My Quarantine Chronicles

It all started with my husband coming home with a cough. We thought that his asthma was acting up because it is the middle of summer and the normal time his bronchial tract generally gives him issues. Twelve hours after the first cough, he had a fever. Immediately, I was alarmed but like most men he thought thera-flu and rest would make sure that he was able to continue working.

He ended up having to call off of work because his symptoms kept progressing. All I could think to do was bleach everything, separate his dishes from the ones used generally by the family, and tend to my ailing spouse. Then he had to take another day because the fever started causing headaches and the chills. Now, I'm in a full panic but again he felt as though if he wasn't dead he could do what was necessary to provide for his family.

By the time day three hit, with the symptoms persisting, I had to put my foot down and insist that he went to the hospital. I mean I was going to school to be a Contact Tracer/ Community Health Worker and I studied Covid-19 daily. He was presenting all of the textbook signs. It still didn't prepare me for the diagnosis or the brevity of the fear tied to the answer.

My husband went to the Emergency Room so that we could finally put an end to his medical mystery. Every thirty minutes, I was on his line trying to catch all of the updates in real-time. My heart was riddled with worry. All I could think about was how we would survive the news whether it was negative or positive.

He remained in good spirits although his chest hurt from coughing and the struggle to breathe, his head felt like it was being hammered and the infamous fever raged on. As he sat there awaiting a diagnosis, I began to have my first symptoms. My throat was sore along with my tongue. On top of that, there was congestion and a headache. No matter what I felt his health was our top priority.

Hours after he first went in he called me and told me he tested positive for Covid-19. The news was a bitter pill to swallow. The disease that was killing many in droves was now a direct threat to our home. All I could think about was ways to keep us all safe as my husband would have the fight of his life on his hands.

Instantly, I began cleaning out the guest bedroom, preparing a comfortable space for him to quarantine. I knew that he would need the essentials so that he could survive the solitude needed to await the disease's course through his body. I placed water, trail mix, garlic, oranges, grapefruit, black seed oil, and the Keurig along with the green tea inserts in the room.

When he made it home, he went to the room and sequestered himself away. As his partner, I was prepared to aide him through his sickness. We talked to the boys to let them know that our everyday living would be different.

Trying to explain to children, who are eight and six, that their father was sick and had to separate was no easy feat. Their young minds couldn't process the severity of the situation but I knew I could help them find the reasoning necessary to deal with our new life. Little did we know it would only get worse.

To Be Continued...