Friday, April 2, 2021
Misa doesn’t go much anywhere or without us, so we don’t know where he could have caught a cold and suffered with the rasping cough that he had for a second day. The only place we thought of was when he went with a neighbour and her children to buy school trousers on Wednesday and was sitting in a closed car with cold air conditioning and the air recirculating.
We were going away for the weekend as part of a group of 14 friends, so we didn’t want to endanger anyone if it happened to be Covid. Misa therefore agreed to be tested.
Why do I make a fuss and a blog post out of it?
Here in Sri Lanka, the PCR tests and the Rapid antigen test are done in a rather brutal way, completely without finesse when because inserting the stent 7 cm into the nasal cavity. It is just rammed home without ceremony and then twirled around. I didn’t even know that the nasal cavity was that long and it felt to me like they were scraping my brain in each of the ten times I have endured the experience.
Before we went to the hospital, Misa researched the internet to learn how they would take it from him, what it looked like, and what to expect from it but unfortunately he could not prepare for what was to come.
Tears welled up (with me always too), and when he composed himself, he announced, “He has poked my weirdly wired brain, maybe he somehow disturbed it and it will connect back to normal!” Well, we laughed.
We were in a hospital where I am known so we had an assistant who was taking care of us and it all went fast and with the results known within 20mins. NEGATIVE.
We could go on our weekend in peace of mind knowing it was not Covid. Unfortunately, Emilka and I got it from him but Steve escaped with just that throaty tickle that is the warning to a cold but without it developing. We drank honey and lemon like there was no tomorrow and all of us are now fine again.
I was very proud of him. He was very sympathetic when he had gone through the experience and felt for me having it before each birth with a woman who calls me to be supporting her in labour. I have eight women on my books to support before July. Eight more potential tests!
Rennie