Staph Infection

A few things are certain in life, Kellisa catching a break isn't one. We had the chance to take a ride out to Lisa's work on Saturday, May 2, 2020. This would be only the second time Kellisa left the house in 49 days since the CORVID-19 lockdown started. The first was a nice little stroll through our neighborhood. As I was helping change Kellisa's shirt to get her ready, I noticed a large sore on her back. I recognized it as a staph infection because Kellisa has had it a few times in the last nine months and I've had it twice myself. 

The sore looked worse than her previous outbreaks and I would have taken her to a walk-in clinic since it was a Saturday afternoon, but I didn't feel comfortable going during the middle of a pandemic. I decided to treat it with warm compresses and triple antibiotic ointment until she could be seen by her awesome pediatrician.

I called Dr. Singh's office on Monday and described the sore and my diagnosis. Kellisa has always been well taken care of and this would be another example of perfect care. Dr. Singh offered to see Kellisa at 7am the following morning. The appointment would start before the office opened to limit Kellisa's exposure to other people. We didn't hesitate and agreed to this time and felt extremely grateful for the special consideration to keep Kellisa safe.

Even though it was early, we were greeted at the office building by a lady in scrubs wearing a mask. She asked us a series of questions, took our temperatures, and handed us masks. We proceeded to check-in from a healthy distance and went to the pediatric waiting area where we were the only people. Chairs and sofas were marked telling you where you could and couldn't sit to allow for proper social distancing. I barely sat down when we were called back.

Kellisa was so excited to see Dr. Singh, she keeled over with enthusiasm for a minute while giggling before sitting back up and blowing countless kisses through her mask. Kellisa is not used to being trapped at home and I realized Dr. Singh was the first person Kellisa saw up close besides mom, dad, and her sister in 49 days and it was a person she loved. 

After taking a culture to confirm it was in fact a staph infection, Dr. Singh was patient and asked how Laurel was doing and how we were holding up as a family. Dr. Singh shared what she knew about the virus and offered tips on how to protect ourselves. We also received valuable suggestions to help keep our sanity as this pandemic creeps along with no real end in sight.

Kellisa wanted to stay and I even offered to pick her up at the end of the day, but it wouldn't have been safe to leave her. I had to wheel her away against her will. Kellisa kept her mask on the entire time without a fuss, but started ripping it from her face the second her front wheels crossed the threshold to the exterior of the medical building. I think Kellisa made Dr. Singh's day and she never fails to make me proud and crack me up.

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Coronavirus Spring Break

After a week of high anxiety and lack of focus, I finally found some peace. As everyone knows, the Coronavirus has dominated everything for the past week in the United States. As I watch events that would have been thought of as fiction just a week ago unfold, I haven't been able to focus or concentrate. I worry about Kellisa since she falls in the high risk category if she would get the virus. I also worry about Laurel because she worries herself, especially when she doesn't have any control over the matter. And at 10-years-old, she can't fully comprehend what she's hearing and even when we try to explain things to ease her mind, she asks tough questions. She also hates not knowing. so when she asks us if this will happen every year, she does not accept the answers, "I hope not" or "We don't know". Laurel needs to know and just struggles when she doesn't get a definitive answer.

Besides worrying about Kellisa getting the virus, I've been worried about the schools closing and like millions of other parents, how we would handle watching our kids. We don't have any friends or family who can help and with our special needs, dropping them somewhere or having people come into our house is not possible. It's totally and completely up to Lisa and I for one of us to be with the kids around the clock. I was surprised we made it to March 13th and both kids still had school when so many other districts were closing down.