More Dangerous Than Covid
Anthony with his grandparents.
I have waited to talk about this outside of my close circle because I didn't want to violate my son's privacy, but since it's been made public, I feel I can now talk about it. My son Anthony had Covid. And, he either got it from or gave it to my 78 year-old mother. Both my son and my mother traveled across the country days before they were positively diagnosed. On Saturday, July 11, Anthony returned to LA from a work trip. When he got home he said he didn't feel very good, but chalked it up to being in constant air conditioning and not sleeping well. I felt a little pang of fear. Could it be? Then pushed the thought out of my mind. He took a pain reliever and felt better. This was the same day of Raise The Barr’s virtual wine event, a major production and the biggest fundraiser of our year. It went off without a hitch, and by all accounts was a really successful event! We had a few guests over to share in the experience, including my mother. While I was the only person who was close enough to Anthony for an extended period of time (literally sitting next to him for two hours in a small space), he did spend time outside with a few friends, his younger brother Nick, my sisters, my husband, and my mom. On Sunday morning Anthony woke up and said he didn't feel well. He went to get tested and soon thereafter found out he was positive. The calls to our guests ensued. The guilt and fear took hold.
The good news:
Anthony made it through the experience relatively unscathed. After the initial mild sore throat and ache-iness, he only experienced loss of taste. After the required isolation, he retested twice and both came back negative. He returned to Minneapolis to report to work and retested three more times, with one of those returning a positive result. It was likely a false positive, and after following all other protocols and tests required by the NFL, he is back at work and feeling great.
The other good news:
Thank God, almost everyone else who came in contact with Anthony tested negative, except for one person. Everyone he came on contact with for the week leading up to his positive test result was notified. They tested soon and often, and avoided contracting the disease.
The bad news:
The other person infected was my elderly mother. She too, was on an airplane having traveled to and from Florida to help family with an urgent issue. My mother is 78. She constantly has aches and pains, but rarely gets sick. Fortunately for her, she has no underlying health conditions, but being her age and contracting this disease is very worrisome.
My mother and Anthony spent time together on 4th of July the day after she returned from Florida. A little over a week later, Anthony tested positive. Three days after that, my mother began experiencing symptoms and then tested positive. Having both my mother and my son experience Covid at the same time was overwhelming and draining. There is so much unknown. Each day I would wake up and wonder if that day would bring something better, or worse. I pray often, but I found myself praying more frequently and with more fervor. One day my mom called me and asked me to promise her that I would make sure Anthony did not blame himself if something happened to her, suggesting he gave it to her and she was maybe worse off than she was sharing. It scared me and I told her that we didn't know where it came from or who gave it to whom, but honestly, it didn't matter. All that mattered was they got well. I wanted to hug my son. I wanted to see my mother. I wanted them to be better. Covid most certainly affected my mother much worse than Anthony, but even she had a mild case by all comparisons.
Being on the other side of this, one month later, both Anthony and my mother have "fully" recovered. Fully is a relative term. There simply is not enough scientific data on the long-term impact of Covid since it's only been around for a short time. We simply don't know what we don't know. I guess we have to wait and see. That’s a little unsettling. What we do know is the disease can affect anyone and knows no boundaries. Anthony is a world-class athlete with access to the best medical care available. My mother is old but is healthy and has a strong immune system. They both had access to immediate testing, quality medical care and advice, and a safe, clean, and quiet space to isolate and recover. I am relieved that they are doing well, and feel blessed that they recovered quickly and had what they needed to heal.
But what about others who do not have access to quality healthcare, nutrition, or safe housing? What about those who face daily threats to their health due to historical injustices perpetuated on communities of color? At some point Covid will be under control and we will move on from this. I hope before “moving on” we finally face the truth about why certain communities were more affected than others? Will we look at root causes and address them? Will we invest in children and families, our schools, our communities, availability of quality healthcare and create equitable systems and sensible policies that level the playing field so everyone has the same opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential? We better raise our voices and take action for what is right, or the outcome will likely be more dangerous than Covid.