This week, we have had the opportunity to experience one of the great dilemmas of in-person school during the time of COVID. On Friday, Lime came home with a slightly stuffy nose. By Saturday morning it was clear that he had a cold, or something that was presenting like a cold. There had been a few cases of COVID reported at the school during the week prior, none in either of the kids' classes, but still enough to be fresh in our minds. Luckily, we had a rapid antigen test on hand at home, so over much protestation I swabbed Lime's nose and conducted the test. For those who haven't used one yet, I highly recommend, it, it was fast and easy to do. Within 15 minutes, we had our result: no COVID. Yay!
Except that as of this morning, Lime was still very definitely having cold symptoms, and per the school's policy, anyone who has had symptoms within 48 hours needs to have a negative PCR test before returning. So, despite being 99.9% sure that Lime does not have COVID, we kept him home from school today and I took him over to the pharmacy to get a PCR test. With that bribe of a Happy Meal lunch in front of him, he made it clear that yes, he is entirely capable of holding stone still and not protesting while getting his nose swabbed. So, now we wait for the results, and Lime stays home. With any luck we will get them before the start of school on Wednesday and we can put this little episode behind us. I do wonder, though, how this is going to work in the winter, when it seems like at any given moment, at least 50% of all children have a runny nose or a cough of some kind.
Other than that little drama, it has been a fairly uneventful month. I snuck out of town for a few days to compete in a marathon, my first one in two years, and it was such a joy to be out racing again. Lemon had his 3-month follow-up visit for the clinical study that he is doing, and luckily this visit was less intensive than the first couple, he "only" had to do the two different breathing tests and answer a barrage of questions. While we were there I saw the nurse-practitioner who used to oversee Lemon's care. She hadn't seen him since before the pandemic started and could not believe how much he has changed. He grew almost an inch just between July and now, never mind all that has happened since March of 2020 (remember those days?). Our next follow-up will be his 6-month visit, conveniently timed for the week between Christmas and New Years. At least he won't have to miss school?
Like many of you, we are eagerly awaiting some good news from the FDA on vaccinations for the kids, hopefully later this month. Once they are vaccinated I think we will all breathe a big collective sigh of relief, and then begin to think more seriously about reengaging with the rest of the world--that means you!
