What a difference a week makes. Since last week our world has started to close down. All non-essential business are closed, the world economy is tanking, and the government is offering billions of dollars in aid packages for families and businesses. We are still in quarantine because of my illness, but now the rest of the world is slowly having to follow suit. Everyone is being told not to leave their homes unless it is for groceries, pharmacy or exercise. One million people applied for unemployment in Canada.
I am now two and and half weeks into my illness. The doctor checks in with me every few days. I have been to the ER. I spent three hours in a vehicle line for a drive-thru coronavirus test only to find out that one minutes before I arrived they changed the testing criteria (again) and I no longer qualified. The tests are in short supply.
The doctor says I likely have COVID-19. I tend to agree. I have what would be characterized as a mild-moderate case. It has lasted 17 days now. This week I ended up in the ER twice when breathing got difficult. The doctor listened to my chest and said he could tell it had fluid in it: pneumonia. Pneumonia is a secondary condition of the coronavirus, when the virus gets into the lungs. I was given one round of antibiotics in case the pneumonia is bacterial. If it's viral, however, there is nothing to do but wait it out. The antibiotics are supposed to make symptoms better within a day or two. At the end of the course of medicine I was getting worse, not better, so back to the ER today. They watched my oxygen levels and took a chest x-ray and a COVID-19 test finally. There is some fluid in my lungs. A new round of different antibiotics just in case, but not test to determine either way. The doctors are all still assuming it is coronavirus. I am home resting and praying for improvement. I have times during the day that I feel fine, that I think I must be on the mend. Then I walk for 5 minutes or climb the stairs and have to sit down. Or I have a nightmare during the night where something was crushing me and I wake up unable to breathe. I take lots of deep breaths, like I just can't fill my lungs. The cough lingers, dry and hacking. Today, day 17, has bene the lowest point of the illness. I am trying to not read any more online, because the stories are scary and I need to not think about it. I pray for healing, and I feel like I spend every minute self-monitoring: am I slightly better or slightly worse than a minute ago? Which way is this heading?
We have now had two weeks of full isolation. James goes out to pick up groceries that we order online ahead of time. He pulls up and they load the bags into the car and he returns home. I watch friends online posting about how hard it is to fill the time, how strange it is to have to stay home. I think for our family everything has a different colour to the experience because I am sick. For many people, who are healthy and ordered to stay home, they are finding the whole thing boring. For us, we see first hand what this illness can do, and why we can't go out and possibly infect others.
This week also marked the beginning of a homeschool schedule. I say schedule, but it's very loose. Learning time happens in the morning. For the younger three (Caleb, grade 7, Benjamin grade 5, and Juliette grade 2), from 9-10am they have 20 minutes of reading, 20 minutes of writing (free write or journal prompts) and 20 minutes of online math. From 10-11am, it is self-directed learning time. Caleb has spent most of his time at the piano, using online YouTube videos to learn modern pop songs and classical favourites. He is also taking time to do more coding. Benjamin took a liking to magic and has been learning tricks to put on a magic show. He also loves a fishing show from National Geographic and learning about animals. Juliette wanders a little, but usually lands on drawing, even creating her own tutorials she posts online for her cousins. After lunch is outdoor time - we turn off all the devices and we walk or bike or the kids trudge through the conservation in the back. We took down the ice rink we had up in the backyard and there is more soccer, Quidditch (inspired by the Harry Potter books and films), and a host of backyard fun. Evenings go between family movie nights or family board games.
Truthfully we are enjoying the time. We have always enjoyed family time, and other than a few extra-curricular things that we usually have on the go, we like to be home. We soldier on for now.
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