One of the Statistics

Two weeks ago, my husband, Steven tested positive for COVID-19. 

It took several days to find an available test for him where we live in Athens, GA, but when we pulled through the drive-thru testing site for an appointment that humid Thursday afternoon, the rapid test result stared back at us mercilessly: POSITIVE.

We looked at each other as the news sunk in, and our faces turned as white as the drive-thru tent above our heads. We knew that all signs pointed at this... but seeing the official paperwork made it all feel too real. Time stood still, and everything felt surreal. Taking a covid test. Testing positive. Realizing what this meant. 

Up to that point, I hadn't personally known any other person who had gotten coronavirus. 

We spent 15 weeks living under shelter-in-place orders, and in 15 minutes a swab in his nose changed everything.

Don’t get me wrong. We had begun to integrate into some more normal outings and gatherings as a family. We never lived in fear of the virus, and we had our own convictions about the way to go about our business and make decisions for our family, as we believe that each person should have the freedom to do.

But nothing could’ve prepared me for the feelings of dread and fear that washed over me when he got the result. You see, it wasn’t even the virus that I feared in that moment. It was the weight of having to tell others that burdened me so much as I gripped the steering wheel of my minivan, paralyzed with tension in every inch of my body. Steven just tested positive. My mind began anxiously organizing a list of every person that we had to tell that news to. Every person that we had been in contact with over the past weekend. The phone calls consumed me the rest of that afternoon. I let Steven crawl back into bed as the fatigue claimed him again, and I had a private cry as I hung up on the last phone conversation I needed to have that evening. 

— 5 days earlier —

A Time to Celebrate 

It was his very first Father’s Day, and Steven was the best man in his brother’s wedding that afternoon. He had a busy week leading up to that weekend, with many demands and project deadlines associated with the renovation work on our new church plant building in downtown Athens. As the lead on the project, Steven was putting in all kinds of hours at the “shop” working day and night, pouring as much heart as he was sweat into the new home that God had given our church. 

When he left for a motorcycle overnight trip for his brother’s bachelor weekend, I was happy that he would get some time away, doing something that he enjoyed with some brothers that he loves. He needed a break from the physical demands of work, and I was glad to see him ride off with excitement in his eyes. 

He returned from the trip feeling and looking extremely exhausted. When he explained that they slept outside in hammocks and the mountain temps dropped lower than expected that night, I tried to hold back all the eye rolls. I could tell that he had a great time, and while that trumped how tired he was, I couldn’t help but worry about his level of exhaustion. 

That Sunday morning, we were up and out bright and early, each going our own directions for different wedding-related responsibilities and commitments to set up for and prepare for that day. 

We enjoyed a beautiful day with family at the wedding, enjoyed celebrating his brother and new wife, and when we came home, we both crashed hard that night. 

But it turns out that Steven slept restlessly. He woke up feeling just as exhausted as he felt the day before. He pushed through yet another renovation project day at the shop, and came home earlier than normal that afternoon. He said he wanted to lay down before some evening plans that we had with our co-church planters. I knew something was off; my husband doesn’t take naps. He doesn’t slow down or ever really rest during daytime hours. He is a hardworking, nonstop kind of guy, and when he wanted to lay down that afternoon, I tried to tell myself that he was just recovering from the stress and exhaustion from the weekend.

But by dinner time, my napping hubby awoke to a fever of 101. 

Looking back, it seems that Sunday morning is where it all began. Steven went to pick up the sound equipment for the wedding that was being borrowed from our close friend, and it seems that our friend’s Covid symptoms had actually begun earlier than weekend. They just didn’t appear to be anything significant at the time- back pain and feeling tired. 

But Steven’s interaction with him that morning included a handshake and a hug. And his immune system was most likely compromised from the stress and exhaustion of the days leading up.

The Symptoms 

Steven’s rapid result on Thursday told us what we were wondering all week long, and our friends that had similar and even more severe symptoms were waiting for their results to come back from the only test that they could secure all week, a 3-5 day result test.  

Sadly, the husband and wife both tested positive for Covid, and the husband (who Steven had interacted with that Sunday morning) ended up in the ER with double pneumonia that weekend. This was so scary to watch/hear about/experience. We began fighting for him even in stronger in prayer, and an entire faith community began to surround their family at this difficult time. 

Meanwhile, Steven’s symptoms had let up a good bit, but he was still so exhausted and continued to nap during the daytimes. And it was by his Day 5 that I first started getting my own symptoms. 

I experienced a much milder run of the virus than Steven did. In the beginning, he literally slept for 3 days straight, and we had him quarantined to our guest bedroom. I tried to care for him as much as I could with as little contact as I could manage, while having to explain to our 2-year old son, Aaro that Dadda was “night night” all day. It was such a blur, and I’m not even sure what we did every day or how we got through. I knew I couldn’t go anywhere and we weren’t going to have any help with Aaro if something happened to me.

Well, the meals and grocery help came that weekend just at the exact time that we needed it. (Thank you, Lord!) I was suddenly no longer able to take care of everybody and everything, and we stepped into a 3 day period of survival- the hardest weekend of our lives. Steven and I took turns taking care of one another and Aaro, and we just prayed for the strength to get through the painful, awful, exhausting hours.

The Lord provided. And the help we received from some of our friends and family was timely and so comforting.  My symptoms let up by the end of the weekend, and I started to feel back to normal right around the same time as Steven. We spent the next 5-6 days of quarantine feeling almost 100%, just waiting for our taste and smell to return. We both lost them and are still waiting for them to return even now!! 

Steven began to work from home as much as he could, and we gained the strength and energy to go for walks together as a family and play outside a little here and there. Night time remained the hardest to get back to normal, but we have finally found restful and sound sleep once again. 

The most challenging aspect, aside from sharing the news with people we had been in contact with, was navigating taking care of our toddler during all of this. We did our best to keep Aaro out of Steven’s face and touch as much as possible in those early days, but as soon as I started showing symptoms, my worst fear became a reality. We knew that we could not risk exposing anyone else to the virus by caring for our child, and yet we had to face the reality that our son was being exposed to the virus from both of his parents in a shared space where he was fully dependent on our care all day long. This was such a challenge emotionally, physically, and mentally for me. I remember thinking so many times that I wish we knew someone who had already recovered from the virus or had taken the antibody testing and could help us with our son. We needed the help more than ever, and we were stuck in an impossible situation with no options. 

Because of this experience, I want to make myself available to care for the child(ren) of any family facing a similar situation. I’ve even wondered about the situations where a parent or parents are in much more serious shape and might need to be separated from their child(ren) due to hospitalization. I want to help be part of the solution and offer caregiving support if this becomes the reality for any family that we learn of.

Our friend that was hospitalized with double pneumonia has since been released and has made a full recovery- praise the Lord! He, too, has finished his quarantine and his family is healthy and doing well. 

Another huge praise is that we haven't heard of any other person that either of our families had been in contact with showing any symptoms of the virus! We prayed daily for protection over all who we had been around, and we are so very thankful that it did not spread outside of our family or beyond this couple. Our children were all protected, too, praise the Lord! 

Steven’s symptoms: (in order)

-Started with body aches

-Fatigue

-Fever

-Loss of taste & smell (Day 3)

-Head congestion with sinus pressure headaches 

-a little bit of nausea 

-a little bit of tightness in chest

Kristin’s symptoms: (in order)

-Started with body aches

-Loss of taste & smell (Day 1)

-Fatigue

-Head congestion with sinus pressure headaches 

-Nausea 

-Tightness in chest (Days 4-5)

I never got a fever. And Aaro got a runny nose for a couple of days and slept a good bit more than usual for a couple of days, but that was it. He was pretty much his normal, energetic, talkative little self for 90% of our quarantine experience, and that was simultaneously reassuring and incredibly difficult for us! haha.