My husband tested positive this morning. He felt pretty bad last night, but we waited until the morning to ensure a positive rapid. And boy was it positive! He got the strongest line of all.
He’s going to stay downstairs today, because he feels pretty awful, but also has to participate in some zoom meetings. My daughter felt pretty bad by the time she went to sleep. She’s still sleeping as I type this at 8:30am. My son still seems okay; we’ll see if his symptoms worsen today.
I noticed this morning that I can’t smell. Or taste really. I can smell really strong things like coffee, but it’s super muted. Like just a hint of it. Taste too. Like I could tell my toothpaste tasted like something, but not really what it tasted like. I heard losing your smell was less common with this variant, and yet here we are… ((shrugs))
So now we’re all stuck at home together. I suppose when we need groceries we’ll have to have them brought to us, or ask friends to grab them for us. My in-laws come home today from Texas with my SIL and her kids. We won’t be able to see them for a while, and will miss a large portion of their visit.
My kids missed really cool field trips this week, to Alcatraz (my daughter) and the Aquarium of the Bay (my son). I’m missing my trip. It’s a lot. I’m feeling kind of bummed out about it today.
I’m noticing that there are still a lot of big feelings around Covid. Some of the responses I’ve gotten have been… just a little off? I think some people still consider it a moral failing if you get it. Which I suppose is just a fear response. We’ve continued to be more cautious than most people – we always wear masks in indoor public spaces and only very rarely eat at restaurants. We did see a couple movies but each time the theater was almost empty and we kept our masks on. I think when some people who are still really afraid to get it see a family like ours go down, they need to find ways to assure themselves that we were less cautious than they are, to assure themselves they’ll be able to avoid it even though we couldn’t.
And maybe that is true. We certainly weren’t the most cautious family out there. j
But still. I have to admit, even the response here, which has been basically two people, has surprised me. I know people haven’t been commenting much here for a while (did I write something that offended everyone?), but I guess I was expecting more of a response to “oh hey my whole family has Covid!” But maybe I’m putting it out there wrong. Or people are just busy. Or it’s just truly not that big a deal anymore. I don’t know.
I want to be clear that my feelings aren’t hurt or anything, it’s just something I’ve noticed. And wondered about.
It is weird being on the other side. Yesterday afternoon we got the emails from the kids schools and it was surreal to know that MY KIDS were the ones alluded to in the “someone from your child’s class tested positive for Covid” messages. It isn’t you for so long (it hasn’t been us for over two years!) and then it is you. And it’s weird.
San Francisco has a ton of cases right now – higher than the national average by a lot. They say it’s because we mostly avoided it for so long. Even in the city it’s the well-to-do neighborhoods that have much higher numbers now, the neighborhoods where people were able to avoid getting sick back when sheltering-in-place was possible for them, and not the less economically advantaged citizens of the city.
{Our hospitalizations are not as high compared to the national average, which means that high vaccination rates do still keep hospitalizations low.}
Just like Covid is finally coming to all the places that were able to keep it away for so long, it came for San Francisco, and it came for us. It does feel like the ultimately lesson is that it’s increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to avoid it forever. It’s a sobering thought.
I haven’t commented here in quite a while.
But our house just cleared Covid as well and I live in Massachusetts where cases are pretty darn high. None of us has ever had a “scare” or a need to test up until now. I’ve followed guidelines and taken things seriously but have never kept severely isolated(except in the beginning) though I am an introvert who mostly works at home so I think that helped! I really just don’t like being around people 🙂
In the weeks leading up to catching covid I remember reading how if you’d been able to avoid getting the virus to this point, the new omicron variant would definitely find you.
Your family seems to be taking an educated and thoughtful approach, which matters.
Also feel better! I was surprised how shitty I felt being vaccinated and boosted.
I’m sorry to hear you just went through this. I’m also surprised how sick we all are. Nothing concerning but definitely bad cold / mild flu symptoms. I expected it to be easier for us too. I guess it’s been a long while since I was boosted and the kids were vaccinated (November) and this variant is different than what we were vaccinated against, so it shouldn’t be so surprising…
I hope you all feel better soon and I also hope this provides relief for your husband especially.
I have considered Covid personally unavoidable for a while (public facing job, 3 kids including a younger one) and assume almost everyone will get it eventually. I assume my fam will get it again soon (or maybe we already had it twice and missed it). Certainly no moral failing thoughts here!
Yeah, as a teacher in schools where kids don’t have to wear masks, I assumed I’d get it too, even though I still wore a mask and most of my students did. My husband has gone to a few concerts, so I’m really glad I got it first. He still wonders if he brought it home but I told him that makes no sense for him to bring it to us but test positive last. I have no idea how I got it, but I’ve had a lot of kids get it recently. It was probably at school, despite wearing masks. It happens.
Personally, I haven’t commented much lately (though I actually did on your last 2!) simply because May is INSANE IN THE MEMBRANE for us. My kids literally have activities every single night of the week AND on Saturdays, and we are in the midst of this remodel and the kids and I leave on June 1 after school gets out to drive to MN to stay on my parents’ farm for the summer, so I feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water. I do read your posts in my email (from my phone), but haven’t been taking the time to click over and comment. Sorry about that! But I am reading!
Bummer that 3/4 of you aren’t feeling great. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that it stays decently mild for y’all. I think you hit it on the head though that hearing someone has COVID has become… not that big of a thing(?) to hear now days. My daughter’s teacher got it last week, and thus far none of the kids have gotten it in the class (even though nobody wears masks here). She’s honestly the first COVID case in our “circle” of contacts in months though. I’m pretty sure in my area a lot of people have immunity to it, both from vaccines and from just getting it over time. The mixed blessing of living in a very diverse area in terms of beliefs. 😉
I’m sorry that you’ve been met with ANY shitbag comments about your family contracting it though. That’s crazy considering how contagious is it and how careful you truly have been. You’ve followed the recommendations more strictly than anyone I know, TBH. And even if you hadn’t, nobody deserves to be met with anything other than compassion with they’re sick for goodness sakes.
Hang in there!
Yes! You and one other person commented on my first two COVID posts! You are one of the “two” that I mentioned! Thank you!
And no worries about commenting otherwise. Just something I noticed. My posts haven’t been very interesting lately for sure. 😉
But yeah, I do think COVID is way less of a big deal these days. Which is good! I also think some people are still really afraid of long covid and really want to avoid the possibility of getting it. And I think that colors their response.
I am SO sorry…I have been religiously reading your blog…yours and 2 others….I just have been so down in the dumps depressed and have ZERO motivation to do anything, including correspondence…and also….work gets in the way…okay on to you and Covid….its your turn, I heard a late night TV host describe it as that “Its my turn”….which leaves me to, when will I get my turn??? I commented on here before that, I wish we would get it and get it over with and I was jealous you guys got it! Okay you got it now, be glad…now your summer is free….I am sorry the kids missed good field trips…and also your trip but as you said better now then in the summer when you do have other trips you are looking more forward too….we NEVER go anywhere and we won tickets to Disney at the beginning of the pandemic…we finally booked for end of July and Murphy’s Law we get “our turn” then. There is no shame!! None! And I also know a few people vaccinated and boosted who have gotten it for the first time these last 2 weeks and it it them hard….okay keep checking in and posting… We are reading! And feel better!
Honestly, I would be jealous if I read that some other family was getting it now, right before summer! So I totally understand. In so many ways it’s an ideal scenario, so I totally, totally get it. It’s the not knowing when, and where, and how, that starts to drive you crazy.
YES! Its the unknowing…and I hate that…I need to know whats coming and then I can deal with it. And that’s been probably the scariest thing about Covid.
I hope you are getting to kick back and relax a bit… Remember some of us commented that we wanted it for that reason…ok still do over here
Well my son feels significant better than any of the rest of us so not a lot of rest happening here. It’s a bummer but it is what it is. I definitely got some rest the first weekend though.
My youngest and I had covid back in January (husband and older kid never tested positive). We also gave it to friends. All of the cases were fairly mild, I felt the worst and found the recovery somewhat difficult but was totally back to normal in about 3-4 weeks. I definitely got some unexpected reactions from people, especially my friends who had been the most careful. I had seen one friend outside and distanced before I tested positive and she would update me ever day on her negative tests (I did not give it to her and tests were scarce so this seemed tone deaf). Another friend went on and on about how scared she was of long covid when I told her (definitely scary, also not something I wanted to discuss at that moment). Their responses, though, were about them and their fears and not about me. I think I had just expected a little more empathy.
I hope you all heal quickly and survive quarantine! And then are able to enjoy a summer without worry about testing positive
A friend of mine took my daughter to the Reproductive Justice March on Saturday knowing that I had tested positive on a rapid, but that my daughter tested negative. When she found out on Monday that my daughter also tested positive she kind of freaked out because she had seen her dad (who has cancer) and other elderly family members without masks on Sunday. I was pretty upset with her being upset with me because I was very upfront about our situation. When I got my positive PCR she seemed almost surprised though, so maybe she thought my (two!) positive rapid test results were mistaken?! I don’t know. My daughter wore a mask at the March and so did her and her daughter, but I think she’s still really nervous. Also my mom immediately asked if she thought I could have given her COVID in the car on Mother’s Day. This was after she only wore a mask in the museum because everyone else was so she felt pressured not to be one of the only ones not wearing a mask! She was like, “I guess I’ll wear one if everyone else is,” and pulle a wrinkled surgical mask out of her purse. And I know if I had insisted on wearing a mask in the car with her she would have given me so grief. That is the kind of stuff that gets to me.
I definitely think we are past the moral failure judging thing. It’s not healthy mentally to be super careful forever and our family has started to loosen our precautions. We traveled this weekend to Disneyland and no one wore masks. I have no idea how to estimate our chances of getting Covid but we accepted the risk with the idea that it probably will be mild if we get it. My husband has barely tolerated mask wearing and precautions in general and is just done. I feel like I’m watching the clock and just waiting for symptoms… I will feel like we dodged the risk if we make it a week with nothing.
Holy goodness! You and your family did what you were supposed to do and got caught anyway because IN THE FACE OF EVIDENCE people were told they could relax and drop masks, etc. Your job forced you to be exposed.
Yes, I know: “Everyone is Tired of Covid” …. but the reality is that Covid doesn’t care about that and Covid is HAPPY to spread.
Anyone being crumpy to you about precautions is just being silly and showing their own worries. Pre-vaccine people got it from running on a street masked, and today the newer variants are ALL INCREASINGLY CONTAGIOUS. Covid is actively competing with Measles and a Measles infected person can leave a room and the room is still potentially infectious 3 (THREE) hours later if there is not strong air circulation and cleansing! You and your immediate family are strong and healthy and vaccinated and as boosted as you can be. The variant in the SF Bay area is SIMPLY ALL OVER and the rate of reported cases is boogling and while Bart now is saying MASK again…..people are doing life and the CDC guidance is not pro-actively anti-spread.
I am seeing it happen and hearing people be surprised that some of them are really feeling ROTTEN…… but ‘Not Going to Stay in Hospital’ and ‘NOT DYING THERE’. I gather a lot of people have misunderstood just how sick one can be and still not be needing hospitalization. For obvious reasons there is no point in repeating the long covid issues but remember to be wary for the next 3-6 months as you and your spouse are at greater risk even after you appear to be recovered.
Sounds like your son as youngest is getting the least immediately awful issues as is generally true (but not always) based on age. Hopefully that will offset his younger age being less experienced at self-entertainment and you are not super dumped on so you can rest…. and rest some more. If it hasn’t been obvious I am very concerned about you being pressured to be back at work on Monday and not being really recovered and…relapse. Really sorry to hear your sense of taste is messed up! That can take a long long time to return to normal. (Hope you are a lucky person on this and that the shots help fast!)
Wishing you all full and fast recovery!!!! Thank you for writing and updating (I am clearly doing so much fretting for all of you that you need do none yourself. SO rest and indulge and order food in.) Then rest some more. THANK YOU.
So sorry your family has covid! It’s pretty depressing these days how much Covid is going around. Kids school is closed this week because of an outbreak. At least they are planning to require masks again!
Oh man! I haven’t heard of schools closing because of outbreaks. Do you mind saying where you are? Just curious where they are taking those measures.
We have more and more kids out every day. It feels like January again. It’s crazy. The summer is going to be nuts.
We’re in Michigan. But it’s a private school. They did really well staying open and keeping cases low but recently reduced precautions & had a maskless super spreader event. So many teachers are sick that they have to close temporarily.
Definitely wondering what the summer will bring!
I’m in a northeast city and our cases are really high and rising. I’ve been having a hard time at work the past two weeks because I am getting January 2022 vibes… and I honestly thought that would never repeat itself. It’s not AS bad this time but we have a bunch of teachers out with covid and as someone who doesn’t have my own class, I’m doing a lot of subbing. I haven’t had it yet but my non-work friends have been going down one after another since mid-April. I actually got a PCR test today for the first time in months.
I agree that people who appear to be “judging” you are probably worried about themselves. :-/
It is like January again. We only have 1.5 (my kids) and 3.5 (me) weeks left of school but it feels so tenuous now. And I’m realizing quickly that this summer is going to be nuts.
I’m sorry you & your family wound up getting it. 🙁 Dh & I are still covid-free (so far! knocking wood!! LOUDLY!!!). I don’t think we’re morally superior in any way. We HAVE been very careful, more so than almost anyone else we know — but we’re also very privileged. (And probably just plain lucky!) We’ve had all our shots & boosters, we still mask when we’re out in public (even just to go in the elevator to the parking garage or to the garbage chute in our condo building), we stay home as much as possible & see very few people outside of his brother & his family, AND (the two big ones), we’re both retired (so we don’t HAVE to be much of anywhere) and we don’t have any kids. Maybe that will be enough to keep us safe. I hope so — long covid is nothing I want to mess around with — but maybe not. I think most of us are just doing the best we can under some very trying and high-pressure circumstances.
Anecdotally, from what I’ve read online & in my own social media feeds, as soon as our province dropped all restrictions & mask mandates, including in the schools (in mid-March), people started getting sick again in droves, including tons of people who had managed to avoid getting sick to date — including people who were vaccinated and boosted and wore masks faithfully. The kids pass it to each other in school and then bring it home to their families. It’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on and just how bad it is, because they’ve restricted PCR testing so much, but we’ve been told that the true numbers of new cases are likely at least 10 times higher than what’s being reported. In some schools, I’m hearing anywhere between 20 to 30 per cent of staff & students are absent (although it could be for reasons other than covid).
I am way behind on my blog reading & commenting, and I just saw all your covid-related posts today. I haven’t been getting many comments on my blog lately either… I don’t think anyone is, for whatever reason(s).
I hope you’re all feeling better soon (and that you don’t feel pressured into going back to work before you feel ready, no matter what the rapid test tells you).
Ah thanks for the comment. I know that I have had trouble commenting on some blogs, not necessarily lately but in general and especially on my phone, which leads me to just stop commenting all together. So I’m guilty of it too. It’s just weird to write and feel like I’m shouting into a void. Sometimes it feels like I have to write a certain kind of controversial post to get comments these days. But that’s probably just in my head. I also am probably processing my own feelings about finally getting COVID and what that means. So I’m probably just projecting my own stuff onto other people via assumptions. Sounds like fonder for tomorrow’s post! And sorry I haven’t been commenting on your posts. I always read them but I need to send them to my computer to comment which usually doesn’t happen. Still, I should manage it more often.