Potential Covid exposure.... be extra careful!

zsazsa1
zsazsa1 Member Posts: 568 Member
in Uterine/Endometrial Cancer #1

My husband manages our own small rental property business.  Four full  days ago, he and a young friend went to check out a potential HVAC problem in a rental building's basement - and the friend developed symptoms that night.  Friend called tonight to tell us he tested positive.  They had traveled separately, were both always masked, husband's mask was a KN95 I think, and he says they were mostly quite far apart from each other in the basement, and that he was also very compulsive about hand sanitizing.  He always showers and puts clothes in laundry upon arriving home.

He feels totally fine.  We immediately had him retreat to the master bedroom, which has its own bathroom, and I went to another bedroom.  No kids are in the upstairs with us anymore, although my high school son is some of the time in the now walled off basement.  He's due home tonight for the next 6 days, so husband cannot just move down there.  I was due for rituximab tomorrow (the antibody infusion that kills all my B-lymphocytes), so I think I'd better call and put that off until next week.

What fun.  I know that the odds of contagion are very low, what with them both having been masked, in the large, open, 1200 sq ft basement, and not close to each other, but I'm still scared.  He will go get a covid PCR test tomorrow morning, and we will continue to stay separately in the house until he gets another test at ten days.  I know it's kind of overkill, but I just don't see how I could survive it.  Husband is nearly 60 with high blood pressure and asthma, and is a little overweight, so his chances aren't great either.

Prevalence of the virus is so high now, and increasing by the day.  Please, everyone remember to stay isolated, go out only if absolutely necessary, and wear mask and glasses/goggles/face shield if you have to go anywhere indoors or near people outside your household.  We know more about the virus now than we did in March, but the risk is higher and higher now, because the virus is so widespread at this point, throughout the entire country.

 

Comments

  • BluebirdOne
    BluebirdOne Member Posts: 656 Member
    edited December 2020 #2
    zsazsa,

    So sorry to hear about your husband's potential exposure. Nothing is easy these days with Covid. Let us know how it all works out. 

     

    Xoxo

    Denise 

  • TeddyandBears_Mom
    TeddyandBears_Mom Member Posts: 1,814 Member
    edited December 2020 #3
    zsazsa1, I hope everything is

    zsazsa1, I hope everything is OK with you and your family. It sounds like your husband did all the right things and is probably going to be ok. Especially since he had the n95 type mask on.

    I am not one for getting shots, but I can't wait until we have the vaccine for this. 

    Love and Hugs,

    Cindi

  • cmb
    cmb Member Posts: 1,001 Member
    edited December 2020 #4
    Dilemmas

    zsazsa1,

    I, too, hope that your husband continues to do well and that you and your son are okay as well.

    I still don't know if the respiratory illness I had last March was the seasonal flu or Covid-19. And even if I did have Covid-19, there's no guaranty that I couldn't get it again. So I continue to assume that I can still be infected and take precautions. I live alone, so I don't have to worry about spreading the disease to anyone else nearby.

    However, I did report to my PCP last month that I had been experiencing chest pressure and sporadic shortness of breath since August, although I hadn't experienced anything like the symptoms I had last March. I also reminded her that I had lost my sense of smell several years ago after I finished my cancer treatments (although I haven't read about this being a side effect of chemo).

    So she scheduled me for a CT-scan, which I hadn't had since February 2019. She also scheduled a head MRI. The good news is that the CT-scan didn't show any abnormalities and I'm still NED. The MRI of the head also didn't show anything that would explain the loss of smell (nor any sign that cancer had recurred in my head). Next up will be a stress test and perhaps another echocardiogram.

    During these tests and the accompanying lab tests I found the health care professionals and support staff really paying attention to safety procedures in ways that exceeded what they had done in the past. So while I had some trepidation about having these tests done now, I'm glad that I did them so at least some of my concerns are resolved.

    Several months ago I had also noticed the lymphedema in my left leg getting worse than it was last year. So I'm now scheduled to start three weeks of therapy for that condition later this week. Of course I worry about the risks of doing outpatient therapy right now, but it's already been a few months since I noticed the problem and I'm reluctant to wait until it gets even worse.

    But at least my experiences are very isolated and limited in duration. I feel very badly for anyone with more serious conditions seeking medical treatment currently since the more complex the problem, the greater chance of infection.

  • Armywife
    Armywife Member Posts: 451 Member
    edited December 2020 #5
    For What It's Worth

    My life has been full of many more medical encounters than I had expected since Covid began, as my husband has had two emergency room visits which resulted in admissions, tons of physical therapy and orthopedic appointments and scans, and I've had my CT and colonoscopy plus regular followup visits and labs. Then my daughter came home for a month in the summer and again for two weeks recently (she lives in Guatemala serving girls rescued from trafficking and sexual abuse in their homes) and she was literally everywhere with everyone.  I just knew we were all going to get sick.  But blessedly, we are both covid-free so far.  We are absolutely vigilant about sanitizing and mask-wearing, but we have been getting groceries and essentials, even (gasp) at big box stores.  I am NOT a risk taker but much of this has just happened to us.  All that to say, I just want to encourage you that you may be safer than you think.

  • zsazsa1
    zsazsa1 Member Posts: 568 Member
    edited December 2020 #6
    Thank you all for the kind

    Thank you all for the kind words.  Husband went for a test yesterday, and it's negative.  He's still isolated in the master bedroom (I keep thinking of Stephen King's book, Misery), but at least now we can be pretty sure that even if he did get infected, he didn't pass it to me.  Our entire district is in either full time or hybrid in-person, and the kids are apparently really great about mask-wearing, and not a single case has been transmitted in school.  16 schools, 500-1600 students in each, and not a single case caught in school.  So clearly, mask-wearing really works.

  • ConnieSW
    ConnieSW Member Posts: 1,688 Member
    edited December 2020 #7
    Zsazsa

    I am counting down your husband's quarantine days with you. Good luck.

  • jan9wils
    jan9wils Member Posts: 209 Member
    edited December 2020 #8
    Glad to hear about the

    Glad to hear about the negative test result. 

    Jan

  • dgrdalton
    dgrdalton Member Posts: 161 Member
    edited December 2020 #9
    It does seem to be almost everywhere now.

    So sorry you are having to go through the extra precautions. My husband and I have discussed what we would do if one of us became infected. His sister has tested positive. She has colon cancer that has metastasized to her liver. She's been in chemo treatment since March 2019. She was taken to ER this morning and X-rays showed bilateral pneumonia. I am so scared for her. She is 74.

    Praying that your husband will remain negative and you can get back to a more normal life (if that's possible for any of us right now.)

    Donna D

  • TeddyandBears_Mom
    TeddyandBears_Mom Member Posts: 1,814 Member
    #10
    Donna, so sorry to hear about

    Donna, so sorry to hear about your sister in law. I sure hope she can get through this. I am scared for her too. That's a lot to deal with at the same time.

    Two of my neighbors have Covid right now. They are in their late 60s and say it is miserable. 

    Take care everyone.

    Love and Hugs,

    Cindi

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