My COVID-19 Story

    On March 13, 2020 our world changed and would never be the same. This was the day that all of the schools in our state (Indiana) closed, the NBA cancelled all games, and the Big Ten Tournament (which was taking place in Indianapolis Indiana) ceased all games even while one was in progress. Many more companies, government buildings, and manufacturing facilities also closed their doors on that day. All of these closures were do to a nationwide Pandemic of the Coronavirus, the virus that cause COVID-19. Without getting into a lengthy explanation, the coronavirus originated in China supposedly due to someone consuming raw bat. The virus is airborne and carriers can pass it on and not even be exhibit symptoms yet. A traveller from Asia came home to the U.S knowingly or unknowingly infected, and brought the virus and pandemic to our shores. The virus spread quickly and the reaction was swift. From that day forward my family and I did everything we could to avoid bringing the virus to our house. But some things are unavoidable, and some things happen to you for a testimony of God’s healing power.

Me and my family in April

For four months, we wore masks, social distanced, washed our hands, sanitized our hands, and disinfected every surface our hands came in contact. But after a week of taking my kids to day camp, I started to feel symptoms the following Monday. It started that night after I rode my bike with my son around the corner. Halfway through the ride I felt more fatigue than usual. I was riding my bike at least once a week during the summer so this should have been a routine ride, but I struggled just to make it back home. Once I got back home, I sat at the table for over an hour. I feigned like I was on my phone checking social media, but in actuality I was waiting until I had enough energy to make it upstairs to a shower. I hooked on my CPAP (yes, I have sleep apnea as well) machine and I slept through the night relatively well.

Day One

I woke up with the intent of setting up my laptop and working from home. But I still was not feeling my best. My wife, who had major surgery 4 weeks earlier and was still recovering, asked me to make her some breakfast. Once I told her I wasn’t feeling my best she quickly declined my services. I went downstairs and began to blast out emails and take care of work related issues. However the whole time I was getting warmer and feeling “achy”. It felt like the flu was coming on. I interrupted my work to find the nearest Coronavirus test center. Then I began to alert my work, friends, and family that I was starting to exhibit symptoms of COVID-19. By noon, I was too tired and just plain sick to continue work, I wanted to lay down. I also had a mild headache. Unfortunately the earliest I could get tested was Wednesday at 11AM, but I was pretty sure I had the flu at best and COVID-19 at worse.

I quarantined myself in my room as I did not want anyone else in my family getting sick. Our youngest child has a compromised immune system due to her Sickle Cell Anemia so I was especially cautious around her. I did not lose my appetite and my breathing seemed to be just fine. I ate some dinner that night that my family brought up to my room and I even setup my work laptop in my room so I could get something done if possible. The aches were more frequent and more intense. My temperature would routinely rise above 100.3 degrees. I took Tylenol and ibuprofen as often as I could. This would only provide temporary relief of the temperature and the headaches. Through the night I experienced shakes in addition to everything else. My wife suggested that I take NyQuil and this seemed to actually stop the shakes through the night. However by the morning I woke up in a pool of sweat.

Day Two

We waited in line for a 
free COVID-19 Test

 All of the symptoms remained. However, during the day I didn’t seem to have the shakes. The temperature and the aches were only getting worse. My appetite was beginning to decrease. My wife and kids would bring me ginger based teas and toast for breakfast. I could only eat half and then I would want to lie back down. I spent 80% of the day laying in bed trying to deal with the aches and the headaches. My body seemed to be fighting the disease but even at this point I hadn’t tested positive for the Coronavirus. My teenage son had to drive me to the testing location about 5 miles away from my house. At this time, quick tests were not available and I had to perform the deep nasal test on myself. The drive thru attendant gave me all the right instructions, however shoving that swab up my nose was very difficult. The swab felt like it was scratching my brain, but I thought as the scientist that I am and knew I could not afford an invalid test.

Not just for me, but more importantly for my family, we needed to know what exactly I had and what was going on with my body. Like I said, there was no quick testing and my results would not come back for another 5 - 10 days they informed me. I went back home and quarantined myself under the assumption that I was COVID positive. By this time most of my family and friends knew that I was exhibiting symptoms. I would text and respond as best I could, I wanted to keep everyone in the loop. At the same time I wanted those that could pray to do so on my behalf. I was only a day in and I wasn’t sure if things were going to get worse.

Day Three

The night went just as the previous night. I had to wake up to take NyQuil in order to stop the shakes. My temperature continued to rise and fall and I woke up in a pool of sweat once again. The aches seemed to be worse. My appetite would come and go and I wasn’t getting much work done. By this time my wife was running the house by herself and had resided to doing curbside grocery pick up and ordering Doordash for meals. This night we had shrimp tacos from Bonefish Grill. We had this same meal on my birthday some 4 months earlier and I knew it was going to be good. I ate until I was full and immediately regretted doing so. I could not sleep or get any rest. I took my temperature again and this time it was 102.7 and I felt that it was only going to go up. I texted my wife to tell her we should go to the ER. Fortunately there are several locations to choose from within close proximity of my house. I was pretty sure I was going to be admitted so we bypassed the Urgent Care and ER-only medical centers and went to a full hospital. It took several hours for them to check me in, determine my symptoms, and administer both a Flu and COVID-19 test.

Me giving a video
update to my 
familyThey said it was highly unlikely that I had the flu and the COVID test results would not come back for 3-5 days. Blood oxygen levels were fine and the chest X-ray did not show any signs of an infiltrate. This means that if I did have the Coronavirus I did not have they breathing component that many suffer from. However I was miserable the whole time. Eventually they came back and told me that I tested negative for the flu as expected. Of course my next question was “Then why do I feel so awful?”, “You most likely have Coronavirus” the doctor replied with a grin. They gave me a prescription strength pain medication to decrease my fever and ease the aches and pains in my body. They also informed me to stop taking ibuprofen and to take Tylenol for pain and fever reduction from now on. I gave my family the update. I called my mother and my father picked up the phone.

Just a day earlier, my mother indicated to me that she was worried about my Dad. Simple tasks seemed hard for him and he was behaving differently. Even my younger brother who only lives 1.5 hours away from them and sees them on a regular basis felt that something was up. But at that time he understood what was going on with me and why I went to the hospital in the first place. Eventually we would come to find out that my father indeed had brain cancer that originated in his lungs from years of smoking. His story will need to be a separate blog, one that as of now I’m not sure I can write, but on October 21st we lost my father to the cancer.

Tamara, My Mom and Dad and I during my 40th birthday celebration in 2019.

Days Four thru Six

These days seem to flow together now. Everyday was the same, I wake up, try to eat a breakfast, and eventually sleep most of the day. I never leave the room as I do not want to potentially pass the virus on to anyone else. I routinely check the My Health app for an update on my free COVID test from Day 2. By now we are approaching the 5th day and I was hoping results might actually come in sooner. On the morning of Day 5 I have had enough. My family is doing all they can to nurse me back to health but by this time I am tired of being sick and tired. My wife urged me to take vitamins and medicine but I fought and resisted at every turn. Even my mother called me and told me to listen to my wife’s instruction. One of the vitamins made me sick to my stomach. I remember breaking down when I heard my mother’s voice. I just didn’t want to be in that position anymore. I hated sleeping alone, I hated being away from my family in my own house, and I hated the aches, pains and headaches. My wife sat at the doorway and consoled me with her mask fully on. Fortunately it was summer so I could also have all the windows up. After my moment of sorrow, I determined that this would not be the end, and I would fight harder. I began to sit up more, and I even remember splitting a deep dish pizza with my son. This was the most I ate in two days. Fortunately my church was setup to stream our services live and I was able to watch and participate in Sunday morning service via Youtube. I say participate because church should be more than just a video that one watches, but you should still try to experience the presence of God in your home. Fortunately for my household we have enough instruments to hold our own church service, and during this pandemic we have on several occasions.

That evening I received a call from the hospital that I visited 3 days prior. They informed that I indeed tested positive for COVID-19 and that I should quarantine myself and let them know if my symptoms get any worse. This was not shocking news, but now I could inform everyone that indeed I had the virus.

Days Seven thru Fourteen

These days all seem to blend together now. I would go through the same cycles of aches in my body and headaches. I was still warm, but I don’t recall my body temperature reaching above 100.3 degrees. I would rest as needed, but I would get dizzy if I sat up for too long. The main difference for this week is that I began to notice a difference in my breathing. If I took a deep breath it felt like my lungs were filling up with needles. It even began to get harder to breath. I had to use one of my daughter’s albuterol inhalers (I am NOT advocating for doing the same) and eventually the sensation of not being able to catch my breath went away. I still was not eating regularly, and when I stepped on the scale, I had lost 19 pounds from when my symptoms first started. I won’t get into the gory details of my bowel movements but they were not normal, it was clear that I had a virus. And it would make it easier to determine when the virus had run its course.

By the end of the second week the entire household felt the strain of my sickness. My wife was completely worn out from running the house and sleeping in our daughters bed and still having to make sure everyone ate. I remember my family setting up our instruments in the living room and they would sing and have service. One afternoon I cam down to join them on the drums, fully masked up. It was spirit filled and I enjoyed the worship, but it completely drained me. My family and I would miss another Sunday of in-person (actually the church was in the parking lot) worship but I believed I was on the mend. This next week would prove that.

Days Fifteen thru Twenty One

By now most of my symptoms were either gone or marginally reduced. I would still get headaches from time to time, and needed to rest, but for the most part I was able to function normally. Now science suggests that the virus can remain in your body for up to 14 days even after your symptoms go away. My symptoms had not fully gone away, but I was pretty sure the virus was on its way out. I was working as normal and participating in all of the meetings that I could. I kept giving updates to my family and friends as requested. At this point there wasn’t much to report. I was feeling better but wasn’t sure if the virus had completely left my system. Disinfectant spray used
That Saturday my wife was determined to totally disinfect the room and put new sheets on the bed in hopes that the virus had left my body. I stayed downstairs on the coach with my mask on while this disinfecting process was going on. The kids made sure to spray Disinfectant spray every where I walked, touched, or sat. Later that morning my son drove me to the urgent care clinic so I could get another COVID-19 test administered. Unlike the previous two times, this test did not require a full nasal swab, rather the nurse went on the inside of the nostril and swabbed around for about 10 seconds. This test was much less painful, but hopefully just as accurate. Later on I remember my wife ordering me a Five Guys Burger. This was food for my soul as I greatly desired junk food as my appetite returned. However I was barely able to finish and it was definitely my last meal of the day. I remember staying up and watching NBA Bubble Playoffs and a Boxing Bubble match on Showtime. I definitely was not as fatigued as I was at the beginning of this whole ordeal. The next day my family and I rose to worship and praise in our living room. Once again I was on the drums and it was a much needed praise session. We then watched our church’s service on Youtube live. After the service my pastor called me to check up on me. This was a very welcomed surprise and by that time I was feeling back to my normal self, I just needed a negative COVID test so I could re-integrate with my own family.

I got the call on the next day that my test was NEGATIVE. I was extremely happy and relieved. My family and I gave up a praise of thanksgiving and began the integration process. I still needed to quarantine myself from society for the next 10 days, but my family no longer feared being around me.

Conclusion

The coronavirus pandemic seemingly came out of nowhere. Sure we know it originated in China, but in my lifetime we have not seen a pandemic on this proportion. Schools, Businesses and Sporting events closed immediately, sometimes in the middle of operation. People from all walks of life were affected, even our President who initially downplayed how bad this virus would spread in the country. This year of 2020 has been one horrific nightmare for many of us. From the loss of Kobe, to the pandemic, to the loss of very close family members and friends.

But the Bible tells us that “perilous times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1) Even Jesus warned that there will be famine and pestilence (Matthew 24:7) throughout the earth. There are signs of when “the end” will come however God can crack the sky whenever He chooses, the thing of importance is that people have made their calling and election sure. That they have obeyed the voice of the Lord and have been born of water and Spirit. That they have lived a holy life dedicated to Jesus. All of the turmoil won’t matter. Yes it hurts, yes it is painful when we lose a loved one or someone gets sick, but God is Greater! This is coming from someone that suffered great personal loss in this year of 2020, I am speaking from experience, and I want to encourage everyone to ENDURE (Matthew 24:13), to stay in the fight, keep your eyes on Him and never lose faith. We shall reap if we faint not! God bless you and heaven smile upon you and your entire family.

Bro. Chris Roberts Sr.