COVID CHRONICLES Day 28
“I Shall Be Released”
Friday, April 17
39 days later…
I got a little more sleep last night. But as I continue to drag and experience intestinal cramping, I’m starting to wonder whether there’s something going on other than the usual. Will continue to monitor. Lisa continues to have wakeful nights and her best sleep seems to be after sunrise. Although we’re night people with Lisa’s job and all that goes into it, without morning obligation we’ve shifted a couple of hours later over the past almost six weeks. I look forward to getting back to something slightly more reasonable at some point.
As I said yesterday, our working assumption in advance of Lisa’s appointment at Stanford was that her lung issues were highly likely related to Lisa’s recovery from the virus and it was highly unlikely she would still be contagious. We were looking for confirmation.
As Lisa will tell you, I make the ass-u-me point ad nauseum whenever I hear the word. In actuality, this was more of an educated guess, to be confirmed by doctor.
One of the costs of living in Santa Cruz is the need to take Route 17, “the most dangerous highway in California” in order to access the South Bay, the Peninsula and San Francisco. Without traffic it’s a little under an hour between home and Stanford each way. While I wasn’t feeling great, I wanted to go with Lisa, so drove each way, using up most of my energy for the day.
I dropped her off as directed on the COVID-Positive side of the building, parked and went to wait on the other side of the building where Lisa had negotiated to have me wait. BUUUUUT, no. The two young women in charge of the door were having none of it. They did let me go in to use the restroom, but I would have to wait in my car. I didn’t have the capacity to jump through hoops, so I settled in to wait. I had visions of our 5-hour visit to the Emergency Room. But thankfully, this was the same as a doctor’s appointment. Lisa was out in less than an hour, start to finish.
Our “educated guess” turned out to be more educated than guess! Here’s what the doctor told Lisa.
- They are seeing a lot of coronavirus patients who are finding it takes a significant amount of time for their lungs to fully recover.
- Lisa is free to use her inhaler as needed — especially if her shortness of breath is exacerbated by smoke, pollen or any other irritants — and should expect to gradually get better.
- There is no reason to believe this is a recurrence or that Lisa (or I) are still contagious, especially since we are past all the identified milestones. He said that giving her another test really wouldn’t answer the question because, even if she tested positive again, the answer could be dead virus, active but no longer contagious., etc. Even Stanford’s about-to-be-released antibody test — which they’re excited about — doesn’t predict us how long someone has immunity. He admitted “we just don’t know enough yet” about the virus and how it behaves through its lifecycle.
Here’s what we do know. We’re free!
I could feel the weight lifted from Lisa’s shoulders the moment she got back in the car. Same for me. On the way home she spoke to the family. “Then we should be good,” said my sister-in-law, the House Health and Safety Officer. Indeed, she repeated this when we got home and made clear to the kids that we need no longer be treated like lepers, though they are still looking at us askance and it will take us all a bit of time to adjust. We aren’t hugging anyone yet and are social distancing from my father-in-law. Not sure exactly how long that will go on. One day at a time, just like always.
Tomorrow will be a day of muted celebration. At the same time, Lisa’s recovery will continue for a while. As much as has been written about the virus and people who have it, much less attention has been paid to the people recovering. “Coincidently” a friend pointed me today to a New York Times Op Ed calling attention to this very thing.
We Need to Talk About What Coronavirus Recoveries Look Like: They’re a lot more complicated than most people realize. It’s worth a read. The first paragraph:
In the weeks since I was hospitalized for the coronavirus, the same question has flooded my email inbox, texts and direct messages: Are you better yet? I don’t yet know how to answer. While the widespread support from friends, family and strangers has been very heartwarming, I’ve also struggled to reconcile the genuine happiness expressed at my improving condition with my own lingering symptoms, confusion about contagion, and anxieties about relapse.
I leave you with a musical interlude for a Friday. You are welcome to do your own thing. But when I sang along, I slightly changed the words to “We Have Been Released!”
Have a safe and healthy weekend.
