The Background
As much as everyone wants covid to go away, it just isn’t. Every month or two it seems covid puts on a fake mustache, a cowboy hat, changes a couple of proteins and is back in the news wrecking havoc. For the past two years my family has done our due diligence in attempting to not only evade this virus, but to stop giving a reservoir for mutations. Spring 2022 seemed to appear as we might be getting back to some semblance of normal, we were a little more lax in our preventative measures. Fast forward to our son going to camp in early June and getting sick. This is where this tale begins. I am not a doctor. I do work in a clinical lab and have a reasonable amount of knowledge about viruses and bacteria.
My son had been at camp for 4 days when he first mentioned he wasn’t feeling great. It was just a mention his back and head hurt just a bit. He assumed it was because the college dorm mattresses are a bit thin, but he was fine. He managed to win a karaoke contest, so I assumed he would be ok. Friday, the day before camp was ending, he text saying did not feel well and his ears hurt. Camp was in town, so we went to take him to urgent care. A covid test was not even offered. Both of his ears showed infection and his hearing was muffled. He showed visible discomfort at coughing and burping. Antibiotics were prescribed along with pain meds. He came home, slept in his bed, and the next morning finished his concerts.
The Start of the Plague
Even though my son was not tested at the urgent care center, we tested him for covid with our at home kits. He was negative. He was not coughing. He did not have fever. He just felt a little crummy and wanted to sleep. Working in the lab for 20 years, you are hyperaware of respiratory season and prominent virus in the area. Working in the lab is not necessary to know covid has been the dominate virus for two plus years. The fact that my son was sick, but with an ear infection seemed odd, but people get ear infections so maybe the two were not related.
Probably not a full week after my son returned home from camp, both my daughter and myself had what felt like sinus infections. Both of us had congestion and a bit of face pain with a headache, but not too bad to keep us from doing our day to day activities. Neither had fever or a cough. We both took rapid tests that were negative, so we went on about our lives feeling just a bit under the weather. My daughter bounced back after a day or two because she is invincible when it comes to illness. She may have had two fevers her entire life and on antibiotics maybe 3 times. Maybe. I on the other had hovered around I do not feel that bad. My husband started having sinus issues maybe 3 or 4 days later. This is now the end of June.
Summer Pneumonia
My husband and I seem to hang on to our sinus issues and general feeling of malaise. Around the first of July, my husband’s chest was tight and his cough had become productive. He had a slight fever but felt sick for the first time. I should have been more concerned when he agreed to go to the doctor without me dragging him kicking and screaming. His lungs sounded a bit “croupy”, but not too bad. He was started on a Z-pac, steroids, they drew some blood and sent him home. His CBC came back the next day and his white count was elevated to around 15,000. He was not feeling much better, so I took him back to the doctor to ask for an x-ray and possibly a stronger antibiotic. My fear was correct. He did have pneumonia in two lobes. He received a shot of Rocephin, a stronger oral antibiotic and a longer course of steroids. I still was feeling less than my best at this time, but I did not have pneumonia so I can manage. It has to stop at some point. I’m not going to be fatigued and congestion forever. Right?
My other daughter left for a camp in the middle of July. She was there for approximately six days. She returns home on a Sunday, with a bit of a runny nose, and says some of her contacts have tested positive for Covid. This Sunday night, I was woken up by a stabbing ear pain. I had pain similar to clogged eustachian tubes for the past couple of days but not terrible. I assumed it was just the congestion and started taking a decongestant. However, when I noticed my ear was bleeding and my ear was hurting a bit more than normal, I thought it may be time to go to the doctor. While I was at the doctor first thing the next morning, my daughter tested positive for covid using a rapid home test. I was tested at the doctors office and showed negative.
Was it Covid or a Coincidence?
Since early June, everyone in this house has been sick with some sort of upper respiratory illness. Daughter one seemed to escape with the least issues. My son and I both had/have pretty severe ear infections. My husband is on the tail end of recovering from summer pneumonia which is odd. I still have reduced hearing in one ear with clearing congestion. Finding article concerning covid are not difficult. Finding useful articles are a bit more challenging.
I have a theory and that is all it is, a theory. I think we have all had covid. I think my husband and I tested too late to show a positive test and we both ended up with secondary bacterial infections, or at least my husband did. I may have covid ear. That’s a thing as of right now. Trademark. Almost everyone had a sore throat to begin with followed by some sort of respiratory symptoms, congestion, cough, headache and fatigue. We did our testing, both rapid and PCR and only our second daughter tested positive. We all got retested yesterday, 6 days post exposure to daughter 2 returning home and we are all negative. No one has symptoms of new infections.
The reason I am sharing this very long and very boring story is I think if you have respiratory symptoms, assume you have covid regardless of test results and protect those most vulnerable around you. My daughter ran a fever for about 30 hours. She had a bit of body aches but nothing serious. Her illness was not a big deal, for her. For someone else it could be. Again, this is all just a theory, but if you have one predominate virus in the community and you get sick with the hallmark symptoms, it seems reasonable to assume that is what you have.
