kids and I since March of this year!  My husband came down with Covid around July 28th.   We have no idea where exactly he caught the virus and we are extremely careful about isolating and wearing our masks.  Although he does admit to letting his guard down a few times.  The following is a timeline of events.  

My husband went out of Town to visit friends for a quick weekend  July 16th and when he came back we were notified that he may have been exposed to someone with covid.  He went in for a rapid covid test and it came back negative. On the 25th he flew to Washington DC for work and after a few days he started to feel like he was coming down with a cold.  Being very cautious he went to his office medical team and was tested yet again with a rapid covid test.  It came back negative.  The next day he flew home.  Over the weekend he had all the systems of a cold but was still able to do things around the house.  He went to work on Monday and Tuesday (he did wear a mask)  and came home exhausted.  On Tuesday evening,  the 3rd of August  I insisted we go again to urgent care as I was very concerned with his breathing.  We called to several urgent cares in our area and all of them were completely booked and no longer taking any appts.  After several calls I finally found one that had an opening and drove both my husband and son there.  My son was also experiencing a cough.  Both on them were tested using the PCR test and we had to wait 36 hours for the results as the Lab had just picked up the final tests for the night right before we were seen. So their tests would not be submitted until Wednesday morning.  

We got the call Thursday around mid morning letting us know my husband tested positive while our son did not.  Based on when his symptoms started the medical staff gauge that he had covid starting on July 28th.  We were given the basics of quarantining and that was it by the urgent care facility.  After a few days my husband was feeling really bad,  struggling to eat or drink (he never lost his sense of taste or smell)  and I felt his breathing was not right.  I called the emergency line for our local Dr's office and given instructions on how to properly monitor his breathing and manage his other systems.  I ran to Walgreens to buy a pulse ox (to monitor O2 levels) and medications to help with his nausea.  His blood oxygen levels fluctuated between 90 to 93%. Temp was high and we tried to get him to drink Gatorade to keep him hydrated.  Stilled concerned I called the emergency number in the evening just to make sure I was doing everything correctly and to double check on whether I should bring him to the hospital.  He was feeling really bad and I was  worried. We were told to stay put as he was stable as long as his oxygen did not dipped below 90%.   They said this was a normal course of the virus.

He continued quarantining in the guest bedroom and we monitored his O2 levels and it fluctuated greatly for another couple of days.   At night he reported that it dipped below 90% but he didn't want to disturb me.  I was not happy about that!  I called the emergency number several times in the following days and he bounced from feeling a little better to barely moving in the bed and the whole time his oxygen level stayed between 90-93%.  It was so frightening!   Finally on Sunday I could tell he was not breathing well and his O2 level keep dropping to around 89% and he really had to concentrate to keep it to 92%.  When talking my Husband had to stop every other word or so to catch his breath.  At this point I call the emergency after hours and after reviewing symptoms was told to take him to the nearest emergency room.

 We are about 30 minutes away from an ER and once there I had to drop him off and wait in the parking lot to see if they were going to admit him or not.  It was a very worrisome 90 minutes.  My husband notified me that they were admitting him with a dx of covid pneumonia and to go home.  I can tell you I did not sleep well that night.  The next morning, my husband called and said they had put him on O2, steroids and IV fluids.  He still sounded breathy to me but he said he was feeling a little better.  lab work and X-rays were taken and he was told he needed to stay another night.  We kept in touch as much as we could via phone calls and face time.  I could tell he was improving so that was comforting but not being there was horrible.  The doctors told him that they were seeing younger patients who haven't been vaccinated in his condition and they were dying!  So the vaccination DID help him!  the bloodwork came in saying the covid markers were gone meaning that his body successfully fought off the virus but the side affect was pneumonia in his lungs.  

Tuesday August 10th he was discharge home late afternoon with home Oxygen.  He is to still quarantine from the family until the 17th and can not return to work. So far the rest of the family had shown no signs of the virus and I honestly believe it is because we are vaccinated.  I am the only person who enters the guest room and both he and I wear a mask the whole time. When I leave his room I wash my hands and anything I have touched.  We have no idea how long he will be on Oxygen or how long it will take to clear up his pneumonia.

At home O2 tank with a fifty foot cord so he move around the room 

we also have tanks that we can take outside to Dr appts if needed.  Although right now he is under quarantine and not allowed to leave the house unless for Dr appt

Once home and carefully monitoring husband O2 level we were noticing that his pulse rate was much lower than it normally is, dipping into the low 40's at time.  While this is acceptable for an athlete it is not for someone in my husband condition.  We called the Dr and was told that the steroids he was on could cause this and also that covid does cause Cardiomyopathy which results in lower heart rate.  So long as he doesn't have any other systems like chest pain, shortness of breath, swelling of the ankles that he would be ok.  Should any of those things come up or if his heart rates dips into the 30's then he would have to go to the ER and probably be referred to a cardiologist.

While I have been very careful to wear a mask around my husband but I started to develop cold like systems, stuffy nose, tightness in the chest and headaches.  I chalked it up to just being exhausted, worried and just a tad stressed out, however the doctor ordered covid tests for me and for Firedrake (who also experienced cold like symptoms such as sore throat, runny nose and feeling fatigued).  We got the PCR test and mine came back negative and Firedrake's came back positive!  The Doctor called and told the whole family that we are all too assume we are positive for covid, even with negative tests results for MarioFan and myself.  We are all to quarantine for another 2 weeks!  All in all we were quarantine for almost 4 weeks due to the staggering covid test results!

Luckily we are off quarantine just in time to take Firedrake back to college, but her last month home has not been fun and I haven't been able to do all the shopping I need to do in order to get all the supplies for her college.  It has been quite an ordeal for us all. 

My husband has since returned to work part time still needing supplemental O2 and after working just 4 hours or so is exhausted.  Doctors have told us this is very normal and to expect it the recovery to be about 4-6 weeks.  Slowly he is getting better but then suddenly reported that his taste is changing everything tastes metallically, again, we are told this is normal and hopefully won't last too long.  Every one we speak to that has had covid reports symptoms report it lasting various lengths of time and recovery being different for everyone. 

  I wrote about this experience to hopefully get more awareness out there that vaccinations work!  Yes we all caught the virus but each of us experienced different symptoms and some had extremely mild symptoms and others much more severe.    Please understand this virus is bad.  Yes you might be lucky and only have cold like systems but you might not and the risk is hospitalization or even death.   My family will be first in line to get the booster shot after this experience.  MY family all survived covid with only one person becoming severely ill.  We are keeping our fingers crossed there will be no long term effects.  According to the Doctor the vaccine saved my husband's life and it also help the rest of us to have only mild symptoms and stay out of the hospital!

Be Safe, get Vaccinated and Wear a Mask!!!

We have just ordered 60 N95 masks which will we be wearing from now on!