A COVID Experience

An experience with Coronavirus, as told through my daughter (and, of course, photographed by her father):

“Georgia COVID-19 cases reach 200,000 and the death toll rises to 4,000.” In late July, headlines like this filled media outlets and echoed in my mind as I lay on my couch with a sore throat, headache and an increasing feeling of illness. Do I have it? How bad will it get for me?

Teenager white Caucasian blonde girl getting nasal swab in nostril at COVID19 drive through coronavirus testing facility in a car at a parking lot in Georgia USA.

My first thought upon getting sick was that it had to be coronavirus. I had a bit of anxiety, but as the symptoms lightened, I was less concerned. Still I wanted to get tested for the fear of unknowingly spreading it to others.
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Getting tested was also a whole new, strange sensation. I got the end of a six-inch cotton swab stuck up both my nostrils. It didn’t exactly hurt, but it was uncomfortable. Waiting for my results was the most excruciating period. I went back and forth between saying “I’m definitely positive” and “I’m probably negative.”

Warning sign advising patients to wait in line at COVID19 drive through coronavirus testing facility in a parking lot in Georgia USA.

After just two days I received a call from my doctor with the news: I tested positive. Over the next two weeks, finding things to do wasn’t always easy. My sister and I would spend the majority of the day in our rooms. My mother was constantly cleaning and my father was either taking photographs of birds or editing photos of birds.

When my two weeks of quarantine ended, I wasn’t as nervous for my second test. Although it was only 45 minutes, it seemed like forever as we sat in the car behind the clinic waiting for the results. When the nurse came back out to tell me my results my heart sped up fast. I could tell she was smiling behind her mask when she told me I was negative. It was such a relief.

It was nice to tell people I was negative and I could continue with my normal life. I was also thankful that my symptoms were mild in comparison to the many that have suffered, and even died, from coronavirus.

​- Megan Wise