When you spend twenty days essentially alone, you learn many things about yourself and you definitely find ways to entertain yourself. (We were all home and we did lots of inter-home zoom chats and classes, but much of the time as all the adults were resting and recuperating, the boys were left to self-entertain.)
Emerson practiced balancing his stuffed animals on his head, he observed wildlife out the windows, he read a lot of books, he played a lot of hot wheels and found many ways to incorporate the construction materials in his area into the play.
Whittaker requested craft supplies and had to clean his room of scraps of paper and debris daily, but he made many lovely creations. He listened to endless books.
They both looked forward to internet chats with cousins.
After 2 weeks of quarantining, I contacted the nurse at the clinic to inquire regarding Duncan and Emerson receiving the antibodies test so we could safely come out of quarantine. We weren't 100% symptom free yet, but were feeling better and were determined that we were on the road to recovery and didn't want to risk starting the quarantine all over again if the boys started to show symptoms. The nurse quizzed me well regarding our remaining symptoms and she stopped me short when I mentioned Whittaker's remaining rash. I was transferred to another nurse and then repeated our symptoms and then was transferred to the Dr. and then was told to bring him in. They would be waiting for us in the contamination room.
Five hours later he had been examined thoroughly, given 2 covid tests, an antibodies test, a strep swab, and had 5 vials of blood drawn for further testing. (I wanted his hearing tested but they thought that request was odd.) His symptoms were suggesting that a complication of covid, that has been seen in many covid recovering children, was possibly a concern for him. He disliked the swabbing and the blood draw immensely.
I suppose since they aren't sure why these recovering children suddenly begin to have systems fail about a week to ten days after symptoms first began that we should have been grateful for their thoroughness, but I wasn't feeling great yet and would have preferred to stay home resting and Whittaker has only miserable thoughts about covid. (His horrid itchy rash and day of vomiting along with the tightness of his chest were more than annoying.) He verbalized his anxieties on the third day of our quarantine by asking if we were all going to die? We reassured him that no we weren't. But he knew we had discussed the two friends from the retirement center who hadn't survived so it was a valid question to him. (This reaction from the nurses and Dr. weren't alleviating his anxieties.)
Four full weeks later his rash is almost cleared up. No other issues ever surfaced. I also wasn't successful in determining if Duncan and Emerson were just asymptomatic or not infected. Duncan had two days of a headache but nothing else. So who knows. (the antibodies test, we were told, wouldn't have helped to know that until 10 days after our symptoms cleared up anyway.)
As far as the rest of us. Patrick has resumed looking for work, and has finally been released from his quarantine corner. He lost 15 pounds over the course of the illness but otherwise has no lingering symptoms.
Jim has bouts of fatigue and has now developed shingles and his hair is thinning (may or may not be related to covid). So now we are keeping our distance from him again.
I am delighted that I can taste, smell and feel my face again. The fatigue is gone and so are the body aches and headaches. I still periodically get the chest tightening. It lasts about an hour when it comes and some days it doesn't happen at all.
We all still feel a bit less driven and productive, but that could just be some winter doldrums or just personal idiosyncrasies.
Since the holiday season came amidst Covid quarantine, joblessness and unfinished construction, we determined some semblance of festivities would be nice but the only location the tree could go without being in the way of progress was in the corner of the kitchen... where Emerson was camping out.
He was delighted. He spent the entire day setting up the tree, arranging the branches, stringing lights and placing ornaments. He struggled with keeping it from leaning but he was creative in shimming it up. (There are a few socks and a kitchen butter knife under one part of the tree stand) Sleeping under the Christmas tree that he set up all by himself will be a memory he won't soon forget.
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