Hi, world. I tested positive for Covid on Tuesday, Nov. 9.
It was hard for me to believe when the home test kit showed two pink lines (positive), not one pink line (negative).
"These tests aren't that accurate," I said to my daughter Roz. I thought I just had a light cold--mild headache, not much sore throat, tired feeling. Not even as bad as the average flu, but my cough was getting deeper and "productive," as they say.
Roz did a search on rapid tests, however, and the internet said a positive test is almost always correct. For info on this kind of testing, see https://www.aahealth.org/rapid-covid-testing-faq/
Walgreen's sells the rapid home tests, 2 for $24. Nationwide. But on any one day, a store could run out. CVS near me didn't sell them.
The next challenge was to find a PCR test, the kind they send to a lab and you wait 2-3 days for the results. You can't get the top treatment for Covid-19 unless you have proof of a positive PCR test.
PCR stands for Polymerase Chain Reaction. The scientist who developed this method of testing for the presence of a specific bit of DNA was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1993.
To get a PCR test, you need an appointment with your doctor or a clinic or a testing place set up in a park or parking lot or near a pharmacy like CVS. Again doing an internet search, Roz found a park near me where the test is being done in the recreation center office. Same-day appointments were available.
I came home exhausted, but the work of being a Covid patient was just beginning.
That night I called my brother, Dr. Bill. He said, "You need to get monoclonal antibodies."
"What's that?" I asked. More new vocabulary to learn.
"The treatment they're doing now for people like you, over 65 with at least one other serious medical condition," he said. "You probably qualify for it. Medicare will pay."
The easiest way to qualify is being overweight or having diabetes or being immunocompromised. But there are others.
The next day, Wednesday, I called my doctor's office, expecting to be told to walk right in.
Instead, I had to make an appointment for a virtual doctor visit. One of her partners would do it later in the day.
The appointment wasn't by Zoom or Facetime, of course. That would have been too easy. And it couldn't be done via laptop.
I had to download the MyChart app onto my cell phone. Then I had to make an account and password and find the button to do a virtual appointment.
When the doctor finally appeared on my screen, she was skeptical. "How are you feeling? Why do you want an infusion?"
"My brother told me to. He said Covid-19 can start out mild and suddenly get worse."
To get this treatment, you can't be super sick and you can't be just imagining you have Covid. As with Goldilocks, everything has to be just right.
"Okay, I'll forward a request and see if you qualify," she concluded. "We will contact you if Medicare says yes, and then you'll have to submit proof that your test was positive."
Tomorrow: going for my infusion.
Note:
LHI.care/covidtesting is the national website where you can find the nearest testing site and get an appointment. LHI stands for Logistics Health Inc. Logistics Health was founded in Wisconsin in 1999, now part of OptumServe, which got a contract with the federal government in 2001 to handle testing, immunization, and record keeping for federal employees, military, vets, and others.
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