I just don't get it, man. You've been reading this story the whole time, and I'm sure you've scratched your head a time or two when thinking about my case of the 'Rona. There is so much around the bigger picture of this whole experience that we just don't understand.
Let me explain a bit further. I never shared with you the larger story of how this virus came to me personally.
A few weeks ago my sister attended a conference. It was a small thing; only eleven attended in person while the rest teleconferenced in. They practiced social distancing with face masks and sitting apart, and it seemed they all followed the rules. This is where my sister caught the bug without knowing it. In fact no one at the conference knew they were sick.
My sister helped me move in to my tiny house about five days later. During that time her symptoms were more like allergies, which she had for weeks already. But it was during this time that she was contagious, and it was during that time that I caught it. She and her husband helped me move my things and the next day I had dinner at her house. Apparently that was enough.
But, there is more to this story. My parents, both of whom are in their 60's, also came up to help. The move was more than one day, and my parents full-on SPENT THE NIGHT at my sister's house. At that time she and my mom--who is severely immune-compromised--painted fingernails and tweezed eyebrows and were very close to each other without wearing face masks. And the following Monday or Tuesday, my sister helped my mother make blankets for my boys, spending more close time with my mom.
My mom tested negative. My dad is likely also negative. Everyone else in Price whom my sister visited has come back with a negative test. My sister, her husband, and I are the only ones with a positive result.
So, friend, here is where things get interesting. (I'm sure I shared this with you before, but I'm restating it.) Really no fever was present during my contagious phase. I had no fever to speak of ever. My sister's was mild, and only lasted a day or two. The scary part about that is most places check temperatures to make sure you're safe to come inside. For my experience, and for almost all of my sister's case, we would have PASSED this test while contagious. That is frightening to me.
My sister was notified ten days after the fact that two people at her conference were positive, and the only reason why she got tested was because her boss asked her to. Ten days is arguably too much, but no one knew. We also discovered that Coronavirus can present as just about anything, which isn't helpful either. Since the day of the conference, nine of the eleven people to attended in person came down with an active case of Coronavirus, and their cases are wildly different from the Davis cases, though the illness is likely from the same strain. One lady had a fever for nine days that she just couldn't break. Another lady is on oxygen. Another lady brought the illness home to her husband, and he can't even get out of bed now.
Why the difference, my dear reader? Why the difference in severity, symptoms, and duration, especially when all the victims got the very same thing? Why are the Davis's ... resilient, if that is even the right word? Why isn't my mom, who isn't in a way to handle illness, knocking at death's door right now?
Honestly, why?
I don't expect you to have answers to any of this. But I can't help but wonder.
At the end of the day, stay safe. Wash your hands. Wear a mask. To be honest, I think the hand hygiene and mask policy at work is what kept my coworkers safe from me. I really do.
Warmly,
D
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