View from the cheap seats
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Casey Krautkramer Reporter The Record-Review
Well, I should’ve heeded our state governor’s advice and stayed home instead of frequenting convenience and grocery stores this past weekend, because now I am home sick. I don’t believe I have the coronavirus but more likely influenza.
Kris O’ Leary, my newspaper publisher, told me to listen to my nurse friend’s advice of not physically going into my work office for 14 days after my first day, on Sunday afternoon, of experiencing a high fever. Kris wants to be cautious and have me work from home for the time being, so I’m not infecting my co-workers with my sickness.
On Monday morning I left a message with the Marshfield Medical Center’s nurses hotline, which has been inundated with phone calls lately from people wondering if they have the coronavirus. A nurse called me back many hours later and I told her about my symptoms of having a high fever, body chills and aches. She told me I don’t have the coronavirus because I’m not having any trouble breathing. The nurse told me I instead have influenza, of which many people are also sick with during the time being.
The nurse told me to not visit a Marshfi eld Medical Center clinic or hospital to ensure I don’t infect healthcare workers who are busy caring for the most vulnerable people who have life-threatening health conditions. She told me we need to keep the nurses and doctors healthy so they can continue to treat people. She also told me Marshfield Medical Center didn’t receive as many coronavirus test kits it’d hoped to get, therefore only elderly and children are being tested because they are at the highest risk of dying from the coronavirus.
My t-shirt is full of sweat while I’m typing this column, even though my thermostat is at 68 degrees in the house, therefore my high fever has not yet subsided even though I am taking 600 milligrams of Ibuprofen every six hours under the nurse’s direction. I know my editor, Peter Weinschenk, wants me back in the work office as soon as my health improves but right now I don’t see this happening until my 14-day quarantine ceases.
I am also taking care of my two daughters, ages 8 and 10, who are quarantined with me at my house. My oldest daughter has the same symptoms I currently do, while my youngest daughter’s had a persistent cough for the past month. This morning my youngest daughter complained to me her ear was hurting, and she wanted me to take her to the doctor to find out if she has an ear infection. The nurse told me not to enter a clinic or hospital so I don’t infect the nurses and doctors. I utilized a home remedy to help my daughter’s painful ear. I poured some apple cider vinegar in her ear and then place a cotton swab in the ear. I then had her hold a warm wash cloth on the outside of her ear. She told me her ear is feeling better now so the home remedy worked.
