At the beginning of April, my husband and I left our two children at home in the care of videoconferencing grandparents and the trusty television to go get ourselves tested for Covid-19. It was quite the experience, and I wanted to share some of what we went through and what would have been nice to know ahead of time, in case any of you out there reading are thinking about taking a trip to your local testing center.
First, the necessary background:
My husband is in the Spanish foreign service and we are currently posted with our two children in Lima, Peru. On March 11th, my husband flew to Madrid to use up some vacation days and visit his family there. Also on March 11th, the president of Peru closed all K-12 schools in the country. A day or two later, the president announced that all flights coming into the country from, among other places, Spain would be canceled, effective March 16th. So my husband hurriedly purchased a new return ticket and hightailed it home to Peru a week earlier than originally planned. I had insisted before he left Lima that he take along disinfecting wipes for the plane ridse, to wipe down his armrests and tray table, and tried to impress upon him the need to stay away from people as much as possible on the plane and not touch his face. He left the country thinking I was blowing the risk way out of proportion. He stepped onto the plane back into the country feeling more cautious and chastened after seeing the situation in Madrid and the restrictions quickly taking shape in Peru.
Unfortunately, finally feeling convinced of the seriousness of the situation was not enough to protect him from a disease that is proving highly infectious.
Upon landing in Lima, he went through a health screening before baggage claim and was told to self-quarantine for 14 days at home, and to go to the hospital if he developed symptoms. I set up the guest bed and bath for him, and he began working from home symptom free until two or three days before the end of the two weeks. At that point, he developed a sore throat and a cough. Because he was feeling so healthy overall, and because it was so near the end of the period he was told symptoms could occur, we chalked it up to having spent so much time on the phone working remotely and sitting around in the air conditioning (we’re at the tail end of a hot summer here). A few days later he got clearly sick, and a few days after that he wasn’t better, despite his cough fading. So on April 4th I told him to grab his phone, we were going to the hospital for testing.
This brings me to my first tip: If you’re considering going to get tested, call ahead of time to learn the broad strokes of the testing process.
I called the night before going, and was told that while the testing ward was walk-in with no appointments necessary, tests would not be given out to anyone asking for one but rather patients would be interviewed by a doctor first, and that doctor would decide whether or not to order testing. I asked about approximate wait times, confirmed that it was not a good idea to bring the kids along, and also checked opening times (which turned out in the case of our hospital to be 24 hours a day). I was also informed that the hospital had set up a special testing ward outside to keep possible coronavirus patients away from everyone else. This is what most of the hospitals here have been doing.
Our preparation Saturday morning before leaving took somewhat longer than I had hoped, but in the end the planning paid off. Firstly, I made sure to have a thorough shower before going — in case I was already infected, I wanted my skin to be as clean as possible to start, to minimize chances of passing the virus on to others. Conversely, I braided my long hair in order to minimize contact with dirty surfaces that might end up infecting me if I was still healthy.
Secondly, I grabbed not only my phone, but a charging cable, so that I could plug in and avoid running out of battery if we ended up being there awhile (which we were). I also brought along two different plug adapters, because the country uses both American and European outlets, but you never know which a particular place is going to use, and I didn’t want to get caught with a single, wrong-pronged type. Double plugs are likely not an issue for those Stateside, but I would recommend that anyone who can bring not only a charging cord, but also a phone case with a built-in battery charger. In the end, because we were outside, there was nowhere to plug my phone in. I don’t have a battery case for my phone, but if I did, it would have made my life a lot easier that day with the constant texting of updates and scrolling to keep boredom and anxiety away.
After that, I had my husband grab his pill box and bring it with us. There are medicines he takes daily separate from this pandemic, and since we didn’t know how long we would be, I wanted to make sure he didn’t get caught having to miss a dose. He ended up being hospitalized for a few days without getting to go back home first, so the fact that he grabbed his entire weekly pillbox ended up being very important. So if there are any medicines you take daily or weekly, make sure to bring them along, just in case you end up staying awhile! It might also be a good idea to bring along some painkiller (tylenol, not ibuprofen!) since sitting around a hospital all day could easily cause headaches.
Next, I grabbed a couple of individual water bottles (you do not want to be sharing bottles with people right now!) and several cereal bars. This proved hugely helpful, as we were not allowed in to any other parts of the hospital, including the cafeteria or vending machine niches. It is very possible that the only food and water you will have access to are what you bring in with you, so make sure to pack snacks!
Then the last little things: keys, hand sanitizer, glasses...
Finally, I put all of these supplies into a fabric tote bag. This is something I began doing a couple of weeks ago when I went to the pharmacy. After an initial trip with my usual purse, and having to wipe it down after getting back home, which was a pain, I began using only fabric tote bags when I have to go out. This way, when I get home, I can just dump the contents and pop it straight into the washing machine.
One thing I did wish I had packed, especially given my dwindling phone battery and the inability to recharge it: a book or some magazines. I thought I would only be gone a short while and that I could read on my phone and not have to deal with another physical object I’d have to keep track of and then clean once I got back home. But as I perhaps should have guessed, we were there *much* longer than expected, and some non-battery-dependent reading material would have been nice.
Then we set out for the hospital. Our car was almost out of gas, so we had to fill up on the way there, which was a stressful distraction in the circumstances (police and military checkpoints, only a few of the city’s gas stations being open, etc.). In general these days, it’s a good idea not to let your gas tank get too low, in case you have to rush out to the hospital or for supplies or any other urgent thing.
Now here are a few things that might be helpful to know about once you’re at the hospital or other testing center.
First off, it can be very hard to understand people when they’re wearing masks! Voices are muffled, and you don’t have visible mouth movement to supplement your sense of hearing. Don’t be shy about asking people to please repeat something! It’s more important to make sure you really understand what health workers are telling you than to worry about any social awkwardness.
Secondly, we have all been told to be on the lookout for fever and a dry cough. But if you have gone for testing, be sure to tell the person interviewing you *any and all symptoms* you have been experiencing, even if you don’t think they are related. Because this is such a new disease, the medical community is still deepening their understanding of symptoms. There are significant indications that digestive issues, wet cough, sudden loss of one’s senses of smell and taste, and things like an achy body but with no fever, or chills but with no fever, could also be markers of the virus. So tell the doctor everything and let *them* decide what is relevant or not.
Thirdly, eat and drink well before you go. We went for long periods where we were not allowed to eat or drink (and remember, there’s a good chance that even at times when you are allowed, you will only have access to whatever food and drink you brought with you), and you want to go into this experience with as much energy as you can.
Similarly, go to the bathroom before you leave the house, and if possible again when you arrive but before you are seen by anyone. If I had not used the portapotties in the outdoor coronavirus testing ward before sitting with the nurse to get my vital signs read, I would have had to wait an hour and a half before I was able to go again.
Next, there is a very good chance you will be put in a special room that is air conditioned to help slow the rate of germ replication and keep health workers cool in their many layers of protective gear. My husband and I were not expecting this at all, and consequently spent about 6 hours shivering and freezing cold. For half that time, we were wearing only those thin papery hospital gowns on top. I really cannot overstate just how cold we were — especially my husband, who was already experiencing chills even before going into the cold tent. By the end of the day, my fingertips were purple and numb, and it took me a good hour to warm back up again after I went back out into the balm summer evening air. So if you are going to go in for testing, please dress warmly and bring a few extra layers! We were allowed to keep our belongings with us, and what I wouldn’t have given to be able to pull a sweater or even a blanket out of my tote bag!
I’ll leave you now with two final considerations.
Finally, for anyone living with someone in their care, such as children or an elderly or infirm relative, it’s probably a good idea to figure out a plan now for what you would do with them if you decide one day you need to go in for testing or to the emergency room. Our children are old enough that we were able to leave them semi-unattended for a day. If they had been younger or had health or behavioral issues, this would not have been workable. Given that babysitters are not currently included in the essential workers category, we would not have been able to call someone to stay with them, either. There are solutions to this sort of predicament other than bringing them along with you to the testing center or ER, but they require pre-planning. And even though none of us is *planning* on getting sick, this is something it is very worth figuring out a solution for ahead of time.
And lastly, a word of warning. My husband and I were given three types of tests when we went to the hospital: blood test, Qtip swab tests, and lung scans. The lung scans were easy peasy. It’s done on a CAT scan machine, which is far less noisy and less claustrophobic than an MRI. It’s a doughnut shape rather than a whole long tunnel, and there’s only the gentlest of whirring for four seconds as the bed slowly moves through the doughnut ring. The whole process took maybe five minutes. The blood draw was interesting — in addition to the normal type where blood is drawn from a vein, probably in the inner elbow, an arterial sample was taken, on the under side of the wrist in my case. I was very fortunate to have an excellent technician and I experienced no pain, but for those who are squeamish around needles, be aware you make have to get two pokes, not one. The really problematic part, though, were the swab tests. The throat swab is uncomfortable, but it’s a familiar sort of uncomfortableness if you’ve ever been tested for strep throat, for example. The nose swab, though, is truly creepy. You’ve probably seen photos of long-handled Qtips in news stories. What you can’t tell from those photos is just how far up they have to put them. It was both painful and scary, and seriously felt like they were scraping up against the bottom of my brain, or like they were even going to somehow perforate it. I’m sure (I hope!) this is not actually the case, but it sure as heck feels like it. And they had to do it *4 times* with four different Qtips. The experience was *not* any less horrifying with repetition. Mercifully, it was short, maybe two minutes total. But do prepare to steel yourself for some pretty awful sensations.
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Hopefully all the other tips I have shared today will help make the coronavirus testing experience a little less uncomfortable and a little more manageable should you have to go through it.
Here’s wishing everyone good health!
