Covid Trapped, Living In A House Surrounded By Illness

Covid Trapped, Living In A House Surrounded By Illness

I know this isn’t miles and points or travel related but I figured it was worth sharing my experience dealing with a house full of covid.  I am sure it is something people have wondered about, and to be honest, I feel like it will be cathartic to write about it. So here we go.

Back Story

Last week while picking up my kids from school I was informed one of the teachers had gone home earlier in the day because they lost their sense of taste. It was protocol that the class would be out for a few weeks because of it. It was my son’s teacher, so he of course he was ribbing his sister that he got to be home for a few weeks.  She pouted, as younger siblings do, until we reminded her that the same thing happened with her class just a few months earlier.  I wasn’t too worried about it since the teacher stays pretty far away from the kids and masks are mandated in our county currently.

Things went per usual that evening except for the fact that my daughter wanted to sleep in my son’s bottom bunk bed that evening.  My wife passed out in the bed lying with her at bedtime too. So all three ended up spending the majority of the night in the same room. That normally wouldn’t be a problem except for the fact that my daughter woke up the next morning with a 103 degree fever, congestion and a cough.  We did an at home test and our suspicions were confirmed, she was covid positive.

If you remember it was my son’s teacher that had tested positive and not my daughter’s. But, my daughter and my son’s teacher had been in the same facility the Friday before visiting another school. So it is likely they were both exposed from the same source, at the same time.

Dealing With Quarantine While Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop

We put my daughter in quarantine that morning but knew the damage had likely already been done.  My wife is vaccinated but had yet to get her booster shot and she was one of the first people to get the vaccine, working in the medical field. So the armor has worn off a bit, although I doubt even two boosters could tackle this situation.

I did my best to give distance to all three of them the next few days, assuming the worst.  My wife and son both seemed normal until a few days later when they each woke up with a fever and had congestion etc. We had them take an at home rapid test, which was negative.  We decided to go ahead and get a PCR test lined up anyway for the following day, just to be sure.

While we waited for the results my daughter returned pretty much to normal after about two days. My son rebounded even quicker, breaking his fever the first night and being his normal self the following morning.

My wife’s symptoms continued to get a bit worse over the next day or so and then she lost her sense of smell. A few hours later her tests results came back positive and my son’s followed shortly after.  All of a sudden I was left as an outsider in my own family.  They now could all gather together freely since they were experiencing the same thing, I was / am left on the outside looking in.

The Isolation Is So Strange

The thing I really wanted to write about though is the weird feeling of isolation I am having. I feel like I have lost someone even though they are right there. I can hear my family outside the door right now, talking, laughing and of course coughing.

We aren’t being as diligent as we probably should be, but we live in a small house so there is no real way around it either.  I still walk through rooms they are in, I even pop in to say hi to the kids for a second, but there is a feeling of disconnect there.  It is a passing moment, like waving to a neighbor as you drive down the street.

I know this will be over soon, but it has an eerie feeling to it.  Almost like I am on a trip but I haven’t even left my bedroom. I long for the hugs, snuggles and companionship only a family can offer. Which is only exacerbated by the fact that they are literally feet away but there is nothing I can do about it.  I think that makes it worse. It would almost be better if I was in a hotel by myself. Out of sight, out of mind so to speak. Hey, I wonder if the Hyatt down the road has some rooms available…

Final Thoughts

We have been lucky so far that the kids had it about as mild as you can hope for.  My wife got hit a bit harder but overall it hasn’t been anything too terrible.  It is crazy that I am the last one standing, which is probably best since I am the most at risk with a pre-existing condition.

Even if I manage to get out of this covid trapped house unscathed, the situation was still a bit weird. I have felt the isolation, and a bit of the depression, many of us felt during the early days of the lockdowns.  That feeling that everyone was so close but yet so far away. That disconnected from society feeling has returned. This may be a bit worse though. It is like I am on the outside of the house peering in at my own family, like a ghost in my own house. It is a strange sensation, one that I haven’t felt before. Luckily, I shouldn’t have to feel it much longer.

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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