Editor’s note: Fredda Jones doesn’t live in Blanco, but she might as well during the school year. She spends much of her time chasing around three of her grandchildren who attend Blanco ISD schools and taking photos of sporting events in which they participate, and you see some of those photos in The Blanco County News. Fredda tells of how she contracted coronavirus and her experience with it.
Hello from Fox Creek in Comanche, Texas! There’s nothing like a health scare to make us remember just how wonderful life really is, and as I write today, April 19, I believe I have reached the point where I can wear the “I survived COVID-19 T-shirt!” It has been a bit of a journey, and your editor asked if I would share it with you.
Our grandson, Caden, graduated in 2018, and as a graduation present, we planned to take him to England. I do lots of research and have followed my mom’s family back into the castle days there. In addition to the usual sites, I wanted Caden to get a sense of who these people were by visiting their memorials, castles, churches, etc. Before we could really get a concrete plan in 2018, London was attacked four times, and it was decided that maybe the trip would have to wait. Fast forward to the fall of 2019, and the trip was back on schedule for spring break 2020. At that point in time, spring break was the only week Caden had open because he was planning to study in Italy during the summer, so we chose that date, met with the travel agent, prepaid pretty much everything, and put our plans into motion. Of course, none of us had ever heard of something called COVID-19.
About a week before we were due to leave, I began to wonder if we should reschedule the trip. By then, June had opened for Caden, and I met with our travel agent, who assured me that even with our trip insurance, a postponement would cost us thousands of dollars in fines. We watched the news, spoke to a couple of friends who were doctors, and everyone decided that England was maybe even a little safer than the U.S., so we flew out of the DFW airport on March 6. We had an absolutely wonderful time! (I did drive the guys crazy, insisting on viral wiping every seat, table, credit card reader, etc., before we used it.) And truthfully, we felt very good about being in England. The crowds were light, and everywhere we turned, people (who desperately need those tourist dollars) were cleaning and disinfecting.
It wasn’t until we arrived at Heathrow airport in London on March 14, and American Airlines loaded us with hundreds of other passengers, many from hard-hit mainland Europe, that I knew we were probably in trouble. We had a lot of room where we sat, and once again, I used viral wipes to disinfect our area. Over 10 hours later, we arrived at DFW, and I assume most of you saw on the news that we were herded together with thousands of people for hours, literally shoulder to shoulder. Quite honestly, I knew that with my autoimmune problems, I was doomed to be sick. And so it was that Rickey and I self-quarantined at our home on the night of March 14, and Caden did the same at his home.
By March 17, I was not sick at all, but I had developed a cough bad enough to ask the doctor to order a cough syrup script. I also was developing abdominal pain, etc., that I had no idea could be a symptom of this virus. My cough actually got better, and Ric and I spent quite a bit of time outside doing yard work. I could tell that I couldn’t quite breathe fully, not sick, just short of breath. Since I was totally quarantined and since I had heard that there was a shortage of test kits and especially since I did not feel sick, I didn’t even consider being tested until the evening of March 24, when I began to run fever. I knew at that point that I was positive for COVID-19.
I suppose, as most cases go, mine has been fairly light in that I did not wind up on a ventilator in a hospital. I finally have enough air to walk around in the yard, and I feel so much better; the bigger problem now is that the virus has acerbated other health problems. Hopefully, I will be able to bring those under control soon. As of this writing, I finally have a negative test, hearing those results back on April 21. Rickey (who tested negative and never had a symptom) left quarantine this Monday, April 20, after 35 days. Yes, I’ve been told that my timeline does not add up, but it is what it is. Either that initial cough was not a CV cough, or I have had the thing for weeks, which is what I believe.
I’d like to leave you with two things because I know just how scared many of you are feeling. I’m doing well, and I still can’t stand to watch a bit of news! My first suggestion is that you too ignore it every chance you get, because it will just stress and upset you about things that are out of your control. Instead, get out in the sunshine away from people and soak it up. I truly believe that a virus and sunshine cannot coexist.
And finally, it is all well and good to tell people to quarantine themselves, and I do think it probably was a good idea. However, you also need to understand that if your neighbor is truly quarantined, he is unable to do anything for himself without your help. We have literally existed on the charity of others for over a month. We were beyond blessed because everything – our food, groceries, medicines, supplements, yard supplies, etc. – magically appeared on our porch literally every day as friends, neighbors and local businesses took care of us. Without that help, Rickey would simply have had to get out in order to purchase what we needed. We left one world, expecting to “run by” the grocery store to replenish our purposely empty pantry and fridge, and we returned to one where we had to lock ourselves away from others, with absolutely nothing that we needed.
God bless you all…stay away from people; get out and breathe as much fresh air as possible, and even though I don’t know when this will pass, I do trust that pass it will. Hang in there!
