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So, over the weekend, my sister decided that the fact that she and Farmkid were both having an unusual sore throat meant she should get a COVID test. This coincided, however, with our older sister’s kids arriving to visit the grandparents, and meant that due precautions suggested we not spend time with them without exercising care.
So we made Farmkid put a mask on if she was going to be within six feet of them, and instead of having them come here, we met them and went on a hike in a cool forest with a great overlook, on a trail Farmsister had taken Farmkid on a few months ago. (They’ve been doing a family hike every Sunday since the quarantine stuff started.)
Farmkid was weird about the mask, oddly preoccupied with wearing it all the time, and finally Farmsister realized that of course a six-year-old doesn’t intuitively know how far six feet is. She’d been assuming that if someone was close enough to see or talk to, that had to be less than six feet. And she was afraid, of course, of doing the wrong thing.
So we paused on the hike to measure out six feet and make sure all the kids knew how far that distance is. Because of course, it’s hard to envision. I appreciated the review too.
I also had to break it to Farmkid that if she was going to stick her fingers in her mouth, she couldn’t then share food with her cousins, even if she set the food on a rock and hopped away. Her hands, see, were contaminated, and– she sucks her thumb, she picked the habit back up while unsupervised in all this nonsense, and so she just can’t be trusted to keep her fingers out of her mouth.
Anyway, this has been hard for her. But we discovered today, to our delight– well, okay, here’s some background– Dr. F, an anaesthesiologist, knows a lot about people’s airways, as that’s a large part of what he deals with? And he said so you know how about half of people are like “the COVID swab test is no big deal” and the other half are like “oh my god that swab goes through your SOUL”? That’s a simple anatomical consideration; there’s a bit of your sinuses that could be shaped a variety of ways, and for many people it’s perfectly open enough to get a swab into without being a big deal. But for a lot of people, it’s a very narrow little passage by that point, and the intrusion of a cotton swab is sort of… well, a notable intrusion. So. There you have it.
To our delight, Farmsister discovered that she at least has the kind of sinuses where getting swabbed is no big deal, which gives me hope that the same is true for me.
So… 48-72 hours, we’ll have a result. BIL and Farmsister came up with a protocol months ago for what they’d do if a farm worker came up with a positive test, and so they reviewed it this morning, and went over it with the employees. One of the apprentices reported cold-like symptoms over the weekend so she’s getting a test today too.
We’ve all got our fingers crossed for a negative test result.
I’ve got some congestion too but I’ve had that intermittently all spring, usually coinciding with allergy symptoms in the people around me– I don’t get seasonal allergies but this has been a really pollen-y spring.
We’re all just going to stay calm, here, and not freak out. That’s the plan anyway.
So, over the weekend, my sister decided that the fact that she and Farmkid were both having an unusual sore throat meant she should get a COVID test. This coincided, however, with our older sister’s kids arriving to visit the grandparents, and meant that due precautions suggested we not spend time with them without exercising care.
So we made Farmkid put a mask on if she was going to be within six feet of them, and instead of having them come here, we met them and went on a hike in a cool forest with a great overlook, on a trail Farmsister had taken Farmkid on a few months ago. (They’ve been doing a family hike every Sunday since the quarantine stuff started.)
Farmkid was weird about the mask, oddly preoccupied with wearing it all the time, and finally Farmsister realized that of course a six-year-old doesn’t intuitively know how far six feet is. She’d been assuming that if someone was close enough to see or talk to, that had to be less than six feet. And she was afraid, of course, of doing the wrong thing.
So we paused on the hike to measure out six feet and make sure all the kids knew how far that distance is. Because of course, it’s hard to envision. I appreciated the review too.
I also had to break it to Farmkid that if she was going to stick her fingers in her mouth, she couldn’t then share food with her cousins, even if she set the food on a rock and hopped away. Her hands, see, were contaminated, and– she sucks her thumb, she picked the habit back up while unsupervised in all this nonsense, and so she just can’t be trusted to keep her fingers out of her mouth.
Anyway, this has been hard for her. But we discovered today, to our delight– well, okay, here’s some background– Dr. F, an anaesthesiologist, knows a lot about people’s airways, as that’s a large part of what he deals with? And he said so you know how about half of people are like “the COVID swab test is no big deal” and the other half are like “oh my god that swab goes through your SOUL”? That’s a simple anatomical consideration; there’s a bit of your sinuses that could be shaped a variety of ways, and for many people it’s perfectly open enough to get a swab into without being a big deal. But for a lot of people, it’s a very narrow little passage by that point, and the intrusion of a cotton swab is sort of… well, a notable intrusion. So. There you have it.
To our delight, Farmsister discovered that she at least has the kind of sinuses where getting swabbed is no big deal, which gives me hope that the same is true for me.
So… 48-72 hours, we’ll have a result. BIL and Farmsister came up with a protocol months ago for what they’d do if a farm worker came up with a positive test, and so they reviewed it this morning, and went over it with the employees. One of the apprentices reported cold-like symptoms over the weekend so she’s getting a test today too.
We’ve all got our fingers crossed for a negative test result.
I’ve got some congestion too but I’ve had that intermittently all spring, usually coinciding with allergy symptoms in the people around me– I don’t get seasonal allergies but this has been a really pollen-y spring.
We’re all just going to stay calm, here, and not freak out. That’s the plan anyway.
