Daughter Rachael is in her bedroom right now with a 101.5 degree fever and a cough. She started out the morning fine, was helping me make vegetable soup and cornbread for lunch, when she suddenly said, “I’m getting the chills.” A trip upstairs to retrieve the thermometer revealed a 100.5 fever, which soon crept to 101.5, where it’s remained all day and evening. I went in this afternoon to check on her and she started to cry, “I’m afraid I’ve exposed you and Dad to the coronavirus.”

First of all, we have no idea what Rachael has. She thought she was having trouble with her allergies because she has developed a cough. But her physician sister Sarah says that allergies can be ruled out if there is a fever. So now we’re comparing her symptoms to the coronavirus symptoms, but Rachael has a wet, not dry cough. Plus, she doesn’t have a sore throat. So, we don’t quite know what we’re looking at here.

Second, we are not quite certain what we are supposed to do even if she does have the symptoms for coronavirus. From what I’ve heard on television, she just needs to hunker down and treat this like any other virus: lots of fluids and bedrest. Clearly, we need to all stay away from other people and monitor how we’re feeling since we’re the “elders” who might have more trouble if this was the real deal. I guess I will call our health care provider tomorrow and ask about the protocol for getting tested.

Bottom line: Rachael may just have the regular flu. She went to San Diego last weekend with friends and none of them are sick so far. However, the fact is that this pandemic we’re facing right now is real and we have to be aware of just how easily it spreads.

As for us, we’ll take this one day at a time and see what happens as we go. We definitely are holing up for now since we don’t know what we’re facing. If Rachael’s symptoms worsen, then I’ll get a Kaiser nurse on the phone and find out immediately what the next step is.

I’ll keep you posted on how Rachael is faring. Luckily, she’s a strong young woman with a very good immune system. Hopefully, she’s bounce right back by tomorrow and we’ll all just be happy she’s feeling better.

Fingers are crossed.

As for all of you: be safe!