Though the doctors had not yet confirmed it, Angela Fuentes, a mass communication online student, recognized the symptoms.
First, her mother-in-law got sick, with a fever reaching over 103 degrees. Then, three days later, her husband started experiencing strong headaches, coughs and loss of taste. Not long after, Fuentes started feeling weak with fatigue.
It was difficult, and Fuentes worried for her husband and mother-in-law. But none of that compared to the day when Fuentes’ youngest son, a one-year-old toddler, woke up coughing.
“When the baby got sick, that's when my fear really tightened up,” Fuentes said. “When my mother-in-law and my husband got sick, I was scared, and I was worried. But I didn't cry. But when my son got sick, I cried.”
The family went to the hospital. Doctors tested them for the flu and strep throat, but Fuentes knew that it was something else. On March 27, their results arrived and confirmed Fuentes’ fear: It was COVID-19; and all of this happened in less than a week.
Once the first symptoms began showing, the family started social distancing among themselves. They all wore masks inside the house and kept a distance from each other. Fuentes’ mother-in-law stayed inside her room, only coming out to pick up the food Fuentes would leave by her door. When Fuentes’ husband started feeling ill, he pitched a tent behind their house and remained there for the following weeks.
Though Fuentes tried to isolate as much as possible and disinfect everything she touched, she could not leave her five sons alone.
“That was hard because, for the most part, I felt like I was by myself,” Fuentes said. “Having to take care of my mother-in-law, having to take care of my husband, having to take care of the kids— all on top of me not feeling well, either — it was definitely a struggle.”
A few days after receiving their test results, her second oldest got sick, too. From that moment, the 11-year-old spent all day in the backyard, only coming inside the house to shower and sleep.
Friends in the area helped Fuentes buy and deliver groceries to her door. But even then, she and her family remained strictly at home, avoiding contact with anyone outside to refrain from contaminating others.
In the following days, symptoms would come and go, until mid-April when they completely stopped. Fevers left, coughing ceased and Fuente’s fatigue disappeared. Her husband took down the tent and moved back into the house. Her children were finally able to play together again, and her mother-in-law joined them for dinner once more.
It had been a bit over three weeks since the family received the positive results, and finally things were feeling normal again.
Still, Fuentes says her family is still following stay-at-home orders and only going out when necessary. To her, such precautions are the best solution right now.
“I know that nothing lasts forever, whether it's good or bad. But [COVID-19] is very real, and I want people to take it seriously,” Fuentes said. “It's not about me or you. It's much bigger than that. It's about others. How would you feel if your carelessness was the reason someone else got sick?”
Comentários