Pennsylvania,
United States
Interview - Valorie, Pennsylvania
This is an interview with the parent of a presumptive coronavirus patient that was denied testing.
Safelyhq:
Valerie, thanks for joining us. Really appreciate it. Your situation relates to your daughter. Can you describe to us when she first felt sick and what the symptoms were at that time and what they've progressed to now?
Valorie:
Okay. It started on Wednesday night into Thursday. She had developed a deep cough, a dry cough, which only got louder over time as the only way I can describe it and more steady and it sounds like a pneumonia type cough. She also had a cold, a very severe cold, and then she finally didn't develop a fever until last night. So that's Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. That's how long it took to get a fever.
Safelyhq:
What was your experience in trying to get testing?
Valorie:
So today I did call her pediatrician exactly when they opened and I left an urgent message saying to please advise me what to do. My daughter now has all the symptoms of coronavirus and I don't even know if you're able to see her. And she said, no, you're right. We cannot see her. And she urged me to call a hotline. I even called urgent care, seeing if she could be seen there. They told me no, same thing call this hotline. So I called the hotline. I was on hold for approximately two hours the first time. I mean, because I estimate that because I was able to get myself and her fully ready to go, thinking that they were going to send us to the hospital wherever we needed to go to get tested. Okay. That never happened. I took a bath, had it on speaker phone, got everything ready, set us all. I mean we have a three person family and I had to hang up eventually because her pediatrician was calling me back with the response to the urgent message. The second time I was on hold, about the same amount of time I was on hold for a total of four hours today.
Safelyhq:
Is there any conditions that your daughter has that might make her higher risk or make it more urgent?
Valorie:
Yes, she has anemia and she is a very contractive person. I don't know why she gets sick every month with something in school. And that's why I looked at urging that please close the schools. Please close the schools because it just is going around. My daughter will be the one who gets it for sure.
Safelyhq:
And so do you have an idea of where she might have got it?
Valorie:
I honestly would have to say that it would be at school. Her sister didn't get it. I didn't get it. I was engaging in doctor appointments and kind of normal social activity until the end of next week because I figured sending them to school is just as bad as any of us going out into the public.
Safelyhq:
And so what are you the next steps that you plan to take given you've had a hard time getting medical care?
Valorie:
Well I plan on just calling the hotline again tomorrow. What the pediatrician did do, I guess to cover their own end of the spectrum. They sent over an urgent RX to the pharmacy for amoxicillin just in case. Just in case it is not a virus. Then if that doesn't treat it, that's how I know sooner. You know what to do. So if that doesn't treat it, and if I can't get through on the hotline, I just plan to drive to the hospital, which was designated as a location anyway through our healthcare system and go in myself and alert them ahead of time.
Safelyhq:
And what is your message to people that are concerned about coronavirus now that it's, it's something that you've seen firsthand. Do you have a message for other people?
Valorie:
A message that's kind of hard to come up with? Everybody's healthcare system is going to be different, if you don't succeed at first. There's got to be another step you can take. Be proactive. think of yourself, think of your family, and do whatever you feel is best, not what a hotline is telling you or say. And not exactly what your doctor's telling you or say. If you want to be tested, find a way.
