Earlier this year I posted on my blog the story titled, “I Tested Positive for COVID-19 Antibodies.” Here’s a recap along with additional news.

In April, one month after Shelter In Place regulations began, my doctor’s office emailed their patients that plenty of antibody tests were available. The doctors recommended everyone who was now healthy but had recently been sick or had traveled, to get the test done. That week, my husband, Chris, and I drove to the lab for the blood draw. The results came back in two days. We both tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies.

As I sat at the computer and read the online report, questions swirled through my mind. When did we contract the virus? How did we get it? Why didn’t we know we had it?

In mid-February, Chris had a tickle in his throat one day but by the next morning he felt fine. However, I came down with a bad case of the flu including a five-day fever. For the first two days my temperature was 102°F, and I felt miserable, nauseous, fatigued, and too achy to get out of bed.

As I lay in bed, my thoughts drifted back to bouts I had with malaria as a child at our mission station in Egbe, Nigeria. My mom would put cold, wet washcloths on my forehead, arms, and chest to try to bring the fever down. I tried that remedy again and it brought cooling comfort.  

After two days, my temperature lowered to 100°F, and then several days later my fever broke. However, it took a couple of weeks to fully recover. Looking back, I wonder if that could have been the coronavirus.

Vacation Surprises

On March 9, Chris and I flew to Scotland for our annual month-long visit to his homeland. On our first night there, we were shocked to learn that American citizens were being urged to return home as soon as possible. The headline news reported that flights from Europe to the U.S. would be severely curtailed.

At that time, we considered hunkering down in Scotland and waiting out the pandemic. We felt at home in the land of Chris’s birth. We were celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary there. More importantly, we had prepaid for three weeks’ stay in two holiday cottages and hated to give that up!

However, our parents and young-adult children in California were concerned about us. Chris expected the airlines would reduce their flights or possibly shut down altogether. So, we cut our vacation short and headed home without our anticipated visits with our Scottish family and friends. But we took a calculated risk, stayed three extra days, and celebrated our anniversary with dinner at our favorite place, Fiddler’s Highland Restaurant, in Drumnadrochit near Loch Ness.

Arriving at San Francisco airport, health officials instructed us to watch for specific symptoms of dry cough, tightness in the chest, and difficulty breathing. Two days later, I came down with a sore throat, body aches, and a temperature of 99.9. But none of the specific COVID-19 symptoms appeared. That bout only lasted a couple of days while we were in quarantine from our Scotland trip.

All in all, I had relatively mild symptoms in March and what felt like just a bad flu in February. Chris had no symptoms to speak of, so we didn’t suspect either one of us had the coronavirus. Could it be we picked it up while traveling outside the U.S.?

Counting My Blessings

In August, Chris and I retested for antibodies, and we were still positive. Just last week I tested again and found out I still have COVID-19 antibodies. Researchers continue to pore over the data to determine how long the antibodies last. I’m glad I have some immunity for now. And I’m grateful it wasn’t any worse than the malaria bouts I had as a child in my homeland on the other side of the world.

This summer I had hoped to donate blood plasma, and I went through several steps of interviews. Unfortunately, I found out I’m not a candidate because I have lymphedema (swelling) in both arms following my bilateral mastectomy for breast cancer in 2014.

When I think about it, I’m so grateful I didn’t have a severe case of Covid. And by regularly testing for antibodies, I feel like I’m contributing in a small way, simply by adding to data collected by the scientific community to understand this virus.

As we approach Thanksgiving week, I’m disappointed we won’t be able to have the usual large gatherings with family and friends. But I still have so much to be thankful for: family, food, fun, faith, freedom, and of course, you, my friends from all around the globe!