March madness

The first week of March started off like any other in the pandemic. We went to work, we came home. Restaurants were beginning to open up, including one of the local joints down the street from the house. My husband, Charles, and I have been going to this particular restaurant for decades. We usually share the combo fajitas for two, have Queso or guacamole as an appetizer, and when the mood strikes, a couple of frozen margaritas.

We were looking forward to being able to patronize this particular establishment. We worried that they wouldn't survive the pandemic; a few of our other favorites have had to either downsize our outright close. Saying goodbye to a twenty plus year routine was not high on either of our lists. Hell, we've had friendships that haven't lasted as long. 

Charles was working an assignment that took him out of town for a few days. He returned home early Sunday morning, literally sick and tired. He felt a bit rundown and had a slight fever. He took some acetaminophen, drank some water and went to bed. Never one to sleep for long, he woke up and fell back asleep off and on for most of the day. His fever broke during the night and the following morning it hadn't returned. I felt fine but checked my own temperature before heading to work to be safe. 

When I returned home, I realized that his fever returned and we started the process over. Acetaminophen, water, food, rest. Again, I felt fine but kept an eye on my own temperature before going to work. Tuesday evening when I returned from work, Charles still wasn't feeling any better. His fever would break but kept returning. Finally, around nine in the evening, I started getting chills. I checked my temperature and found that I had a slight fever. We decided to go to the hospital. 

Like most of America, we had heard of the challenges that the healthcare industry faced in the wake of the pandemic. Seeing it first-hand was eye-opening. Like any business, when short-staffed, normal processes, regardless of their importance, are compromised. 

Have you ever walked into a hospital that was hot? For some reason, the ventilation system either wasn't operational or wasn't being used. Patients in the emergency room had on masks but weren't properly socially distanced. No one was wiping down wheelchairs or the waiting room chairs after use and gloves weren't provided to patients.

It took hours for us to be seen. At one point, my husband began to pass out. He didn't lose consciousness altogether but wasn't fully coherent. While nurses scrambled, I ran over to him, called his name until he focused on me and came out of the stupor. Worried now, we were escorted into ER rooms with a bit more urgency.  Tests were run and we waited patiently for the diagnosis. Charles was pronounced to have pneumonia and I had the flu. The hospital performed COVID-19 tests and we were sent home with antibiotics.

To this day, I don't know where we contracted the virus but I wonder if going to the hospital that night was a good idea.