Debarked Feb. 22 from a 17-day Panama Canal cruise with five other friends - all of us sick. Flew home from San Diego-Portland, went to my doctor who diagnosed me with bacterial pneumonia. I was miserably sick for three weeks, so were my cruise friends. We all got diagnosed with different things: bronchitis, sinus infection, pneumonia, etc.
“Debarked Feb. 22 from a 17-day Panama Canal cruise with five other friends - all of us sick. Flew home from San Diego-Portland, went to my doctor who diagnosed me with bacterial pneumonia. I was miserably sick for three weeks, so were my cruise friends. We all got diagnosed with different things: bronchitis, sinus infection, pneumonia, etc.”
That was about a month before we knew anything about CV19.
My wife had a cervical injection to counter constant pain on 13 April at our big same day care center for our HMO.
She was the last patient treated at 2-3 pm that day. They were closing the hospital and same day care as they rolled her out on a gurney to the parking/drop off circle. I knew something was happening with their behavior and us being carted out to the curb.
That was her second time for the injection, and she had been there 2x before for cataract removal. So the post op RNs knew me and her.
Basically, I helped to change her from preop drapes back into sweats to come home. She was the only patient in the unit. While we were changing her, the RN’s went over my duties re my post op wife.
Then, as my wife was being wheeled down some normally private hallways, I asked the RN if they were closing down.
She said yes as soon as I transfer your wife and you to the pickup circle/RN.
That RN told us about Covid 19, and how our lives and their lives would change. When, I pulled up in our car, the RN had my wife ready to go and gave both of us hugs and said, “Drive safely!”
As we drove onto the freeway to go home, my wife asked, “What the hell is going on?”
I told her to get her cell phone out and to plug it in as we needed to make a lot of calls. She did, and dialed the relatives and friends, who knew about her procedure, so I could basically talk to them and drive while she held the phone and dialed.
So we started calling the East Coast, then the Mid West, Southwest and then the California relatives to let them know that she was okay and on the way home.
In about 30 minutes, I had cracked the Covid code and tried to explain to my wife. She still had too much Versed in her system from the procedure to understand what was happening.
We got home and a neighbor brought us dinner and explained that I needed to place a grocery order with the local Raleys to pick up the next day.
We got 5 items out 25 the next day. I was in the store early
Another neighbor told me to buy a lot of things off the shelf and then go to Target. Then, she said give me your list and I will get the items for you.
I gave her the list and walked to Target, and they were only allowing senior citizens in. I went in and a young store manager adopted me, and she helped me to get tp, paper towels and other stuff. Turned out that she was a former neighbor for awhile.
When I got home, my wife told me to get on the Computer to enter a Walmart order, 3 days from that day. They were out of Paper products and Clorox products. We couldn’t get on line for Safeway.
The impact on all of us in 7 months has been incredible and is still impacting us.