Dodging delta, catching omicron

The summer of 2021 was a rare bright spot in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Vaccines were widely available. Case loads were down. Restrictions were being lifted. By the time school resumed in the fall, however, all that had begun to change. Southeast Missouri experienced the same rapid increase in COVID cases the rest of the country did as the delta variant swept through the region. Hospitals filled up, school schedules were affected, and businesses had to adapt once more to a changing reality. Fortunately, Lily and I, and our congregation, were largely unaffected by that particular round of the disease.

Omicron comes home

We would not be as lucky when omicron came calling this winter. Two weeks into the new year, both Lily and I had the dubious pleasure of experiencing the virus first hand. She began feeling sick overnight and took a home COVID test. It came back positive. Although I did not yet have any symptoms at that moment, I took one as well, just to be safe. Mine came back negative. For a brief moment it looked like I was in the clear.

Lily contacted her supervisor to make arrangements for classes because the semester was starting the very next week. Meanwhile, I contacted the church leadership to let them know that I would have to be isolating for the then-current CDC recommended five days due to exposure to the virus. After a contactless shopping trip for medication and food we were stocked up for our period of quarantine. Lily and I temporarily moved into separate bedrooms and I began wearing a mask whenever I emerged from my home office. Regardless of how long it took her to get over her symptoms, we both knew were going to be working from home for a while. The only one who was happy with the situation was the cat, who suddenly had two beds to choose from.

Viruses were made to be shared

In the end, just one day later I also began to show the same symptoms as Lily. When we talked to telehealth they advised that many of the home tests were showing a larger number of false negatives with the omicron variant. We were advised to presume that I was also positive and operate accordingly. For 36 hours we both had terrible headaches, coughing, difficulty breathing, chest pain, and I had the added joy of nausea and vomiting. Once more, the only happy member of the household was the cat. Because both of us were in bed on a full-time basis, she had plenty of time for cuddling.

Fortunately, my experience with COVID symptoms was extremely brief. Three days after Lily first tested positive, I was feeling fine. My symptoms disappeared and I was back up and running. Unfortunately, her misery continued and would end up lingering for two more weeks. Despite my improving health situation, Sunday was still too early for me to leave the house. I asked Bobby Garner, a friend of mine, to preach until my quarantine was up. He readily stepped in and Lily and I were able to join the congregation for worship virtually. While it is not the same as being together face to face, I am grateful for the technology that makes such vicarious participation possible.

Lily and I were not the only people in our region affected by the omicron variant. Schools throughout Missouri were either closed or moved online due to staff shortages and student sickness. As a college professor, Lily was a part of that reality. She continued to exhibit symptoms and taught the first week of the semester entirely online. Even though she did not have to leave the house, the extreme fatigue she was experiencing meant that she had to sleep for hours after every class.

The high numbers of people affected by the surge in our area meant that when First Christian Church in Sikeston hosted what was scheduled to be a week-long drive through testing event, they ran out of test materials two days early. Fortunately, Lily and I were able to make it there in time. We sat in a two hour long line before eventually getting swabbed by some nurses from the Missouri Delta Medical Center. Later that afternoon we received confirmation that she was still COVID positive, while I again tested negative.

Resuming “normal” life

Because I was symptom free and testing negative, once I was past my five day isolation period I began to carefully venture out while wearing a mask and working isolated in my office at church. All face to face encounters and nursing home visits were placed on hold until our family’s health situation had changed. It took almost two weeks before Lily’s symptoms dissipated.

After the 14 day quarantine was up we both took one last COVID test before she headed back to the classroom. Once more, she was positive, and I was negative. Despite this, the telehealth nurses advised her that she might continue to test positive for several more months and that it would be safe to resume teaching as long as she wore a mask and continued to be careful around her students. Likewise, I was able to resume masked face-to-face visitation in hospitals and nursing homes.

All of this could have been so much worse. Even with two weeks of extremely challenging symptoms, Lily has now resumed her regular schedule. As bad as it was for us, there are so many people whose lives have been completely changed or who have lost people they love. All in all, we were both extremely fortunate.

Throughout this entire experience, I am incredibly grateful for the understanding of our church’s leadership, Lily’s supervisor, colleagues, and students, and (most importantly) for all the medical personnel who are working so hard to make sure that the people in our area are properly cared for.