So I finally got the antibody test. It was super easy. Quick finger prick, which are so much nicer than they used to be. Barely felt it. Waited 15 minutes for the result and...
I HAVE THE ANTIBODIES!
Yay! I'm basically a super hero at this point! I am wrapped in the cloak of immunity and I will...
(this is where you hear the record scratch as the pharmacist keeps talking)
But you have the rarest way to see them.
(He goes on to explain and I will sum up)
Basically there four outcomes to the antibody test. Negative, you either never had them, you had a mild enough case not to develop them or it's been long enough that you don't have them anymore. Positive you have the IgG antibodies which are the long term ones you keep in your system after recovery. Positive you have the IgG and the IgM antibodies which happens early in the infection, you probably still have it right now. And lastly Positive you have IgM antibodies only which means you may or may not be infectious. You may or may not ever develop IgG. It's really rare though because IgG and IgM develop at basically the same time so to only get IgM isn't really understood.
And I have IgM only.
Hunh.
So I went home and looked it up on the CDC website and read a few other science articles and came to the conclusion that as I was asymptomatic most likely I had been exposed but didn't get sick enough to get the IgG (something that happens sometimes with really mild cases) and now it's just an interesting thing to see but no big deal really and I can't count on any sort of immunity from it.
The next day I called the health line to get more information, just to make sure, because though I am a smart cookie I am not a doctor so I could have interpreted all of that incorrectly.
And no, I pretty much nailed it. As long as I stayed asymptomatic. But the only way to really know for sure if I was still carrying the virus actively was to get one of the nasal swab tests. The quick test was definitely going to pop positive because of those IgM antibodies but the nasal test would tell me if I was still actively carrying virus. However...unless I needed a negative virus test for work, or I was going to be in contact with a lot of people and needed one they would ask that I not get one. I could get one. They aren't saying I can't, but they are asking that I leave those tests for the people who really need them.
Because we still don't have enough tests in a pandemic for people to get them as needed unless they play sportsball.
Anyway...I was asymptomatic so no big deal.
Except for the little headache issue that was creeping in. But I was doing a ton of reading and worrying about Covid so a stress headache is not that big of a deal. And then there was the slightly runny nose, but I am always sneezing and could have a slightly runny nose at any point in time. And then this morning I woke up with more nasal drip and sore throat and a slight fever and fuck... I have Covid. Probably the reason (again, not a doctor, but it makes sense and works with some of the information I got yesterday) I only had the IgM antibodies was just a freak of timing on the test. I was just developing them. If I had gotten the test even a day later I would most likely have had both.
So now Brent and I are playing like Willy Wonka and nobody comes in and nobody goes out. Well Willy Wonka before he started murdering children to make Charlie complicit in his crimes and not willing to rat him out for the slavery...but I digress. We are on lockdown.
And then here is the extra kicker...
Christopher got the test down in Bend the same day as I did. He had it so long ago and it was so mild that he wanted to see for sure if he still had the antibodies. And...his test was negative. So I have Covid and he has no antibodies so no Christmas visit for us.
And I know, I know, a lot of people are in the no Christmas boat. And I know we are SUPER lucky we got Thanksgiving (especially now knowing he didn't actually have the protection we thought he did!), but it's been a bitch of a year and I was really hoping to at least get Christmas family time.
We didn't decorate because of the kittens.
We decided not to exchange any gifts and just plan on a lovely post Covid family vacation.
And now we will not even see each other so all of it seems super fucking dreary.
I might have cried a few times, and I probably will again. Probably meaning for sure.
And again, I know that it's the right call. I know that it's a call a lot of people are making. I know we were lucky to have one holiday together. But fuck...I feel like there should have been some sort of "Get out of Covid Bullshit Free" pass for those of us who have lost family members to it already.
But that's the thing. It's a virus. It doesn't care about political parties. It doesn't care about your belief system. It doesn't care how many people in your circle have already had it and suffered or died. It's just relentless.
So wear your masks.
Socially distance.
Wash your hands.
Oh and I know, right now you are like, You've been preaching that all along, how did you get it?
And the truth is I don't know. I mean I know even with all of those things above all you are doing is lessening your chances of contracting the virus. None of it is 100% unless you went into full hermit mode. And over the past week I did go into two pet stores and the grocery store (masked up, of course) and I had a conversation with the sheriff. It was a five minute or so conversation and for the first part of it neither of us were masked, though we were more than 6 feet apart. So maybe? Or maybe it was picking up breakfast on Saturday, the place I got it from closed down this week due to a positive Covid test so maybe I got a sneaky virus particle from that? The truth is I have no way of knowing. I did what I could to lessen my chances, not completely avoid it, and I got it.
Because sometimes things like that happen.
Though I'm blaming the Po Po. I think it's revenge for that time like five years ago when the sheriff yelled at me so I yelled at him back. Long play so I wouldn't be suspicious. Little did they realize suspicious is my set point.
Anyway...
I'm positive.
And not in the good way.
But it's all really mild right now and I am hopeful that it stays that way. We've decided not to even bother trying to isolate me from Brent. I was the most contagious before we even knew I had it, and we don't have a room with an airlock so the odds are he's already exposed and will or won't get it. So I am also hopeful that if he gets it his is mild as well. Which of course I'm also worried. Because we know it can be super mild and we also know it can be devastating. We aren't as young as Christopher but we aren't as old with the number of pre-existing conditions that Ann had so...I'm hopeful.
But I'm bummed.
And I am ready for 2021 to be a better year.
No comments:
Post a Comment