Day in the Life of an Idiot

Mason seems very, very likely to have developed what is being called "Covid Toe." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/01/health/coronavirus-covid-toe.html

He is scheduled for a test on Monday at noon.

We'll have to drive to Hastings, Minnesota, because that was the closest place we could get into by a reasonable time. The doctor I talked to said we shouldn't expect to get results for 10 days. Obviously, in the meantime, we are all considered infected. We are now in deep quarantine. No going anywhere for us. Mason has chosen to self-isolate in the house, but the part of me that is very fatalistic really doesn't see the point. (If he has/had it, we have/had it.) However, he's insanely conscientious and it feels extraordinarily unkind to not let him do his part.

If you can read the article I sent (I don't know where the NYTimes falls with firewalls. We are subscribers, so you might not have the easy access I do. However, a lot of places are reprinting this and I'm sure one of them will be free. Google 'Covid Toe' and you should hit something,) there seems to be some debate about whether this frostbite like rash is an early symptom or something that develops after an asymptomatic case-- a sign that antibodies are already trying to form.

I'm obviously hoping for the latter.

And, of course, it COULD be something else, but it really seems exactly as described in the article. He noticed a dark spot on his toe a few days ago and now the rash has spread to both feet.

The general good news about this is that Mason is 16, mostly healthy (he was born with and still has a kidney problem called hydronephrosis which is worrisome since we now know the novel coronavirus can go after kidneys,) BUT they seem to be finding that people with the rash either have had or are likely to have a mild case.  FINGERS F*CKING CROSSED.

I've been struggling to fathom how he could have gotten COVID given how generally paranoid and isolated our household has been. My only thoughts are that early on, before the CDC changed its mind about masks, Mason had volunteered to go to the grocery store for us on occasion because he is the youngest, most healthy of our household. He also took several long walks without us, including one where he stopped in at the pharmacy to get something to drink. It's baffling to me, however, because we are, all of us, washing our hands constantly and hyper aware of social distancing.

My only other thought is that I would have sworn that he came back from his robotics tournament with a bad cough. But, that was almost two months ago!  It seems unlikely that the rash would start showing up now, doesn't it?

I guess this just shows you how insidious this virus can be.

We are all otherwise asymptomatic. Mason remains also otherwise asymptomatic.  But, that's how this thing rolls, so I guess we'll see what the next few weeks brings us.
 
I will post updates under a cut in future blogs, because I know this stuff can get overwhelming and distressing. Do know that we have a pulse oximeter and will be charting the readings of our household twice a day.  We have food in our pantry and already offers from friends who are willing to help keep it that way.  This is very much a 'what can you do?' situation and I hope that people who are writing letters to me will still want to receive some from me. Please let me know if this news changes your mind. Getting and writing letters has been a balm for my soul, so I'd love for it not to stop, but I obviously will respect any concern that other people have around this. 

Wish us luck.

I suspect my anxiety quilts will become very large indeed over the next few weeks.