One of my favorite things to do during my spare time is read all of the crazy conspiracy theories about COVID-19. Some of the hypotheses are so bizarre and far-fetched, yet super interesting and entertaining. Some people are calling this whole thing a big, fat hoax and rumoring that it’s just a political stunt because it’s election year. Mind = blown! I also love observing all of the “Chicken Littles” in the world—you know who you are—running around screaming the fable’s central phase: “The sky is falling!” There are SO many people out there accustomed to being unreasonably afraid and overly paranoid, or those trying to incite fear in everyone around them. People are living on both sides of the spectrum.
When the Central Valley issued its first shelter-in-place order on March 18th, my fiancé and I started preparing to spend the next few weeks in quarantine, isolated from the rest of the world.
With everything shut down and nothing to do, we spent all of our time mindlessly watching the news for hours on end. It was so fascinating to me hearing how so many people who tested positive for the virus did not show the “classic” signs and symptoms. That is—fever, shortness of breath, loss of smell, etc. Some reported a wide range of symptoms, while others didn’t show any. Did that mean it was possible to catch coronavirus and not know it?
With that thought in mind, I acted on my curiosity and decided to take the SARS-CoV-2 antibody test, also known as the serological test. The purpose of this test is NOT to see if you have COVID-19 but rather to detect antibodies. In other words, it’s looking to see if your immune system has responded to the infection at a previous time.
This test promises answers for many curious people like myself who are wanting confirmation that we are hopefully immune to the virus. However, there’s a lot of unknowns right now regarding these antibodies and just how protective they really are.
Testing positive for the antibodies would mean that you either had coronavirus at one point in time OR you were exposed & were asymptomatic. It may not necessarily mean you’re immune to getting the virus again in the future.
When I arrived to the testing center, I was the only patient there. The lab purposefully staggered appointments to maintain #socialdistancing guidelines. I was in and out in about five minutes MAX. The process was streamline and super easy.
After less than 24 hours of waiting, I received my results… Negative.
This left me with even more questions. I was disappointed and a bit concerned. I had hoped the test would provide me with some clarity about how to move forward. A positive result would have made me feel more comfortable in public places and allowed me to pursue ways to volunteer to help others to understand this virus.
However, a negative result opens up the doors to so many possibilities and the potential that I could still get sick if I’ve been exposed. It meant that I needed to err on the side of caution. According to the local news, there were already hundreds, if not thousands, of cases here. As a registered nurse, the amount of people that I am exposed to from the community on a daily basis is quite overwhelming. A part of me thinks that if I were to contract it, I would have already gotten it by now. Right?
I supposed the take home message from this whole experience is that my fiancé and I are doing a pretty darn good job at this whole quarantining thing. It’s unfortunate and a pain in the rear to have to wear masks in public, and we sure do miss happy hour and bottomless chips and salsa. BUT, whatever we are doing is working, which is bittersweet I guess.
Stay safe & healthy everyone!
