Covid 19 - Yes we have it - Day 3

Today we received our first positive Covid 19 test result for my daughter, who is 13 years old and in secondary school. My husband and I are both waiting for our test results.

My daughter appeared to have a cold over the weekend. Her nose was all stuffy and runny. She complained about food tasting a bit off, but we just assumed it was part of her cold. Then, on Tuesday evening when she returned from school, she complained about not being able to taste or smell any of her food that day, even though she had eaten spicy food for lunch. Alarm bells went off.

We were able to book a test for her that evening (10th of Nov 2020). We logged on to the government website at 5.45pm, and booked a test for 7.30pm at the old Montem Leisure centre site in Slough. There were plenty of appointments available. When we arrived, it was quite crowded - there were nearly 20 other cars there during our half-an-hour slot.

We received the results at 6.15am this morning (12th of Nov 2020) and the result was positive. By that time my husband I were convinced this was going to be the case. I had noticed Tuesday night that my chest was starting to hurt a bit and I was developing a cough. My husband has been really exhausted and hasn't felt right since the weekend. We tested this morning at 10:00am, and we are waiting for our results - although if we receive a negative test results, we'll consider it a false negative at this point. I would also like to point out that there were around 10 cars at our appointment this morning and it's interesting to note that 9 out of 10 of the cars contained families testing young children. Make of that what you will.

So, I believe technically we are on day 3 of this disease. I am high risk as I have Type II diabetes, high blood pressure and I'm overweight. My husband is 50 and is also overweight. My daughter has no pre-existing condition and is very fit and healthy.

We are not sure where we got it. Because I'm high-risk we have not been going out or meeting up with people since March 2020. I shop online for almost 99% of what we use. During this 2nd lockdown, we've had zero contact with anyone outside the family on a social basis. The only place we could have picked this up is either at my daughter's school (secondary) or the school I work for (primary).

I'm going to try to blog our progress every day. I understand Covid really takes off around day 10 and that is when we will discover which way we are going to go. I hope that our journey falls into the 'mild' category.

So - on day 3:

Me: My chest is tight and I cough occassionally. Sometimes I feel slightly breathless. I play flute and I've been continuing to practice because I believe breath control must be important - right? I have no fever and I don't feel any exhaustion - all else is normal, so far. My biggest fear is that around day 10 I will need to be hospitalized and so will my husband and what the hell will happen to my 13 year old daughter? We don't have any family close by and will any of our friends want to take a Covid positive child into their family? It's all scary stuff to think about.

My husband: My husband just started a new job two weeks ago with a start up IT company in another country. They are building a new IT product which they wanted completed yesterday. The more accurate reality is that it will take 6-9 months of long hard, arduous days and nights to complete this product. My husband is currently suffering abnormal exhaustion. It's not dibilitating - yet. And he's keeping up with work - for now. Exhaustion and not feeling 'right' have been his only symptoms so far.

My daughter: She can't taste or smell. That's it. Her stuffy nose is now gone. She's doing school work from home and she's full of life and energy. It is likely she has been sick since last week - maybe Friday? - so she this is approximately day 7 of her Covid trip. Things could still go badly for her - but I think this is unlikely. As I mentioned above, the thing I worry about the most is she's left trying to run the show while my husband and I are down for the count.

The cat: Supposedly cats can get Covid? He had a runny bum a few days ago, but seems fine otherwise. He just wants food and love.

The three guinea pigs: They couldn't care less as long as food arrives on time. They are probably the healthiest inhabitants of our home at the moment.

Fingers crossed for more updates tomorrow!