WWYD? Covid (living with a positive person)

[Tap]

DS27 just tested positive for COVID. He first had symptoms on 4-15-21(2 days ago). He lives with 3 additional roommates who are all 20-30yo.  He went home yesterday to quarantine at his house. His roommates all got tested and are negative.  DD and I got tested today and are negative as well. I am vaccinated so I am very low risk.

The roommate situation is that 4 guys share 1600sqft. One kitchen, one bathroom. He will have to go inside the house and care for himself (cook most of his own meals etc). Seriously, his buddies are great, but they are still guys. LOL He is the more domesticated of all of them, so he does the majority of cooking/cleaning etc.

DD14 is now quarantined because he was here yesterday. He is her sitter when I am at work during the week. She will get tested again in 5 days. Due to her quarantine, I would only need to take one week off work (to be home with her), but since I just lost my sitter, in reality it is now 2 weeks (as long as he recovers quickly). There is no other option for care for her. The only people who could watch her aren't vax'd. 

I am considering letting him quarantine here instead of his house. The main reason, is so he can still watch dd during the day. She doesn't need physical care, she just gets upset in an empty house all day and starts flipping out. He can interact with her and even talk with her over ZOOM or watch a movie on a tandem website.  I want to ask for ideas on how to navigate this and if it is a bad idea. He will self-isolate severely in the office (former master bedroom). He will have a private bath and plenty of room. He will stay only in that room, unless we are all in bed for the night. Then he can go to the kitchen etc from maybe 12am-2am, but he won't linger out of the room, and will use N95 mask and  Clorox wipes along the way.  We have an electronic air cleaner on the whole house and we have a portable HEPA that he can use in his room (The HEPA is way more powerful than needed for one room). I will deliver meals to his door and he can have a few things inside the room like a small microwave, hot pot ect. He can wash a few dishes in the sink like his drinking glass etc. I will buy disposable plates or just handle his plate judiciously. A cooler for drinks (he can drain melted water in to the tub or I can buy dry ice). He can go in the back yard at night or early morning if he wants to get fresh air and walk around the block. Our neighborhood is safe and quiet at night. (Not an option where he lives)

The biggest concern....how long will this increase dd's quarantine? DD is 14, morbidly obese but that is her only risk factor. She is also needle phobic, so vaccination isn't happening for her. If she gets covid, her obesity is a concern. But since she won't get vaccinate, I feel it is inevitable she is going to get it at some time. She is going crazy already and her life hasn't actually changed yet. Just the idea that she can't go anywhere is causing issues. LOL What other things haven't I thought of? He likes the idea of being here so he doesn't make all his friends quarantine too for 2+weeks (especially since it can creep through the roommates and result in multiple installments of quarantine). They will still quarantine, but for a shorter time if he 'moves out' of the rental.  He has a private bath here and faster internet. LOL Plus mom-meals vs what ever he can quickly scrounge in the kitchen. 

ETA: To clarify, I am fully vaccinated. 

Edited April 18, 2021 by Tap

[Drama Llama]

You are vaccinated right?

I think I would do this. I would keep his windows open and run a fan facing out the window.  

[Spryte]

I think I’d do it, too, if you are vaccinated.  You have a good set up for it. It solves a lot of issues.

I hope he recovers quickly!

[J-rap]

I think I'd be okay with that arrangement too.  I think you have a good solution. 

My dd was in a similar set-up, but with house-mates.  She lives with 6 housemates, and one of them got Covid.  Their house had two bathrooms, so he got one, and everyone else shared the other one during that period.  He stayed in his bedroom all day unless he had to use "his" bathroom.  He only went into the kitchen when there was an all-clear and everyone else was out of the house or in their rooms.  Amazingly, no one else got Covid.

Now, they did all get Covid eventually, but not from him!  (And not till several months later.)

 

[fraidycat]

It sounds like a good set up for his quarantine.

But, it does increase your dd's quarantine time. Forgive me, because I have trouble keeping all the numbers and rules straight, but I believe that she will have to quarantine for an additional 7-10 days after your son is considered not contagious, which is... X (7? 10? 🤷🏻‍♀️) days after he tested positive.

A friend of mine has Covid go through her house. 2 adults and 2 kids got it. They are now considered recovered/non-contagious and back out in the world. BUT, the two kids who didn't get it... still in quarantine until April 22nd.

[Catwoman]

I am just about the most Covid-phobic person on the planet, and I would still do this.

I think your plan sounds good, and in addition to being beneficial to your dd, it will also be good for you to be able to keep an eye on your son to make sure he’s ok, and to be able to make sure he’s eating and drinking, and to be there in case his symptoms get any worse.

[SounderChick]

We weren't able to isolate from DH what it meant is that our quarantine was quite a bit longer.  After his 10 days we had to do another 10 days or 7 with negative test.   

[Catwoman]

3 minutes ago, kand said:

I agree with everyone else that this sounds like a reasonable way to do things, with my only concern being if you mean you wouldn’t be home while your ds was responsible for dd. I wouldn’t feel very comfortable if a situation arose and he needed to interact with her directly. I can’t remember exactly her diagnoses, but if she’s on the spectrum or has intellectual disabilities, those are also a Covid risk factor, so I would feel concerned about the double risk factors. I’m not sure what your other options are, but since the original plan was for him to not be at your house at all, it seems like going with whatever you would’ve done to have her care covered in that case would be safer.
 

I know you said that you expect she’s likely to get Covid at some point anyway, but she won’t necessarily if we’re fortunate enough that cases drop significantly once most people are vaccinated. Plus, it seems like the longer you can wait, the better the chance there are better treatments.

I hope your son feels better soon.

That’s a good point that I hadn’t really considered. 

Also... Tap, are you sure your dd will respect your son’s quarantine, or will she demand to go in and see him? And I know she can be pretty intense — will her personality be too difficult for your son to deal with while he’s sick? 

[Tap]

2 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

That’s a good point that I hadn’t really considered. 

Also... Tap, are you sure your dd will respect your son’s quarantine, or will she demand to go in and see him? And I know she can be pretty intense — will her personality be too difficult for your son to deal with while he’s sick? 

I think she will respect it, she doesn't want to get sick. She also knows that if she does go in, then it will reset her quarantine. Ds is barely sick with very light cold symptoms. He told me today that if he wasn't quarantined, he would have gone to play Ultimate Frisbee today. He has taken care of her for 5 or 6 years so he is well versed in taking care of her. He is honestly more like a parent to her, than a brother. 

[Tap]

13 minutes ago, kand said:

I agree with everyone else that this sounds like a reasonable way to do things, with my only concern being if you mean you wouldn’t be home while your ds was responsible for dd. I wouldn’t feel very comfortable if a situation arose and he needed to interact with her directly. I can’t remember exactly her diagnoses, but if she’s on the spectrum or has intellectual disabilities, those are also a Covid risk factor, so I would feel concerned about the double risk factors. I’m not sure what your other options are, but since the original plan was for him to not be at your house at all, it seems like going with whatever you would’ve done to have her care covered in that case would be safer.
 

I know you said that you expect she’s likely to get Covid at some point anyway, but she won’t necessarily if we’re fortunate enough that cases drop significantly once most people are vaccinated. Plus, it seems like the longer you can wait, the better the chance there are better treatments.

I hope your son feels better soon.

If he had to interact with her, he could mask up and come out. It would just potentially reset her quarantine. Yes, she is on the spectrum and ID, but she is 100% verbal and very in tune with her body. I think some of the issue with those dx, is that they can't communicate symptoms well. She is a bit of a hypochondriac. LOL

[Catwoman]

12 minutes ago, Tap said:

I think she will respect it, she doesn't want to get sick. She also knows that if she does go in, then it will reset her quarantine. Ds is barely sick with very light cold symptoms. He told me today that if he wasn't quarantined, he would have gone to play Ultimate Frisbee today. He has taken care of her for 5 or 6 years so he is well versed in taking care of her. He is honestly more like a parent to her, than a brother. 

I think your plan will work!

I’m also glad to hear how well your son is doing!

[katilac]

20 hours ago, Tap said:

She is also needle phobic, so vaccination isn't happening for her. 

Unrelated to this specific question, but I wanted to say that you can ask her doctor for anti-anxiety meds if you do want her vaccinated at some point. 

[Tap]

2 hours ago, katilac said:

Unrelated to this specific question, but I wanted to say that you can ask her doctor for anti-anxiety meds if you do want her vaccinated at some point. 

I appreciate the suggestion, but she requires full sedation (like for surgery---not just a pill or laughing gas) for shots and blood draws etc. We used to do blood work once a year at a children's hospital so they could have done it then, but due to her weight, they will no longer sedate her for an elective procedure (blood draw/immunization).  She has severe PTSD due to too many restrained blood draws when she was about 4-6yo (she was on a med that required dosing levels). 

[Halftime Hope]

2 minutes ago, Tap said:

I appreciate the suggestion, but she requires full sedation (like for surgery---not just a pill or laughing gas) for shots and blood draws etc. We used to do blood work once a year at a children's hospital so they could have done it then, but due to her weight, they will no longer sedate her for an elective procedure (blood draw/immunization).  She has severe PTSD due to too many restrained blood draws when she was about 4-6yo (she was on a med that required dosing levels). 

I've heard of oral (pill) vaxxes in the works.  I'm looking forward to learning more about them! 

[Pen]

I would go with your plan to have your son at your house.

the only thing I would tend to do that I didn’t see you mention would be have your dd take D3 supplements if she is medically able and behaviorally willing to do that. Obviously not if not right for her personal health situation. 

posdibly some other supplements too, but most especially D3

Family of mine where one sibling got Cv had no one else in family catch it — and they hadn’t even been being especially careful because his symptoms were close to zero. (Eta: far more contact than you are describing such as similar aged boys who wrestle and roughhouse right in each other’s faces extensively). They did have excellent vitamin D status (from sun mostly in their latitude).  Ironically the quarantine was longer (14 days?) for well people than for the one “sick” (only 7 days after recovery, which as he had only s few hours of symptoms basically meant just 7 days total  Iirc ).  My recollection is that it was 14 days for the well people and ran from last extensive contact with “sick” one —and did not restart based on minor further contacts with the “sick” one.   They used their state rules at the time which may be different now or in different location. 

Edited April 19, 2021 by Pen

[Tap]

11 hours ago, Pen said:

I would go with your plan to have your son at your house.

the only thing I would tend to do that I didn’t see you mention would be have your dd take D3 supplements if she is medically able and behaviorally willing to do that. Obviously not if not right for her personal health situation. 

posdibly some other supplements too, but most especially D3

Family of mine where one sibling got Cv had no one else in family catch it — and they hadn’t even been being especially careful because his symptoms were close to zero. (Eta: far more contact than you are describing such as similar aged boys who wrestle and roughhouse right in each other’s faces extensively). They did have excellent vitamin D status (from sun mostly in their latitude).  Ironically the quarantine was longer (14 days?) for well people than for the one “sick” (only 7 days after recovery, which as he had only s few hours of symptoms basically meant just 7 days total  Iirc ).  My recollection is that it was 14 days for the well people and ran from last extensive contact with “sick” one —and did not restart based on minor further contacts with the “sick” one.   They used their state rules at the time which may be different now or in different location. 

Thanks for the reminder but we all 3 take 50,000 IU of vit d3 weekly. I also have us taking Sambucol with zinc. 

[Pen]

50 minutes ago, Tap said:

Thanks for the reminder but we all 3 take 50,000 IU of vit d3 weekly. I also have us taking Sambucol with zinc. 

sounds good!  I am also on 50K weekly system along with A and K and cofactors (magnesium etc).   When I keep my D good reliably I have personally never gotten any viral type illness. 

for some people (high latitude, high body weight, specific circumstances, etc) an extra 50K might on occasion be a good idea  — without a test it is hard to know for sure  ... one person I know of needs 50K around every 5 days to keep levels good, for example 

Im mentioning because it is possible if your Dd is a very big girl and in high latitude (both of which I believe are true) that even though that sounds like a lot it might be that it is not actually a lot for her.
 

 Also iirc  I think D gets used up while dealing with certain things — perhaps such as being used up by the Cathelicidins / macrophages etc immune system process 

[Tap]

14 minutes ago, Pen said:

sounds good!  I am also on 50K weekly system along with A and K and cofactors (magnesium etc).   When I keep my D good reliably I have personally never gotten any viral type illness. 

for some people (high latitude, high body weight, specific circumstances, etc) an extra 50K might on occasion be a good idea  — without a test it is hard to know for sure  ... one person I know of needs 50K around every 5 days to keep levels good, for example 

Im mentioning because it is possible if your Dd is a very big girl and in high latitude (both of which I believe are true) that even though that sounds like a lot it might be that it is not actually a lot for her.
 

 Also iirc  I think D gets used up while dealing with certain things — perhaps such as being used up by the Cathelicidins / macrophages etc immune system process 

Thanks for the advice. Since we can't monitor her blood levels we just blindly stay at 50,000 weekly. It was the last dose she was on when we were able to monitor her dose. We don't want to get too high, but still maintain. She is mid-range/darker skinned but living in Washington makes out outdoor vitamin d absorption limited.  Our latitude is low, but you are correct on her size.

[Pen]

21 minutes ago, Tap said:

Thanks for the advice. Since we can't monitor her blood levels we just blindly stay at 50,000 weekly. It was the last dose she was on when we were able to monitor her dose. We don't want to get too high, but still maintain. She is mid-range/darker skinned but living in Washington makes out outdoor vitamin d absorption limited.  Our latitude is low, but you are correct on her size.

not advice! I do not give medical advice!

I was merely saying what I do, and what I know from others. If 50K was an excellent dose when monitoring I would definitely stick to that.  (note - “I would stick with that” means exactly what I wrote - what *I* personally would do - not advice!) 
 

I think you may have latitude and altitude confused.

I am in Oregon and consider my latitude (in the 40s) to be high from a vitamin D POV. Basically we cannot get adequate Vitamin D from sun here most of the year even for people with pale skin.   All of Washington state has even higher latitude than where I am.  ETA as a “rule of thumb” for vitamin D purposes, above 37 degrees seems generally to be considered high latitude where sun is insufficient for D production most of year

 

ETA for others who may be interested - 37 degree latitude in USA cuts through California and Virginia btw - Arizona to North Carolina are below the 37 degree line.  But I have family in some of the below 37 degree latitude states and it can still be hard to get D in winter in some areas if it is cold and skin is covered by clothes, or if it is rainy or cloudy most of the time. 

Edited April 19, 2021 by Pen

[Tap]

2 hours ago, Pen said:

not advice! I do not give medical advice!

I was merely saying what I do, and what I know from others. If 50K was an excellent dose when monitoring I would definitely stick to that.  (note - “I would stick with that” means exactly what I wrote - what *I* personally would do - not advice!) 
 

I think you may have latitude and altitude confused.

I am in Oregon and consider my latitude (in the 40s) to be high from a vitamin D POV. Basically we cannot get adequate Vitamin D from sun here most of the year even for people with pale skin.   All of Washington state has even higher latitude than where I am.  ETA as a “rule of thumb” for vitamin D purposes, above 37 degrees seems generally to be considered high latitude where sun is insufficient for D production most of year

 

ETA for others who may be interested - 37 degree latitude in USA cuts through California and Virginia btw - Arizona to North Carolina are below the 37 degree line.  But I have family in some of the below 37 degree latitude states and it can still be hard to get D in winter in some areas if it is cold and skin is covered by clothes, or if it is rainy or cloudy most of the time. 

LOL. I used the "a" word loosely. I know you are not a medical representative giving me specific medical advice on my daughter. Just a general "what you would do" as a layman on the internet, with zero medical experience. 🤣Those 6 letters can be such a loaded word when a person works in healthcare. Haha

You are right, I miss read what you were saying. Yes, we are in a high latitude.

 

[mommyoffive]

I am so glad your son is doing well!  Sending more good thoughts!