Covid Scare
Last week one evening my temperature suddenly rose to 99.9, plus I had an earache and felt achy all over. So we immediately went into Covid protection mode, with me relegated to our lower level walkout nicknamed the “dungeon” where we have a spare bedroom, full bath and small kitchenette along with my home office, workshop and exercise area.
My wife got out the Clorox and started wiping down everything I had potentially touched, plus we immediately contacted our family physician’s office and was connected with the doctor-on-call for a telemedicine conference around 9:00pm that evening. Based on my symptoms, the doctor recommended a Covid test and emailed a prescription order on the spot. The doctor provided a website with local testing locations and also suggested acetaminophen, liquid Mucinex expectorant, deep breathing and plenty of water until the test results become available. She warned the standard nasal swab test is not perfect, so recommended a full 14 day quarantine as a precaution even if negative.
After a restless night, primarily thinking about where I might have contracted the Covid and also to whom I might have transmitted the virus over the prior 5 days. I had golfed, played tennis and ate only at outside restaurants. After waking the next morning, my wife left some yogurt and juice for breakfast outside the closed door to my “dungeon” room; and for sure no good morning kiss! After eating, I began searching on the website for a test site but ran into difficulties. Most would only take asymptomatic (no symptoms) customers and those that tested systematic patients were primarily hospitals via their emergency room, the last place I wanted to be. So I called a friend that had lost his son recently to a massive heart attack suspected to have been linked to the virus. My friend and his family all had to be tested as a precaution. He provided the contact info for the urgent care clinic where they were tested.
After calling the clinic, I made arrangements for a Covid test that afternoon. Once arriving, I was told to stay in my car, wear a mask and gloves, then call into the clinic. An attendant soon came directly to the car in full PPE garb and provided a clip board with several forms that I had to complete. After filling out all the forms, she returned to indicate they now offer three different Covid tests, all covered 100% by Medicare I asked her what she recommended and she indicated all three to provide the greatest accuracy.
The first was called the IgM test and involved a pin prick on my finger tip that gave result in 15 minutes. This test detects IgM antibodies, which are usually the first antibodies produced by the immune system when the coronavirus attacks. A positive IgM test indicates that you may have been infected and that your immune system has started responding to the virus. When IgM is detected you may still be infected, or you may have recently recovered from a COVID-19 infection.
The second was called the IgG test via a blood draw with the results available in 30 minutes. This test detects IgG antibodies that develop in most patients within seven to 10 days after symptoms of COVID-19 begin. IgG antibodies remain in the blood after an infection has passed. These antibodies indicate that you may have had COVID-19 in the recent past and have developed antibodies that may protect you from future infection. It is unknown at this point how much protection antibodies might provide against reinfection.
The third was the conventional nasal swab with the results available from an outside lab in two days. Any single test may only be 70% accurate; however, the nurse practitioner who administered the tests indicated the combination of the three has proven to be 97% accurate. Needless to say, I requested all three as recommended. The tests took all of 5 minutes and were administered literally in the vestibule of the clinic. Fortunately, the first two antibody tests came back negative, indicating an 80% certainty I did not have the virus. If the swab test also comes back negative, the certainty rises to 97%.
Our immune system apparently is somewhat analogous to how in the ships depicted in the Star Wars movie series the roamed the universe looking for trouble. The IgM antibodies are akin to the quick and nimble fighter ships while the IgG antibodies are like the larger star ships working together to search out and destroy the enemy death star Coronavirus! Sorry, it may be a stretch, but I like science fiction.
So with the first two tests negative, the nurse practitioner, confident I did not have the virus, invited me into the clinic so my earache could be checked out. She noticed inflammation and redness on the right ear lob and further diagnosed an outer ear infection (or swimmers ear even though I had not been swimming), which was the likely culprit for the low grade fever.
The achiness was probably from cardio tennis the day before. Usually I do cardio tennis with an older group, but that session was rained out, so I ventured onto the court with the younger players; a mistake! The drills are similar and held on two adjacent courts with 10 players following a path represented by the blue line opposite two pros who are hitting balls following the yellow path to our backhand then forehand. Unbeknownst to me until it was too late, only for the younger crowd, the players touch the net with their racket twice each cycle, which was exhausting!
So an antibiotic and ear drops were prescribed, and a ready-for-pick-up text from our pharmacist arrived literally before leaving the clinic. I picked up the scripts on my way home and immediately took the meds as directed, noticing improvement by the next day. And the day after that, the swab test results also came back negative. Now everything is thankfully back to "the new normal", good morning kisses and all!
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