For those of you who commented on my last post, thank you so much for your sympathetic and encouraging responses to my tale of woe. As bad as the water damage was to our home caused by the rainstorm late Friday, Dec. 1, it could have been worse. You see, I was awake much earlier on Saturday morning than I normally would be and thus discovered the damage sooner.

On that same Friday my twin sister Diane, here from Georgia for a month-long visit, tested positive for Covid. She had started showing cold symptoms — a cough and sniffles — on Wednesday. Her symptoms continued and by Thursday evening all she wanted to do was go to bed. That was when I began to suspect she might have more than a cold.

The first home Covid test on Friday morning was negative so I waited a few hours and gave her another. That one was definitely positive. As an out-of-state visitor, the only way she could be seen by a physician (and presumably get a prescription for Paxlovid) was to go to a hospital Emergency Room. We decided to do that first thing Saturday morning.

At bedtime I told her to call me on my cellphone as soon as she was awake, even if it was really early in the morning, so we could get to the hospital when fewer people would be waiting to be seen. I think her call came around 5:30 am. And that’s when I discovered the water coming into my home. As it happened, my contractor was out of town for the weekend so I called the roofing company and left a message explaining what was happening. In fewer than 3o seconds, I had a text message reply:  “We’re on our way.”

So off Diane and I went to the ER, where she was indeed the only person in the waiting room. By then she had a temperature of 100.8. The ER doctor ordered an X-ray of her lungs, which showed some congestion, and he did prescribe Paxlovid. By midmorning we were back home, prescription in hand, and Diane was back in bed.

She quarantined in the guest room in the basement for the next week. (Although the Dear Husband and I are both up to date on our Covid vaccines (as well as vaccines for flu and RSV), Diane wanted to keep her distance from the DH since he’s in a high risk category due to his age and a heart condition.) It took two full days on Paxlovid before Diane started to feel better but every day after that she showed some improvement. Of course she had to delay her departure till she tested negative. I had the pleasure of her company for an extra week, which was a bonus for me.

During Diane’s time in the sick bay, I felt so sorry for her that I allowed Coco to visit her in the guest room, although that has always been off limits.

Do you think that was a mistake?