I survived the Holidays – even with a Covid scare!

On Christmas Eve, I went to an outdoor get-together that Misael’s Mom was having.

If you’re new to my blog and want to know who’s who… you can read a little bio about the Main Character’s on my About Page.

At The Get-Together…

It was a small gathering with just a handful of people… Nikki, Misael, a few of Misael’s family, myself and a couple of people I didn’t know.

When I got there, I went inside briefly to chat with Misael’s Mom, Grandma, Aunt and Uncle before we all went outside for the evening.

No one wore a mask. We were outdoors and everyone in the core group was fully vaccinated.

Several Days Later…

Nikki texted me to let me know that someone in our core group tested positive for Covid.

Except for Misael, all of us were having symptoms.

Misael never had a single symptom and chose not to get tested.

Other than Nikki and I, everyone else had already been tested and were waiting for results.

The results didn’t take long to come in.

They all tested positive for Covid.

Worsening Symptoms…

Everyone else’s symptoms were mild and went away within a few days.

But Nikki and I had worsening symptoms that lasted longer than the other’s.

We were sure we had Covid too – especially since we had symptoms and the other’s tested positive.

Our symptoms were not life threatening – we felt quite crappy, had a fever and any type of activity pooped us out fast.

As we had symptoms, Nikki and I would text each other. Quite often, Nikki and I had the same symptoms at the same time. This is nothing new, though. It must be a Mom-Daughter thing!

Rather than speculate about having Covid, we decided to get tested.

Getting Tested For Covid…

I’ve never been tested for Covid but Nikki’s been through it several times. She’s had precautionary testing when exposed at work and for other situations.

Nikki and I didn’t want go to a walk-in place to be tested so we chose the drive-thru testing area at the Homestead Air Reserve Park.

Vehicles taller than 8 feet weren’t allowed so Nikki drove us in her car. I always enjoy being chauffeured so it was an added perk!

At The Homestead Air Reserve Covid Testing Site…

The line was long but at least we were safe and comfy in the car.

About 2 1/2 hours later, we approach the first tent.

The clearance under the tent isn’t much higher than 8 feet. I see why they had a height restriction on the vehicles.

Just under the tent, we stop next to a lady wearing a plastic shield over her face along with other PPE garb. I thought she was carrying a clipboard but it was an iPad or some sort of tablet.

Standing several feet away from the car, she asks our names and birthdates to confirm who we are and that we had pre-registered.

She makes a note on her tablet and, in less than a minute, we’re on to tent number 2.

Inside Tent Number Two…

As we enter tent number 2, a lady sitting at a table asks us to confirm who we are and asks which test we wanted – the Rapid Test or the PCR.

We asked for the Rapid Test (not really knowing the difference).

Another lady places stickers on 2 Rapid Test kits and puts the kits under the windshield wiper of the car.

Then, she motions for us to move to the other end of the tent.

At the other end of the tent we confirm who we are, again.

A lady comes to my side of the car and a man goes to Nikki on her side.

The lady asks me to pull my mask down so she could do the nose swab.

The few seconds she swirled that thing around in my nose seemed like several minutes!

It wasn’t as bad as I expected but it wasn’t pleasant.

The Results…

Surprisingly, both Nikki and I tested negative.

I’ve since learned there’s controversy over the accuracy of the Rapid Test and whether or not it detects the Omicron variant (which corelates to the symptoms we had).

The more I read about it the more confused I get. So (eventually) I quit trying to make sense of it.

Nikki Gets A Second Test…

Nikki had a doctor’s appointment the following Monday. She explained her Covid exposure and experience to her doctor and the doctor did the PCR test.

Nikki tested negative again but the doctor explained it’s very possible she/we have Covid but there may not be enough of the virus in her/our system to be detected by the test.

Parting Thoughts…

The way I understand it, Nikki and I probably had Covid even though we tested negative – and – we tested negative because the amount of virus in our system was undetectable.

Even with undetectable amounts of the virus we had the worst symptoms of those in our core group. I’d hate to imagine our symptoms if we had detectable amounts of the virus!

The other’s obviously had detectable amounts of the virus because they tested positive – yet – their symptoms were pretty mild and they recovered more quickly than Nikki and I.

Nikki and I have underlying medical conditions that the other’s don’t. This may be why we had a worse reaction – even with undetectable amounts of the virus.

This whole thing is confusing but, if we really did have Covid, had we not been vaccinated I’m sure it would have been worse.

And now… it’s on to the next adventure!