Our COVID Journey Day 21 - 11/1/20

I did not update yesterday. I let my live drumming suffice.

Today is day 21. Three weeks since Raymond first exhibited symptoms. It seems like just yesterday. It seems like forever. We are continuing to social distance which is wearing on both of us. We both NEED a hug!!! Soon...

Raymond is doing great! He continues to improve. Yesterday he walked around the backyard to see how his oxygen and heart rate needs held up. Heart rate is a little above normal, especially for him, and his oxygen was above 90. Great news. He will see his PCP on Wednesday and hopefully learn more about how he’s doing internally.

Later in the day we took another small walk around our front yard and down the street a short ways. He is starting to get bored of being isolated in the healing room. Boredom is good. It means he’s feeling well enough to want more. He can focus to read and watch movies.

We are so grateful for the miracle that is love, prayer and God’s grace and mercy. And, of course, modern medicine. Thank you for continuing to keep us in your prayers. We offer you our gratitude and our love.

Raymond's COVID Journey - 10/30/20

Today we are back to Groundhog Day. Every day is basically the same. Not complaining, just explaining. Grateful for the sameness of our day if it means Raymond is continuing his recovery.

What is different today is that I decided to rest when he rests. I’ve been trying to do many other things. I have organized, cleaned and taken stock of our inventory. I was doing laundry, mopping, sweeping, dusting. I decided I could put up with a little dust for the time being and allow us both to rest and strengthen.

Our plan is to stay home for the foreseeable future. We are choosing to stay home, not out of fear, for we have already faced that, or because our Governor has asked us to, but because we care about your safety and ours. We care about the people being affected by this pandemic and if the leadership of this country does not set the example then we as citizens must police ourselves. We must look into our hearts as to what is truly important. I don’t want any other family to go through what we have been through for the last 19 days. Raymond wasn’t even severe by Covid standards and yet he almost died. I know, I know, I know wearing a mask, social distancing may feel like an infringement on your civil rights to some of you. I’ve heard your arguments. Don’t wait til you not only have to wear a mask and social distance in public but have to do it in your own home because the Covid is in the house! I can guarantee that is a lot more difficult than the half hour it takes to buy groceries, the five it takes to purchase coffee. Every little sniffle, every little cough, I think this is it. And if you or someone in your home gets it, the world as you know it ceases to exist. Don’t put yourself or those you love at risk. Be safe.

There is nothing worse than waiting for those test results to come back knowing you may have exposed someone you love to Covid. I know that after Raymond’s diagnosis, I exposed Cory to me in order to take him to get a test. Gratefully we were both negative. I’m glad I don’t have to live with the guilt of passing it to someone especially Cory. None of the people in the very small bubble in which we were moving has tested positive. We have no idea where Raymond came into contact with the virus.

The other different, wonderful incident today was that Gaia, the turtle Stephanie Valencia rescued from a very determined roadrunner that was trying to eat her, came out of wherever she has been hiding since September 1. That is the last time Raymond saw her. They have quite the relationship. He feeds her grubs and worms and has special food for her. He told me it made his day to see Gaia. Should I be jealous? There is a video of Raymond and Gaia this afternoon in the series of today’s pictures. Enjoy. It was the highlight of our day!

It’s been a good day. We’ve both napped, found joy in the simplicity of a turtle going for a walk in our backyard. We are filled with gratitude, grace and mercy. All is well.

Raymond's COVID Journey - 10/29/20

                             

                                        

I’d like to start my update by offering a deep, deep gratitude to the Divine, to all of you, my family, my friends, my soul gang. We are past the crisis and into what our new normal might look like. I am in what our family calls after tension. It’s a feeling that is hard to describe but one our family coined after we noticed we felt some sort of way after we’d been through a tough hospitalization for Cory or some other traumatic event. It is hard to let go of that sense of being on alert, waiting for that next shoe to fall. It takes a moment to drop the hyper vigilance and to trust that all is once again well in our world. Not perfect but well. The surges of adrenaline that have sustained me for 18 days have stopped. I feel the exhaustion. I feel the relief.

Raymond is doing great. I woke up to him sitting on love seat with his headphones on, eye mask over his eyes listening to soothing music. Even though he was up throughout the night for bathroom visits (he’s trying to stay hydrated) he did not need supplemental oxygen. He has been awake most of the day with one nap late this morning for about an hour and a half. He is able to focus on movies again, sorted mail. No signs of continuing brain fog.

He is in a very quiet space most of the time. This experience has changed him. I’m not sure how yet but I see it and sense it. His gratitude is enormous. I hear it in his voice and he expresses his gratitude and his love more easily to those he loves.

We don’t know what tomorrow will bring but for today, we are at peace. We are tired. We know this journey is not quite over, however we have made it through the Fire. He, we are recovering.

My gratitude tonight goes not only to all of you, but to the medical personnel that came into contact with Raymond. From the EMT’s, the nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, lab technicians, to the staff of the hospital. Their willingness to do their jobs in these times of uncertainty is heroic. They are calm, patient and kind which I know has to be hard because of their work schedules and what they must bear witness to has to be disheartening. This virus is not the flu. It looks nothing like the flu. It’s consequences, if you survive, are still not fully known. I appreciate the honesty of the doctors and nurses. They were willing to say that there was just so much that they don’t know and that what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for another. I am grateful to the Covid survivors and those who transitioned. They are instrumental in helping us learn more about this virus.

You know the drill. Wear your mask. Stay home. We are surging all over the country. Oh, by the way, Raymond has an appointment with the infectious disease doctor that tended to him in the hospital on (as Ray puts it) “the eleventh day of the eleventh month at the eleventh hour”. That day is also the 4 year Angelversary of his father’s transition. How’s that for a synchronicity. If any of my woowoo friends get any hits on that...let me know. Did I say I’m tired? I’m tired. I’m going to bed. Good night!

Sweet dreams.

Raymond’s day in pictures...