Covid and no covid

[BridgetO]

My wife came back from a business trip a couple of weeks ago. About two days later she started coughing, running a fever and feeling very tired. She did a home Covid test that turned out  negative, and a day or so later did a second one, also negative. So we figured "bad cold" and I didn't isolate myself from her. The fever abated, but after a week she was still coughing a lot and not feeling great, so she went to the doctor, who gave her  a prescription for benzonatate for cough and a PCR Covid test. And guess what? POSITIVE.  That same  day she did another home test that was negative.

I hustled in and got a PCR test myself and had a second one today, 5 days later, and both were negative. I should be in the clear now. Whew! I had gotten the bivalent Omicron booster about a week before she got home. Although it's supposed to take two weeks for it to give full immunity, I figure it must have given me some.

Moral(s)  to the story:  Don't trust the home tests. Do get the bivalent booster. And maybe, if somebody in your household comes home after a long flight, stay away from them for a few days and longer if they have symptoms.

BTW, she still hasn't had the CT for the lung nodule seen in a chest exray, because the CT department was booked up and also because she really felt she need to go on this recent trip (to Madagascar), where she had a lot of things scheduled. CT is set for later this month.

[LouT]

Bridget,

I'm glad that you dodged the bullet on this and sorry to hear that your wife has not followed up on the X-ray.  I hope that she does soon.  All data points to early detection being a positive in treatment and outcome.  I pray that she goes back soon.

Lou

[Judy M2]

Glad you were spared! Whew. 

The only home test I'd really trust is the Cue PCR system, which is pricey but accurate. My stepson uses it and in fact he recently (predictably) had Covid after a trip out of state. His Cue test showed positive the first try. His husband (a kidney cancer survivor) went to stay with friends for the duration. 

Hope your wife is feeling back to normal. 

[BridgetO]

Lou, I appreciate your concern. She has a CT scan set.

Judy, Yep, I dodged the bullet on this one. Thanks for the info and concern. She's still coughing some but othrwise Ok.

[Karen_L]

@BridgetO, whew, good for you! So sorry your wife suffered with it, though. I hope she is feeling better-- and that she had a good trip!

I'm coming out of the Covid woods. My husband brought it home with him from a church retreat he went on, from a guy who had no symptoms and had tested negative, but whose wife had just finished her isolation period. (Clearly, her isolation period was not long enough!)

I had a headache for a few days and that's it. Over the course of those days, I tested several times with negative results. Finally, about 6 days after the headache, I had a positive test. The same has happened to several other folks I know. The NP who talked with me said based solely on her observations, she thinks the virus is morphing all the time. I think symptoms should govern our behaviors,  not just test results. 

My 89 year old mom who lives with us has no symptoms and continues to test negative. Thank goodness!

What's fascinating is that my husband and I have different symptoms-- I have almost no cough and basically have slept since Sunday.  As well, we flew across the country in August and camped in a busy beach town for two weeks and no one in the family got sick. 

Stupid Covid. 

Stay well everyone. 

[BridgetO]

Karen, I think you're right that symptoms, not test results, should govern our behavior. I've been reading about home Covid tests and it's reported that they're only about 80 percent accurrate. It seems like if you test positve, your're likely infected, but if you test negative it's anybody's guess, since false negatives are common. These are not tests I want to rely on!

[RJN]

Glad you are ok, Bridget. I had COVID over Christmas last year. Tested negative al through feeling I’ll, and just when I felt ok and was about to travel home for Christmas my test came up positive. I have heraf multiple similar stories. Seems the newer variants show up on LFTs only very late. On top of that news here in the UK is that there is a major cold epedemic, possibly as a reaction to people not being out much for a few years, so normal viruses are more vicious. So al in all, prob best to go with symptoms rather than tests…. Hope both you and your wife get through this ok.