We’re doing pretty well on the whole. We all seem to have recovered from our bouts with COVID, most likely. We will keep our eyes out for the possibility of longer lasting effects but so far we seem to have recovered well. This is a big relief, especially for our two year old. Of course, she cannot yet be vaccinated, and we are hopeful that in June that will change and she will then have blended immunity like the rest of us do. From what I hear, having had a natural infection, in addition to a vaccination provides the most preventative immunity against COVID-19. But for now, with our antibodies at the highest level they’re likely to be, we are enjoying some of the activities that we have been avoiding.
How did we get sick? At Disney World.
We had been planning our family vacation for a year and a half. We arranged the work schedules of five different adults, and the school schedule of one of our children. We thought surely by that time there would be a vaccination available for the youngest. But there was not. And although we had been practicing with her, trying to teach her to wear a mask. But her all time record for wearing a mask before taking it off was five minutes. When the airplane mask mandate ended we decided to drive the 10 hour distance to reduce our risk a little bit. It turns out that Disney World also dropped their mask mandate at the same time (foreshadowing).
As Abby and I loaded the car we heard from my dad that he had become sick and tested positive for COVID. So he and my step mom decided they would not join us. They got treatment and took it easy and they are doing fine as well. But we weren’t about to tell the six-year-old that we weren’t going anymore. And we weren’t going to give up all of the money that we had prepaid or the arranging of schedules that we had done. We brought a HEPA filter to run in the hotel room with us. We brought high quality masks for all of us. And the two-year-old wore hers for 90 seconds on the monorail before she refused to wear it again. And, of course, with the mask mandate no longer in effect, none of the adults or other children around her indoors in the crowded lines wore their masks either. And so, one of them made her sick.
She had a small fever and tested positive the day after we returned. And another day after that Abby and I began testing positive and having symptoms as well. The six-year-old held out the longest. We wore masks, we had her wear a mask, we ran our HEPA filters, we had her stay outside as much as possible… But eventually, it did catch up with her. So, she stayed home from school a bit and followed the school nurse’s guidelines about when she was allowed to return and how long she needed to wear her high-quality mask again. But now we seem to all be through it… For this round.
We will look into getting boosters for everybody who is eligible for them and initial vaccines once one is offered for the two-year-old and look forward to the blended immunity protection that that gives us, and intend to visit my dad and stepmother in Colorado to make up for having missed them Disney World.
Hoping you and yours are keeping similarly or more safely.
Enjoy some photos from our trip:
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