COVID CHRONICLES Day 26
Last Day in Captivity? Or Not?
Wednesday, April 15
Happy Not-Tax Day! Thankfully, the filing deadline (or as I refer to it, Extension Day) was moved to July.
As I reported yesterday, my wife Lisa had a bad day which extended into night. She called Stanford because she was experiencing shortness of breath. She used her inhaler over a number of hours and eventually got some relief after a late night.
I’m doing better than yesterday. The worst has passed. As expected, I’m dragging. Mood is a lot better though.
1:30pm PDT
As I write this, Lisa is still sleeping. She appeared to be sleeping peacefully when I got up and later when I checked in. Stanford will be calling later this afternoon. The pollen count spiked yesterday, which may have aggravated her COVID-ravaged lungs. But, we’re prepared to hear that Lisa is not out of the woods yet. On last night’s call the possibility of re-testing her was mentioned.
As often happens with my writing, what I THOUGHT I’d be writing about today is different than what I AM writing about. So while I was going to ruminate on our time in quarantine anticipating our release, suddenly we’re on hold. So, you get to wait along with us. In your cases, just a few dots…
3:30pm PDT
Lisa got up soon after my last entry. She’s feeling a LOT better. My mood brightened the moment she came into the room. It’s hot out and the pollen is high again. I’m having sneezing fits. The house is closed up and AC on (grateful to have it!), and we have humidifiers and air filters humming. Today is NOT a day we are being kind to the planet-resource usage-wise. Just saying.
Lisa had a follow up call with Stanford and now has a videoconference with a doctor at 4:30pm.
5:00pm PDT
Lisa had her videoconference. Stanford is directing all COVID-19 patients to its Crown Clinic, where all the testing and latest information is now centralized. Lisa is connecting with Crown to schedule and in-person visit tomorrow afternoon.
We have two separate, but related issues going on.
- Is there any chance that Lisa (and I) are still contagious? One reason we want to go in person instead of doing another videoconference is so Lisa can potentially be tested again. Our hope is that they may also be willing to give me their new antibody blood test. Lisa is also advocating with her doctor, who also happens to be her father’s internist, for her father to also get the antibody test.
- What is going on with Lisa’s lungs that may have been exacerbated by the virus even if she is no longer contagious? Lisa has a history of childhood asthma. As a professional singer, her ability to both perform and express her passion depends on her ability to sustain breath. Her injury last year affected her breathing for months. She is hoping to get another CAT scan that will give a clearer picture of what’s going on.
The conversation on the first is happening as I write. There won’t be any information on the second until at least tomorrow.
7:30pm PDT
Lisa was hoping for another call back enabling her to get seen tomorrow. That could still happen, based on past experience. But at the moment we wait.
10:30pm PDT
The window has closed where we might hear back tonight. We have no reason to believe we are still contagious. But we have NOT been cleared for release with this new information. So we’re in limbo and extending our current status. Tomorrow is another day.
