COVID-19 and My College Student

I am all about bringing awareness, so let me tell you about the latest life experience. A story of the words I was hoping I would never have to hear coming out of the mouth of any of my children, especially my college student who is far from home.

Two weeks ago, my daughter, Isabella, a senior at SUNY Cortland, called me via facetime with a forlorn look;

“Hi.”  

My heart pounded.  My immediate thoughts were it’s either the boyfriend or this damn virus.  

“What’s wrong?”

The proverbial shoe drops …

“One of my housemates was exposed and I don’t feel good.  We all went and got tested.”

CRAP! (That wasn’t my original word.)

So It Begins …

She went on to tell me how exhausted she was, but wouldn’t get the results back for 2-4 days.  But based on the story of exposure, we kinda know.  

Bella has a lot of environmental allergies which can cause asthma.  On top of that, she has something called Eosonaphiliac Esophagitis, brought on by food allergies, which causes her throat to become overwhelmed with mucous. Otherwise known as EOE, this will give her the feeling of choking until she throws the phlegm up.  

So yes, we have had to worry about our college student catching Covid-19, and here we are. 

I told her if she wasn’t already, to start taking her Singulair.   We went down the vitamin list –

‘Do you have vitamin C, D, Zinc?’ 

‘I think I have C.’

“Start taking it and you have to stay hydrated.” 

Let’s hope this will be the only symptom.

Sunday check-in:  She continues to feel depleted and has now lost her senses of taste and smell.  Double CRAP.  I think it’s safe to say that we don’t need the results back because losing your senses is a slam-dunk.  

We talk about it being the beginning stages, discuss what can happen, and what we can do to stay ahead of it.  All I keep saying is we don’t have to worry as long as it doesn’t go to your lungs, and continued to harp on the Singulair.  She is taking it and her lungs are fine.  I reached out to a friend whose daughter also had it and this was the only symptom she had – loss of senses, so I stay hopeful.

Monday, I text her from work and received her response as I am walking out the door to go home. 

I had a mini-meltdown. 

I knew yesterday when she lost her senses, so why this hit me as it did, I don’t know.  Thankfully, my oldest, Christine, was at our house working and hugged me. Between the three of us, we made a list of necessities and food to have sent.  It wouldn’t be delivered until the next day, and my Roberta picked up the slack with a care package sent to her within two hours.  

Tuesday, her legs were killing her even while she was laying down and still exhausted.  Every day came with a new symptom; body pain, headaches, loss of senses, congestion, tiredness … but no fever or lung issues.  

The next morning, the wrong order was delivered to her and then came melt-down number two for me. The food and supplies were ordered through a grocery store, which then takes you to a 2nd party app, Rosie, and ultimately delivered by a 3rd party, Door Dash. Door Dash screwed up the delivery. It took two hours to get to the bottom of it and have the problem rectified while she was having her own meltdown.

Wednesday, she is now taking her vitamins, Singulair, drinking her electrolytes and ginger tea, and trying to eat. She tells us she has a little pep in her step and feeling a bit better!  Yay!! 

I blow it and tell her to be careful, because between day 5 and 7, is when I hear the lung problems may kick in.  I also remind Bella, COVID-19 lets you think you are better and then rears its ugly head.   

Why did I blow it?  

Because the next day, Isabella started coughing and wheezing – I jinxed it.  On top of everything else, she was now using her inhaler; something she hasn’t needed in a very long time.  Needless to say, I became really worried and her anxiety was really kicking in.  

Do I need to give you all these details?  Probably not.  But it helps to know how others get it and realize that everyone is different. Just because she is a vibrant, athletic 21-year-old, it doesn’t mean that she is going to be asymptomatic or skate right through.  Everyone can have ‘underlying conditions’ as she does.  And as her mom, it isn’t easy to be so far away and not take care of my baby.   

Do you have a college student? Learn from my mistakes on Covid-19.

I sent her off with different essential oils – OnGuard anti-bacterial, InTune for her ADHD and online learning, and plenty of cleaning supplies – the preventatives.   But, I did not send her with the necessities if she contracted it. My advice to all parents right now is that if you dropped the ball like me, send your kid a care package, God forbid they test positive.  

My recommendations would be vitamin C, D, and zinc, Tylenol, their own thermometer, vitamin water, ginger tea, organic chicken broth, pastina or orzo. You can make instant chicken soup with the broth and pastina.  Even if your student is in a dorm, you only need a microwave.  Isabella has it all now, but I would have felt a lot better if there wasn’t a two-day delay.    

The kids can’t leave to go to a store, and if they are in the same situation as mine, all the housemates had it, so there was nobody who could.   

In her own words …

Several friends of mine and I were affected by coronavirus. My loss of smell and taste affected my appetite drastically, my body aches affected my ability to stand for longer than 5 minutes, my headache affected my ability to complete my school work, and the heavy weight in my lungs had me questioning where I would be in 3 months. Life got serious and stressful very quickly, and to be stuck in one room for that long period of time? It is serious, it is still going on, we have to act accordingly. It isn’t worth it.

Isabella

As an FYI – she is doing great!  She needed her inhaler for three days and by day 9 her senses started slowly coming back.   She was officially on the mend, and on day 12, felt back to normal and no longer under quarantine.

Other Things You or Your College Student Can Expect with Covid-19

The Department of Health and tracers do call every day to check on anyone who tests positive. I mistakenly thought she would have to have a negative test to go back out into the world, but she was told not to take another test. Only people who may have been exposed have to quarantine for 14 days. As long as you are symptom-free, you are only required 10 days because the assumption is you were contagious a few days before symptoms so it equates to 14 days.

Another thing I will be following up on is her antibodies. When she comes home for the holidays, we will have them checked. It’s important to know the quantity and quality of the antibodies to have an idea of the risk of reinfection. With any luck, they will be high and neutralizing, but even then, there are so many uncertainties.

The one thing that is for sure, is I can’t wait to hug her when she comes home for Thanksgiving.

I hope this post finds you and your family safe and healthy. I know it’s annoying to wear a mask, but please, PLEASE, take it seriously and put it on anyway.

Much Love Always,

Sandy

#enlighten #inspire #empower #educate #BeKind