Eason Wars: The COVID Strikes Back

Like the rebels surviving against The Empire, for two years The Eason Clan have gone unscathed – until now. Like Gollum climbing down the steep cliffs west of the Anduin River hunting Frodo in The Lord of The Rings, COVID leapt upon us suddenly.

“Dude, enough of the references from popular fiction!”

Yeah, yeah. Let’s get going then.

This blog post is written in two parts. The first part was written on Wednesday, May 11 and the second part, Sunday, May 15, 2022. Read it like a journal entry, if you will. It will become clearer as you read on!

Wednesday, May 11.

“CAPTAINS LOG. 08.1-2

We currently have five COVID cases out of six in our home.

The odds are not in our favour.

Who is the sixth person? Who can withstand the plague, spreading through our home?

*Continue, and you will soon find out Reader!!!*

I am currently watching the mystery person jump in the trampoline, while I sit here on my laptop, writing on the back patio. I tested positive for COVID this morning. Where are my four fellow COVID members? They are all in bed upstairs, out for the count with high fevers, aches and pains, and burning-skin sensations. Yes sir, sickness is the name of the game these past few days.

Let me warn you however: COVID is not a game.

Watching three of my four children have fevers of 102-103 degrees Fahrenheit is very rough; and to be honest it’s quite frightening. I have heard of friends and family with COVID, but until you actually have it in your home, its the illusive virus. Sure, we have been masking, following the preventive guidelines and pumping hand sanitizer like a Sears employee in the Beauty Department; but yet we still contracted it.

Once my wife tested positive on Sunday, May 8th, it all began. I have never seen her so sick before. Three of our children started showing symptoms, and then I started having symptoms. I thought our plague days was over a few weeks ago, when the Gastro virus hit our house…

… everyone was sick but me. Apparently though, the plague wasn’t done with us. In saying that, I am thankful to God that our symptoms right now have not been too bad, at least not bad enough to go to the hospital. Considering there have been many people who’ve suffered from COVID severely, and as we all know, others that have died.

On a separate note, here is one thing I have learned during our isolation period: it’s almost impossible to self-isolate a child under seven.

4 Children + Isolation in a separate room(s) = FAIL

Isaac self-isolating in his bedroom?

Impossible.

Trying to keep four children away from each other for five days while in the same house?

Good luck.

Unless you are locking doors and using duct-tape to keep each child in their beds, your chances of success are very slim – as we have found out (not by using Duct-Tape or locking them in their rooms :P)

It’s funny how…

*End Of Writing for Wednesday, May 11, 2022*

Second Part of Blog Post, Sunday May 15.

I took a break from writing on Wednesday, May 11th.

That same night I woke up finding it difficult to breathe. Every breath felt shallow and each new one felt like I was missing air going into my lungs. For a moment, fear shot through my mind because I’ve never had any trouble breathing before. I said a quick prayer, lay back down on my pillow, and keep taking deep breaths until I fell asleep (I knew if it became worse I’d have to go to the hospital, however thankfully it did not progress).

*Note* On Tuesday, my breathing was shallow at times and I became winded easy. Besides that were I had a minor headache only and a touch of a sore throat.

That all changed early Thursday morning.

I awoke to a pounding headache, sore throat, aches and pains in my body (particularly my lower back and legs). I would get out of bed to use the bathroom and then get right back in. At one point my skin hurt so bad to touch, I would begin to cry as Melissa tried to alleviate the pain by rubbing my back gently. Alas to no avail! The pain continued on and no amount of Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen was helping. Later on that morning, I was joined by the last Eason standing – Railene. She was carried in by Melissa and lay down next to me in our bed. She looked miserable. Cheeks rosy red, eyes partially opened, she quietly lay there and said that her body hurt. Little did she know, that when Melissa checked her temperature, she was coming in at 103 Fahrenheit.

Every member of my household now had COVID.

I thank God that I was well enough during the first stint, when Melissa was bed ridden with Benaiah and the Twins on Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday. I was able to take care of them (with Railene’s help) and strangely enough a blessing came from this: I got to spend some close father-daughter time with Railene. While everyone else was napping at one point, we went for a light stroll through the woods behind our house (this was before we tested positive for COVID). We took our binoculars and went looking for different birds. And at one point of the journey, we crested one of the hills near the mountain behind our house, we were greeted by a beautiful sight: a bald eagle was flying low over head. He must have been older, as his wings were tattered and there were gaps where feathers would normally be full.

**WE INNTERUPT THIS BLOG WITH AN IMPORTANT BROADCAST.**

I HAVE A HORRIBLE ANNOUCMENT TO MAKE!!!

I JUST LOST MY TASTE BUDS….IN THE MIDDLE OF A COFFEE! LORD HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

‘FIRE UP THE RESERVE TASTE BUDS, CAPTAIN! WE GOT TO GET OUR TASTE BACK BEFORE THE COFFEE IS DONE!

“SIR. ALL POWER HAS BEEN DIVERTED TO THE FORWARD TASTE BUDS, BUT SHES NOT RESPONDING! I’M GIVING HER ALL SHE’S GOT!’

Well, there goes my taste buds… thanks COVID.

I have to say, being sick with COVID has by far been one of my top five sickest moments in my life.

What is number one? Well, I became very dehydrated as a teenager – after laying sods all day in the baking sun and being eaten by flies working for a crazy lady in Seal Cove – I ended up going to a sketchy Doctor who told me I had a bacteria infection in my stomach. He prescribed me some medication and I became extremely sick after I started taking them.

So sick in fact, I ended up losing 15 pounds and could barely eat or drink.

COVID wasn’t as bad in that sense (yet I could shed a few pounds right now), but I got to say, I NEVER want to experience this again; especially considering how quickly it spread through our household. As I stated earlier, Melissa tested positive on Sunday May 8th and within 3 1/2 days, all of us were all sick. Every child had high fevers, and then head colds.

Honestly our experience would be great data for a science study group (PM on FB :P)

With all that said, I am thankful we are all okay. Myself and Melissa were gassed just walking down the stairs. I am thankful though, that none of us ended up in hospital.

We were blessed by family members bringing us food and picking up groceries for us. We had friends drop off meals on short notice and a church family that continued to pray for our family and offer us any assistance that we needed. Once again, when in trial and storm, we have witnessed the Grace of God and the loving kindness of those around us, helping us get through.

With all this said, I look forward to being done our isolation. Being stuck in a house for 7 days straight with five other COVID people, is NUTSO. The children have been troopers through the whole ordeal, and TV and games (video and board games) have been our go-to. But you know what? I can only listen to Jingle Bells being sung at the table on repeat by four, frog sounding children so many times. The constant fighting over a toy that no one normally plays with, or the releasing of COVID toots as a child walks past you, can be overwhelming at times.

Tylenol has been the everlasting fountain drink here as well. As we near the end of our COVID isolation, we have gone through two and a half bottles of children’s Tylenol. (No, we haven’t been drugging our children to sleep. But…)

LOL

Thankfully Tylenol did provide relief for them, especially for the fevers.

So Tylenol people, I thank you. @tylenol

Until next time.

Christian