6-23-2022 I have now tested positive

(Tricia)

It took a couple of days, but the COVID tests are finally showing what I already know: Typhoid Ed passed COVID on to me! The first couple days were fine, but yesterday and today, I have felt worse and worse. The coughing and fatigue started yesterday. I knew that catching COVID was inevitable, but I just wanted it to hold off a while longer. Even so, Ed, Linda, and I all have our vaccines and the single boosters, so that is at least offering some protection.

I have been extremely worried about Linda because on Sunday, before we knew Ed had tested positive, we had been in the same room with Linda unmasked. Once Ed came home on Monday morning, he quarantined to the back, and I began masking and keeping my distance out of precaution. Even so, I still had to take care of Linda for a few hours on Monday and two hours on Tuesday, when we did not have caregiving coverage. I just hope beyond hope that double masking, hand washing, using bleach wipes, and keeping as much distance between me and Linda as possible has done the trick. So far, Linda has not shown any symptoms.

Our master bedroom has a door to the outside, so Ed has been able to go from there to the kitchen or to the walkout basement (which is, unfortunately for this situation, unfinished) without going through the house. Before I knew whether I was positive, I began quarantining in one of our guest rooms. I do feel bad, because while Ed can use the shower and bathroom in the master, I have to venture out into the hallway to use the guest bath. I have been double-masking and wiping everything down with bleach wipes, but even so, I don't want to put the caregivers at risk, and I absolutely don't want Linda affected. I briefly considered going to a hotel, but that seemed to be putting OTHER people at risk. It's an impossible situation.

Once Ed is symptom-free, perhaps we'll swap and I'll go to the back and he'll move to the guest room.

The hospice nurse still made her visits this week, and today we got the news that Linda's pressure ulcer, which the doctors at Mo-Bap had said would be impossible to heal, has officially healed!  So that's at least some good news.  

Ed is feeling better, so he's the one bringing me my food right now. I'll be staying in quarantine until my symptoms subside and masking for some time thereafter. We won't know for about another ten days whether Linda escaped exposure.


 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

12-25-2022 Merry Christmas to all!

Image
(Tricia) Since Linda came home from the hospital in November, it has been much quieter than it was before she went in.  No more physical therapy, very few nursing visits. Hospice started up again two weeks ago, but Linda has turned down most services (such as the bath aide and chaplain). She has been telling us that she wants to rest, so we are giving her that. She does get up in her wheelchair almost every day, which at least gives her a change of scenery. Last Tuesday, we did take Linda to a previously scheduled doctor's appointment with a neurologist specializing in cognitive issues such as brain injury and dementia, at a practice is called the St. Louis Center for Cognitive Health. I almost canceled the appointment, because I didn't think much would come of it. But this was an appointment I had rescheduled after canceling one in July the last time she was in hospice (and I had made that appointment in March-- the joys of American healthcare). When I canceled the July appoin...
Read more

3-24-2023 "Never Roger, always Ed!"

Linda's brain injury has brought with it a host of maddening symptoms, but one of the most prevalent is that it has made her not just unable to remember people's correct names, but at times seemingly unwilling to. This has been especially true for Ed's name.  For some reason, her brain is convinced that there are actually two males living in this house--one named Roger and one named Ed. When we ask her what each one looks like, she points to Ed and says, "They both look like him!"  And, of course, when we ask the obvious follow-up question, "Then why do you think they're two people?" she will respond with some version of "Their hair is different" or "They wear different clothes." We don't know where this comes from. We don't think she's connecting Ed to her neighbor in Mountain View or our cousin in Indianapolis (hello to both of you!).  But the mix-up has been there since she first started talking after coming out of ...
Read more

10-4-22 Quick update

(Tricia) I just wanted to post an update about how things have gone since Linda was discharged from hospice last week. We took Linda in to see Dr. Kevorkian on Saturday, and he decided he wanted to wait to remove the drain in her right side until she was at home and lying down. So, he's actually going to make a home visit this Thursday for the drain removal. He also has now established the start of insurance-covered PT -- they will be coming in to evaluate Linda on Friday. This is bittersweet, because we really like the private pay therapist who has been working with Linda to this point. She has helped Linda improve considerably, and she seemed genuinely sad today when I told her about the switch.  But I am having her come at least one more time (on Thursday). From there, we'll see how St. Luke's Home Health's PT services work for Linda.  Today was a PT day as well, and it went very well. Linda sat up on the side of the bed with some assistance for 10 minutes--a record!...
Read more