Our 10 Yr Old Was Just Diagnosed with Covid-19

The testing/notification process and language/cultural barriers are part of the problem.

Example: My daughter's health care system has made the decision not to give out any paper instructions due to fear of spread of fomites (virus particles.) Instead they have signs posted at the testing sites telling people to log onto their portal and read the instructions.

Huh! You have an ill person, or someone with sick kids in the car getting tested. You may or may not be fluent in English or have access or enough knowledge to use the health care portal. You may not have anything to write the information on.

The tester might say "Someone will call with your results in 3-5 days. Self-isolate" - without defining it. Nobody tells them "Go home. Stay there until we call you with results. Everyone who lives with you must also stay home until we call, even if they don't feel sick now. Don't let anybody who doesn't live in your house come in." They are already out driving around, and think, "Oh we might as well stop and get [groceries, lunch, Tylenol...] on the way home" or "Dad feels fine, he can go to work until we know" or "Junior is fine - he can go to football camp." By the time the results are in, dozens more people are exposed.

These are real life examples - the best answer is to give people the information they need, immediately on the spot, on a brightly colored piece of paper, and tell them to read it and post it on the front door or refrigerator. It needs to be in plain language, not using any unfamiliar terminology. In communities like ours, they may need to print it in MANY languages.

Not everyone sits and watches the news, or understands the difference between isolation & quarantine, symptomatic & asymptomatic, etc.
Just my 2 cents worth for the day.
Sue

@zep, Nope, you didn't read my report wrong. However, I suggest that you do not know all of the underlying circumstances pertaining to this one family and their reasons for making the choices they made. Just as health conditions affect each individual differently, so are decisions made individually by those most concerned about their children's overall health and well being. If more families in this nation were adhering to the same precautions this family has taken and continues to observe, I can guarantee that there would be far less spread of the pandemic and far fewer lives lost. While it is easy to be quick to judge, it is far harder to understand until one has walked in another's moccasins. Thank you for your wishes for our little guy's speedy recovery, no relapses and particularly, no long-term effects.

@merpreb, Merry, I so agree with what you posted. Covid-19 is lethal and no one is immune even though a very large percentage of the nation seems to think it won't/can't infect them. I just don't get it!

@fiesty76 - The virus was acquired somewhere, from some other person. Rationalizing the choices that were made, after the fact, is not useful. The second paragraph of your earlier post says the children/families (numbers of people) at hockey/football practice may not have been restricting activities. That's the core of this dilemma. Choosing to send one's children among other people who may or may not have been isolating was the error. It doesn't matter what the underlying circumstances are, or the reasons for making the choices. The parents went against the science, period. They took a chance, several times, apparently. The sooner people realize there are no exclusions, the virus will attack anybody, no matter how nice, even the children of doctors, the sooner we can get through with this horror. What you say is exactly the opposite of the truth. If more families in this nation were "adhering to the same precautions this family has taken" then there would be MORE spread of the pandemic and MORE lives lost. I am not trying to be cruel, only to speak the truth, and have logic prevail. You cannot let down your guard, with your own life, or your child's, even for a second. "Children's overall health and well-being" has to take second place right now to children's actual ability to remain alive, and to their not becoming spreaders to other people and other people's children.

@zep I agree with @fiesty76 that you do not know why the family made the choices they did.

I will tell you that depression and anxiety brought on by isolation due to Covid-19 have been wreaking havoc on several members of my own family, to the point that intervention has been required. Deciding what's worth risking in those circumstances is complicated and carries some danger of infection, but there are other factors like long term mental wellbeing to consider as well.

And right now if you don't have an ongoing relationship with a mental health provider in our area you are not going to get an appointment unless you are truly suicidal, so you do the best you can.

It sounds to me like the family weighed their choices and still got infected, but are dealing with that properly.

At some point in this pandemic each of us will be making our own decisions on the amount of risk we can or must accept, whether to work, go to school, seek medical care, or preserve our mental health or that of our children. We cannot all stay home and out of harm's way awaiting a vaccine or a cure. We can only make the best choices out of a menu of bad ones.
Sue

@sueinmn @zep @fiesty76 @merpreb The old saying "It's water under the bridge" seems to apply here. We were not there to know exact precautions taken. In spite of, or because of, doesn't apply now. It happened. This family has the opportunity, and more than likely has taken this chance, to tell as many others as they can, what happened to them. It's a precautionary tale in these times. It underscores the insidious nature of this infection. There are many people walking around each day, asymptomatic, who may be passing the infection on. We, as an individual or a family unit, make the decisions on our everyday life.

Re the concept of testing and notification process, we have parts of our society who not only have no access to internet or have a language barrier to cross, also may have the inability to read/comprehend the written word, regardless of the language presented in. We are in a dilemma of proportions noone saw coming.

My two cents worth....
Ginger

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@sueinmn, Sue, I cannot fully express the depth of my gratitude for your posts, particularly this latest one, regarding my young grandson's diagnosis.

Not only did you "read between the lines of my original post with empathy and understanding", you and other mentors and members have written to express concern and also encouragement during this very frightening time for me and my small family. For a concerned out-of-state grandmother, your support and kind responses truly help.

The word: "connect" is defined by Webster as "to bind, to fasten, to join". To associate with others experiencing serious health issues who can share and support with possibly different approaches but with mutual respect in a "safe" place is the single most important tenet of the Mayo Support forums. Thank you.

My dad, who was a life role model for me, told me many times over my growing up years that: "if you can't say something nice, say nothing". I've tried to live by that and would suggest that some would be better served if they adopted that as a mantra, too.

@fiesty76 You are welcome. I appreciate the kind words. How are your grandson & their family doing?

I understand how hard it is to worry from a distance, as that is my life for half of each year. I am sure from your description of how careful your daughter & son-in-law have been, they are devastated by this turn of events, and probably feeling guilty as well. I think as Mom right now, your role is to reassure them that they are not bad parents - just good parents who made what turned out to be an unfortunate choice in a bad situation.

Take care & stay safe - this too shall pass.
Sue