Over Christmas, Alex had stayed with Frank and me for two days (see 12/31/21 post). His stay was much anticipated and greatly welcomed because it had been two years since he been permitted to our house due to COVID restrictions. He took it in stride and settled in like he'd never been gone.
January was smooth sailing but then, starting in the first week of February, Alex had a swollen foot spreading upward to his lower leg; he was lethargic and was running a fever for a few days. Other than the fever, he was asymptomatic for COVID, but was given a rapid antigen home test for COVID anyway on 2/3/22 at St. Denis. The result was negative and we breathed a sigh of relief. Alex was taken to the ER on Friday 2/4/22 for the red, swollen, painful foot. Incidentally, because hospitals test all patients, he was given a PCR test upon admission and the result was positive for COVID. We were shocked and did not believe it. His chest X-ray was clear and he displayed no COVID symptoms, but we were told PCR tests are more sensitive. They are the standard by which hospitals set their isolation restrictions.
Alex was admitted to the hospital for cellulitis, a bacterial skin infection that causes redness, swelling, and pain in the infected area of the skin, and can possibly lead a blood infection as well, but under COVID isolation restrictions. Visitors are not allowed with COVID patients but Frank and I got special permission to visit – as is allowed for pediatric patients – as long as we were not positive for COVID and had been vaccinated and boosted. We tested that evening and thankfully we were negative so we could stay with him if masked, gowned, and gloved. Alex was started on I.V. antibiotics; several blood cultures were taken and processed to optimize the antibiotic choice for his bacterial infection. That first night I stayed in his hospital room with him "sleeping" in a recliner chair beside his bed. The next five days Frank and I split the days staying with Alex in his room and the hospital provided a sitter at night. The sitter used a baby monitor for sound and watched Alex through a window to minimize her exposure. If Alex did indeed have COVID, surely Frank and I could not avoid catching it. After 48 hours on the antibiotic, Alex's fever went away and his swollen leg and foot improved such that he was able to sit up in a chair in his isolation room and busy himself with the puzzles and tiles Frank and I had brought for him.
We have absolutely no idea where Alex got the bacterial infection. Systemic infections like these need to be treated with I.V. antibiotics at least initially because oral antibiotics are not effective. Depending on results of repeated blood cultures, we were informed of the possibility that he could need I.V. antibiotics for 14 days. Alex could not tolerate that long a hospital stay. Complicating his treatment was that he needed to be isolated as all COVID patients are. Daily trips to an infusion clinic were not an option due to COVID and Frank and I could not manage an I.V. at our home. Thankfully, those 14 days did not come to fruition and after 5 days on an I.V. , during which it came out twice and had to be reinserted with humongous struggles, Alex graduated to an oral antibiotic and was discharged. He came home with us to Livermore on Tuesday 2/8/22. He recuperated by doing puzzles, watching a few videos and sunning himself on our back deck listening to music on his iPad.
He needed a 10 day isolation period from the positive PCR test and a negative antigen test before he could return to St. Denis. Alex was home with Frank and me for a week after his hospital discharge. At St. Denis all the clients and staff had tested negative for COVID. This fact further strengthened our doubt that Alex really had COVID. Surely he would have passed it on to one of his housemates. Before returning Alex had a repeat antigen test. The results were again negative; there is no blue line under the T for Test and there is a red line under C for Control showing the test was valid.
Definitely Alex's stay with us was tiring and any routines Frank and I might have had went out the window. But it was bittersweet having him home. Both Frank and I looked at each other after we dropped him off on Tuesday 2/15/22 agreeing that we'd definitely enjoyed part of it and would miss him. His right foot and lower leg are not 100% better visually, but energy wise Alex is back to his old mischievous self. He is still our little boy even though he is a 35 year old grown man. The goatee he grew within his two week hiatus from shaving is proof.
