A Covid Quarantine Thanksgiving; Other Covid Positives; Yet Another Sick One

The dreaded has happened! Despite doing my best to be careful during all this Covid business--I have managed to test positive for a breakthrough case of Covid. UGH!!!!

On Monday, November 15th, I was coughing more than usual. I cough every single day. In fact, whenever Glen hears me coughing, he asks me if I have Covid. This has gone on for months and months—ever since Covid became a thing. 

Some days I cough more than others. It is just how I am and it has been extremely annoying to be coughing these days when everyone is so paranoid about getting Covid.

But, alas, the next day I was wheezing and coughing. That is never a good sign for me and my poor lungs. 

On Wednesday I went to the doctor. I was not feeling very sick. My nose and head were getting stuffy and I was sneezing, but just felt like I had a cold that was affecting my respiratory system. 

With my asthma, it seems that when I get wheezing like this, the only thing that helps me get better is to start taking prednisone. So off to the doctor I went. She prescribed 5 days of prednisone for me. 

Then I asked for a Covid test, just to be safe, because we were hosting a big Thanksgiving dinner with my side of the family.

Imagine my shock and horror when I learned I had become part of the running count for new Covid cases. Imagine my frustration and disgust when the very next day it was announced that all adults now qualify for the booster vaccine.

When Glen and I were getting our flu shots a few weeks ago, he was offered the booster and I was told I was ineligible to get it. Glen went back after our trip to get his booster shot. And then I get sick. Go figure!!!!! The timing on this is a little ironic!

I have been monitoring my oxygen through this illness and, thankfully, it has stayed in the mid to upper 90s. That has been a blessing.

I got notified by a nurse about qualifying for monoclonal antibody treatment. Since it was within 10 days of my first symptoms, he strongly encouraged me to get it to help build up my antibodies. 

When he emphasized my risk factors of asthma and atrial fibrillation, I decided to give it a try. Anything to help myself get over this quicker would be very much appreciated. 

So Friday I was off to a hospital in South Jordan to receive my infusion. It took 3 different technicians and 4 sticks to finally get the IV in my vein. That is ALWAYS the absolute WORST part of any procedure or blood draw I have done.

I had had a night of body aches followed by two nights of chills and sweats and was coughing a lot the day of the infusion. Once the IV had begun to flow, I had a violent coughing fit that lasted a long time as I was trying to clear my lungs of all the mucous. It is so exhausting to cough that much and that long. 

The nurse working with me rushed over to see if I was having an allergic reaction to the IV. I assured her I wasn't and I was hoping it worked quickly (like it does with some people) to help me feel better soon.

This extremely contagious illness has really put a cramp on our lifestyle. Glen had to cancel going to some in-person work meetings and we were unable to go to the prison.

We had to cancel plans to go to lunch with Dave and Bonnie and then dinner another day with Barbara, Maurine and their husbands. 

Barbara makes Chex party mix for us every year and so instead of delivering them in person when we were supposed to get together for dinner, she mailed them to us. She is so sweet and it made my day to know she was thinking of us.

Let's just say that being quarantined when this pandemic began was not a horrible thing. Glen and I were together and we made the best of the situation.

Not this time!!!! Glen has been doing his best to avoid being anywhere near me. He sleeps in a bedroom on the other side of the house. He holes up in the office or down in the basement. We don't eat together; we don't watch TV together; we do nothing together. 

One day we even resorted to FaceTiming each other to communicate. It's the pits!! We are together in this house, yet we are so alone. 

Despite being on different floors of the house, I was wearing a mask because I was in the office and have tried to keep that a germ-free zone since Glen spends a lot of time in there. 

I have the kindest friends! Kim Cowley insisted on bringing over some soup, salad and homemade rolls. The little M&M turkeys were so cute.

My sweet friend Jan dropped off a beautiful flower arrangement which I have so much enjoyed looking at while I am housebound. 

As if that wasn't enough, she also gave us a gift certificate to my favorite restaurant--Texas Roadhouse. Glen has been getting us take-out at different restaurants. Now I am looking forward to our next Texas Roadhouse take-out.

My friend Diane surprised me when she had Grant deliver a huge bowl of hamburger vegetable soup the night before Thanksgiving. How thoughtful of her! I was feeling guilty she was taking time to cook for us when I knew she was busy cooking for her family feast the next day.

I guess she was feeling sorry for us because we had to cancel our Thanksgiving plans and wanted to make sure we had something to eat on Thanksgiving Day.

I got a call from the Health Department tracking my every move the 14 days before my symptoms began. I had really been out and about and was feeling very guilty about it. 

Who knows who I infected before I knew I was getting sick? Also, who knows who infected me??!!??

What made me laugh was when I got this follow-up email Order of Isolation. It was issued on day 9 of my illness. Good thing I was isolating well before I got the order.

My cough and wheezing continues. Friday I was supposed to be free to go out and about, but since I am still coughing, I fear I won't be able to resume normal activities until the latter day of December 6th. 

I had been thinking about how I needed to change out the Thanksgiving decorations to Christmas decorations. We usually do it the day after Thanksgiving. 

I figured Glen would enjoy it if I didn't bother him on his long weekend break from work when so many football games are on. So I enlisted his help the day before Thanksgiving to carry boxes back and forth from the basement.

That is why on Thanksgiving Day, I walked down the stairs to the main level and was able to enjoy all the work having been done as the house had been transformed into the Christmas theme.

Roger Jacketta, our next-door neighbor, was cooking for his family and shared some of his stuffed mushrooms with us. Glen loves those things and felt like he was having a true feast for his solo Thanksgiving dinner. 

He had gone to Smokin' Bones to get a bunch of meat (and chips) to last him a few days.

After Glen ate his feast, it was time for me to eat mine. I was so happy enjoying the beautiful centerpiece courtesy of Jan, looking at the Thanksgiving card from my parents, getting enjoyment out of the M&M turkeys from Kim, and eating the soup and broiled baguettes courtesy of Diane.

I was feeling the love in my isolation. 

The best part of the day was when I spied my angel parents on our front porch dropping off leftovers from the family Thanksgiving dinner.

How sad Glen and I had been to miss the family dinner. 

Oh how happy I was to end Thanksgiving Day with some turkey, sweet potato casserole and Mom's homemade stuffing. The bonus is I have had leftovers for other meals. YUMMY!!!!

Remember back to when I blogged about going to the high school to watch Caroline's junior high school play? Remember how this little girl was stuck to me like glue the whole night? Remember how she sat on my lap for 2 hours so she could see the play? 

Turns out that play was on November 15th--the day my Covid symptoms started...

Madison has had a sniffle and with Thanksgiving coming up, Rebecca has been extra cautious going to get tested and getting Madison and Spencer tested because they weren't vaccinated yet. They have all been negative.

Until one of them tested positive...

Madison is the one I was most worried about infecting. Now imagine my horror at hearing the news that I have given her the dreaded disease! 

Not only was I sad about making Madison sick, but I was also sad it ruined that whole family's Thanksgiving dinner with family. And then on top of that, the children will miss school, Dallas will miss work and Rebecca will have to cancel the days she is scheduled to be at the school. UGH!! 

Sarah was asking Rebecca if she was prepared to make her own Thanksgiving meal the following day.

Rebecca's response was she is prepared to cook the four boxes of stuffing she was going to bring to the family dinner. Then my favorite part, "Oh wait. I don't actually like stuffing."

They were able to put together a delicious roast beef dinner as a stand-in for turkey dinner. Knowing how much most of their children love mashed potatoes, I was happy to hear they had a nice meal. It probably helped the little banished-from-the-family-dinner-table girl enjoy herself in her solitude.

It was such good news when Jacob posted this photo of Natalie at home with her siblings. She had gotten her airplane ticket changed and had gotten a ride to the airport a few days earlier than planned. 

She has some days of school that she can miss and this seemed like a good time to use a few of those days so she could have a longer time with the family during her Thanksgiving break.

It was bad news when Jacob posted this photo a few days later informing us Natalie had been sick and has now been diagnosed with mono. Poor girl! I hope she doesn't spend her whole time with the family sleeping. We've actually been wondering how this might affect her ability to go back to school. 

I guess this makes me believe the saying "bad news comes in threes." Let's hope the three of us recover soon and no other illnesses befall any others.

Well…I spoke that wish too soon!!! 

Jacob informed us that he and Natalie were back at the doctor’s office because Natalie has been throwing up every day. She was also feverish again. Anti-nausea medication was prescribed.

And that’s not the last of the sick news… We got notified our Olympus Branch of the prison is having a Covid outbreak. YIKES!! 

It has crossed my mind that maybe my germs caused this. But then I wonder if perhaps I got infected from them. I was wearing a KN95 mask the whole time I was there, so I doubt either scenario happened. But, we will never know. 

We had heard there was a Covid outbreak in other branches of the prison earlier, so I’m going to believe our branch’s outbreak had something to do with the other branches’ outbreaks.

I feel bad for the inmates having to be in lockdown because of the illness. It’s bad enough being in prison, but to be confined to a cell all the time would be horrible!! They love their outdoor (in the yard) time. 

And there is even more sickness to report…

We have two more of the Golden family members who now have Covid. I am now three times as sick about the havoc I have wreaked in that household. 

I wish I could have a do-over and not have been anywhere near them (or anyone else) when I was contagious—although I did love going and supporting Caroline in her play and I did love holding Madison all through the play. I just do not love the results of that close contact.

The prayers will continue that the other half of the family does not come down with positives. This is a great time to be wishing for something negative—negative tests results for Rebecca, Brooke and Spencer.

Speaking of negative—this is Glen’s Covid test result. 

It has been amazing and a blessing he has not gotten sick!!! We are chalking it up to the booster shot he was able to get.

Quotes of the Week

 If you proceed to learn all you can about Jesus Christ, I promise you that your love for Him and for God's laws will grow beyond what you currently imagine. I promise you also that your ability to turn away from sin will increase. Your desire to keep the commandments will soar. You will find yourself better able to walk away from the entertainment and entanglements of those who mock the followers of Jesus Christ.

--Russell M. Nelson

What can we give to Him, who paid the incalculable price for our sins? We can give Him change. It may be a change of thought, a change in habit, or a change in the direction we are headed. 

--Becky Craven

We all beg for mercy for our sins and failures. He freely gives it. And He asks us if we can give that same mercy and understanding to each other.

--Sharon Eubank

Birthday Tea Party; Earl Mecham's Passing; Caroline's Play

I have the sweetest friends! We rotate celebrating each others' birthdays and this time it was my birthday. Diane invited us all to a tea party at her home. I was sad Colleen was out of town that day.

(Me, Jane Crandall, Debi Winder, LaVona Lewis, Jan Evans and Diane Stewart)

We all brought finger foods to eat with our tea (hot chocolate). I love that Diane had made cucumber sandwiches at her husband's suggestion. 

The tea party table was set. Diane had just gotten home from visiting one of her daughters and said she spent so much time having tea parties and playing Barbies with her little granddaughter, so she decided she needed to come home and plan a tea party with her real Barbie friends. CUTE!!

It was shocking news to read this post on my birthday about a death of one of our friends from Georgia.

I loved Earl's first wife Karyn who passed away from ovarian cancer. That was a sad time for everyone.

Then, it was so fun to watch the budding romance of Earl and Lynne. I worked with Lynne in our stake primary presidency calling and really love her as well. 

She was so thankful to have Earl as her husband. It was a blessing for Earl to not have to be alone for all these years. This news has just broken my heart as I think about Lynne being alone again.

We had literacy training zoom meetings every day for a week in preparation for teaching literacy at the prison. Prior to that we were supposed to be spending hours and hours on the computer going through the program as if we were learning to read. 

It uses a lot of symbols and markings that we never used when I was growing up, so it's like learning to read all over again. 

I never knew there are 5 decoding skills that need to be memorized.

We are going to have another meeting to discuss how specifically to implement this literary program within the prison system where we have to be extra careful with what we do.

We had dinner at Twigs with Brigham and Kyllie Wade. They are both our missionaries and they now have a baby boy. 

We got together with my parents and Nani after our Mexico trip so we could share with them all about our adventures and hear all about the family Halloween party held at our house that we missed.

We had a third dinner date with Glen's childhood friend Randy Bambrough and his wife Susan. We met in Provo before a basketball game and ate at La Jolla Groves. I usually love that place and was disappointed my dinner wasn't up to par. 

Haley asked if I could watch her little boys while she had a full day of photography. She was breaking up the baby tending between three of us that day, so my shift was just a few hours.

Kade and Levi looked so adorable dressed in their matching clothes. Kade is so sweet with Levi. 

Kade looks like such a big boy on his first day of school.

We had been invited to attend Caroline's junior high school play, "The Little Mermaid," which was held at the high school auditorium. Glen surprised me when he suggested we go eat at Black Bear Diner before the play. 

It was so wonderful watching the play in such a nice auditorium. Madison was attached to me like glue that night. 

When she noticed the big man sitting in front of her blocking her view, she asked to sit on my lap through the whole play.

Haley had brought Kade, but they ended up going home at intermission.

Caroline is the one on the left. She was part of the "waves," the ones who held up blue material and moved it around to look like the sea.

Sebastian the crab was a cute actor who was expressive and put character into the crab costume.

The actress who played Ursula was also a very good and entertaining character as well.

It was a very fun performance. Madison helped me pick out Caroline in every scene she was in.

Caroline's big scene was when she was one of the chefs.

As enjoyable as it was to be with the Golden family watching the play, there was another thing I really enjoyed. It was seeing how Woods Cross High School has gotten a face lift, both on the outside and on the inside.

You now walk in and see brightness and color. Before it was all drab brown bricks and felt closed in. 

This is the hallway leading to the auditorium. All those bricks used to be brown. And the carpet was brown. DARK!! There were no brightly-colored chairs. I love this new, happier look and feel of the place.

Rebecca and Caroline stopped by our home the next day after Caroline had just gotten her braces put on. 

She said Brooke stopped by after she had gotten her braces on and she wanted the same thing to happen on the day she got her braces on.