Raleigh,
North Carolina,
United States
the patient perspective, it seemed like the health department was completely overwhelmed. They’d tell us to call our PCP, our PCP would tell us to call the hotline. The lack of solid answers the first 24-36 hours was frustrating. It was rough. On Monday night, the pediatrician’s office scheduled my son for a flu test Tuesday morning. A Physician & a Nurse Practitioner came to our car in full PPE gear. They swabbed his nose while he was still in his car seat & did all of the tests on his vitals without us even stepping out of the car. He did great. They were awesome.
We called the health department with the flu test results & they called back a few hours later to say that all three of us would get COVID-19 tests Wednesday morning. My son’s cough was getting worse, but his fever was a little lower. Around 9am Wed, they called to say they were on their way. We piled into the car, put my son in his car seat, and opened the garage door. Three School Nurses were in the driveway (Myra, Jen, and Amy); they have been pressed into duty with the health department. They did the COVID-19 test the same way we'd done the flue test: through the car window. The nurses were amazingly professional and reassuring. I can’t imagine what any neighbors peeking through their curtains may have thought, though, seeing her in her full PPE outfit. To say the test is uncomfortable would be an understatement. They stick the swab as far up your nose as you think they can go...and then they keep going. Thankfully it’s quick and not actually legit painful. That was Wednesday. As I write this on Sunday afternoon, we still haven’t gotten the results. My family has been on strict lockdown since the day BEFORE we found out we might have been exposed. I took a 10 min walk by myself yesterday but didn’t get within 10 feet of other passersby in my neighborhood. Other than that & my son's flu test, we haven’t left the property. Our son seems to have bounced back and hasn’t shown a fever in several days. My wife and I are both feeling good-not-great. We still hope it’s negative, since pregnant people were listed as “high risk” last week and we know things can go downhill even after showing mild symptoms.
