A family with Coronavirus
I wrote this a few weeks after we all recovered - what I can remember of our experience with Covid:
I was walking around the house tonight cleaning up and had this nagging urge to write the story of our life since March 6th. The girls had gone to my mom's for the night. They like to sleep in the loft of her new addition we just constructed this winter. It's literally 10 steps away through the garage. I think they feel safe there knowing grandma is right downstairs. I walk in to say goodnight and my oldest daughter, just about to turn 11, asks me: "Did dad almost die?" "No" I respond. "But he sure felt like it." I feel it is important that our children feel safe enough in their world to be able to make positive changes to it. It is always a fine line I find myself dancing these days. How do you tell the truth without scaring them to death? How do you give them enough to drive them to change things but not so much that they feel paralyzed?
My youngest daughter responded: "That would be terrible. No more "daddy popcorn." No more "daddy eggs." She is 6.
How about I start our story 4 weeks ago. March 4th. I dropped my three kids off at school and headed to the mountain. After going to school for 20 years, practicing law for 10 and then working as a contractor for Amazon for 5 years, I was taking a much needed sabbatical for the winter. My goal was to ski 100 days. Well, that and beat my husband. He had received his 100 day pin last year and I was determined to ski more than him this season! I was well on my way and would have hit 100 by Easter, when the mountain was set to close. As I rode up the chair lift, I sat next to a woman in her 50's that had just been visiting her daughter in Seattle. When she said Seattle, there was a brief moment the coronavirus crossed my mind but I quickly dismissed it. I knew it was going to hit Sun Valley but I just couldn't imagine it being here already.
March 6th was my husband and my anniversary. We rode the Gondola up from River Run Lodge to have dinner at the Roundhouse. Before heading up, we briefly stopped in at the River Run party put on by the Brotherhood of Skiers. 130 members of the Brotherhood ended up with Coronavirus after attending a week of festivities here in Seattle. I do not recall discussing the virus a single time that night.
That week was spent much like any other, with discussions of Coronavirus increasing rapidly. By the weekend, we were taking serious precautions. My daughter's championship ski race in Bogus Basin was cancelled and most other sports related events followed. Soccer training was postponed. Baseball was postponed. It would have been my son's last year of being eligible for Little League. He turns 13 in August.
We went home on March 15th and began isolation.
Case One: My mom, who is 76 and suffers from chronic bronchitis, had come home from a 2 month winter escape around the very beginning on March. She had been in California, where news of Coronavirus was much further ahead of Sun Valley. She was scared and cautious as she knew she was a prime candidate for the Virus. The new construction she was set to move into was not quite finished so she stayed at a friend's house a couple doors down from us. There was another woman renting a room in the house as well who happened to get what she thought was the flu around March 10th. She spent several days in bed and then emerged with a bad cough. I remember talking to my mom that weekend and wondering if she should come move in with us. "What if it was the Coronavirus? No….it can't be that" was our general thinking. My mom started to feel run down and saw her doctor on 12th for what she thought was a sinus infection. Her doctor put her on Augmenten and though coronavirus was discussed, the general consensus was that she'd probably get better with the antibiotics. On March 17th she started to run a fever. I did not sleep that night as I was convinced that if she had coronavirus, she was going to die. She started isolating immediately and could no longer spend time with us inside our house. She was tested on 20th but did not get her results for 14 days. She ran a fever on and off for a week, felt run down, achy, and congested. But strangely, her fever never went over 101 degrees and though she felt crumby for 2 weeks, she recovered unscathed. At the tail end of her symptoms, she received word that she was positive.
Case Two: On March 19th, I got a tickle in my throat that caused a dry cough. I figured I had inhaled too much Lysol and other cleaning products as I was obsessed with sanitizing everything. Either that, or I was manifesting symptoms. By Saturday it had moved to my sinuses and I had a terrible headache. I was exhausted despite sleeping for 14 hours every night. I pretended through the weekend though on Sunday, took a three hour nap out of nowhere. Sunday evening I noticed I could not taste my dinner. I was tested Tuesday and waited 10 days too find out I was positive. I never ran and fever and, aside from the first day, never developed a cough. I would have slept all day had I not had all three kids home from school, and my sinuses and chest burned constantly. I lived on Sudafed, Tylenol and Nyquil and did not start to feel better until I hit the two week mark. Then a bunch of days followed where I would have a good day, then a bad day. It was about this time that I lost track of the days.
Case Three: My middle daughter Skyler ran a fever for 24 hours sometime during the time that I was sick. She had night terrors, an achy body and seemed worn down for just a few days.
Case Four: My youngest daughter Presley ran a fever and was run down for about 4 days. Her fever would spike at night but Tylenol would bring it down. She was also sick during the time I was sick so I do not recall all the details. Just that she was tired and cranky…as we all were at this point!
Case Five (the one that put us all over the edge): My husband Leif started to feel run down and achy right when I was still at a low point. He was working from home and complained that his chair was giving him a neck ache. He spent 4 days in complete denial until Saturday, the 28th, when he laid down at 2pm and didn't wake up until almost 7. He tried to rally Sunday and even sat up to work on Monday but not without a ton of effort. He went to sleep Monday early evening and did not really wake up until Thursday. When he did try to get up, he was dizzy and discombobulated. His fever had gone up, his body hurt, his spine ached, his head was banging and he looked like death. It was scary. I had never seen him so sick and he was visibly scared. I started pushing liquids into him every hour. I would not let him sleep more than a couple hours without food and water. Had he been on his own, I doubt he would have had the energy to get out of bed to drink or eat. It was difficult to get a hold of his doctor as the office had closed and they were only taking inquiries via email through MyChart. His fever broke after a few days and I thought for sure he was getting better. But then he got worse. And after 3 more days of thinking he would improve, I walked in to the bedroom and burst into tears. It was probaby a cumulation of everything but I had this horrible thought that I was going to walk in and he would have stopped breathing. Seeing that I was so upset, he agreed to go to the hospital. As I drove him their, he was again teary and worried. He had never felt so sick.
At the hospital…well, I should say, in the hospital parking lot, they took his vitals and decided to do some blood work. Though he was not running a fever, his oxygen levels were low. The doctor indicated that in any other scenario, they would hospitalize him for bacterial pnemonia but this virus was causing low oxygen across the board. Though the blood work showed that he was very sick and was certainly fighting something harsh, his levels fell within the "new normal" range. We were sent home and asked to follow up each day until he felt better.
Two days later, the fog started to lift. A week later he was still having good days and bad ones but for the most part recovered.
Case Six: Sometime during my husband's sickness, my son Liam started to run a fever. He was sick for 5 days - achy, low energy, headache and diarrhea. His fever peaked at 102.9 and Tylenol did nothing to bring it down. As soon as the WHO issued their tweet that said Ibuprofen was ok, we gave him that and things started to get better for him. He was achy all over and felt miserable until the Ibuprofen kicked in.
I have no idea where we contracted this virus. Some say it was in the Valley as early as mid February. I felt like we were one of the more cautious ones out there. While others were gathering to lament the closing of the mountain, we were home isolating. We were scared about my mom getting it but then it was my husband that suffered the most. The good news is that we all recovered. And I think that needs to be shared as there is so much bad news we hear every day. We got through it and while I would never wish this on my family again, I am relieved that it is over and hopeful that we now do not have to live in so much fear.
Presley’s notes
She makes them for me all the time. This one is my favorite so far...
"Mom I love you. You are my pink leopard."
Our new reality...
With the Coronavirus getting very real, we have all been encouraged to socially distance ourselves. That means no school for the next three weeks. At first I dreaded it but then I realized that being with my family without any distractions is what I have been craving for months (ok, years). So, we put together a schedule that allows the kids plenty of free time, three hours to take outdoor excursions and four hours of school work (which I have agreed can be practicing typing, playing guitar, playing coding games, reading, writing in their journal and more). Presley drew a gorgeous picture this morning while Skyler practiced typing and Liam learned a new song on guitar. In the afternoons we have reading time for an hour and it has been so nice and peaceful - all the kids next to the fire. Sure, there are disagreements and breakdowns and it takes a lot of energy to keep the house disinfected and clean while they are all home but mostly my heart feels full.
Divas In Sun Valley
I had a blast doing Divas this year - an all women's ski program that goes for 8 weeks. I had the best coaches and even learned how to run gates. Took my skiing to a new level for sure!
Get it girl!!!
Doesn't she look so powerful!? That's because she is. And she's pretty darn cute too! Skyler qualifies for the IMD championships, which will be held outside of Boise next weekend. She was 22nd out of more than 100 girls under the age of 12 in the "North Series." This is her first year on this team and she was 9th amongst the girls born in 2009. The other 12 girls that placed ahead of her in the qualifying races were all born in 2008. She has blown all of our expectations and best of all, she is having a BLAST!
Liam’s first school dance
Liam went to his first school dance last night - 6th grade Back to the Future theme - come dressed like the 50's or 80's. Liam and a couple friends went as greasers. They were darling. The boys went to pizza and then made their way over to the dance where I would have killed to be a fly on the wall. Sounds like they danced and had a great time though no 6th grade boys danced with 6th grade girls. ????????♀️????
Presley tries out SVSEF
Presley tried out Divos today - the first of the SVSEF teams. She was most excited about wearing her sisters jacket. Sounds like she did great and had a good time but have t been able to get much out of her...she's exhausted!
Our morning routine
After I drop the kids off at school, Bandit and I head to the mountain. Since the lifts don't open until 9am, we go for our morning walk around Warm Springs. Bandit walks straight to the ticket counter every single day, peaks his head up over the top and gets his breakfast treat from the Sun Valley concierge. I suppose we are both living our best lives these days...
Celebrating 16 years!
Hard to believe Leif and I have been married for 16 years! This last year has been the absolute best! Getting to sit next to him almost daily on a ski lift has been so damn fun. We went to the Duchin Room for drinks and then the Roundhouse for dinner. Celebrating in style!
Presley lost her first front tooth!
She was very scared to have her dad pull it out but it was driving her crazy! After a few meltdowns, she finally let him do it. It made a big POP sound and it was out.