What’s it like waiting on a coronavirus test? Two in York County share their stories.
After days trying, Mary Rasmussen got her coronavirus test Wednesday. Now, she waits.
Rasmussen began experiencing flu-like symptoms about a week ago. She quarantined. It’s an experience the Tega Cay woman knows well. She was diagnosed with autoimmune disease Lupus two decades ago. Her house and car routinely have hand sanitizer bottles, disinfectant wipes and other now-hard-to-find items as public awareness of COVID-19 spreads.
“We’re already prepared for a pandemic anyway, because that’s just the way life is,” Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen agreed to share her experience in hopes others might better understand the importance of social distancing and prevention. She said Wednesday morning it will be three or four days before she knows whether her current ailment is the coronavirus. She can’t eat. She feels exhausted. Feels like she has bronchitis, but with a more severe tightness in her chest than with typical sickness.
“It feels like my stomach’s pushing up almost on my lungs,” Rasmussen said.
For a time she ran a fever. She and her husband stayed home. So did their son who commutes to college. Rasmussen wears a face mask and has to use her own silverware. She won’t cook. She uses disposable items when she can. Nobody comes into her home.
“I wash my hands constantly, not expose myself to the rest of the family,” Rasmussen said.
When symptoms began she went both to her doctor and online to find out about coronavirus testing. Even with her high risk status due to a preexisting condition, Rasmussen said it was several days back and forth between the doctor and state health department since she lives in South Carolina but has a physician in North Carolina.
Eventually the test Wednesday came through her doctor in Matthews, N.C. Rasmussen wonders whether coronavirus test cases in this area may skew some, with many residents in populated areas like Fort Mill, Tega Cay and Lake Wylie receiving medical care across the state line.
“Maybe our numbers are lower in South Carolina because it’s very hard to test, and so people may go into North Carolina,” she said.
As of early afternoon Wednesday, there were 47 positive test cases for COVID-19 in South Carolina. York County had one confirmed case, Lancaster County two. Kershaw County, just south of Lancaster, leads the state with 22 confirmed cases.
Apart from self-quarantine and symptom alleviation, there isn’t much Rasmussen can do until test results come back. She does monitor to make sure fever doesn’t return.
“I don’t like to assume anything,” she said. “If I started to have more complications, I would call my doctor immediately. I understand the risks that I have to deal with every day.”
Rasmussen runs a cybersecurity consulting company. She and her husband routinely attend and speak at conferences. They also travel. Just the past month, Rasmussen said, she’s been to Miami, Chicago, Tampa, Wisconsin. There was a conference in Charlotte.
Now she will work from home and present online. Steps Rasmussen said she would’ve taken even if she weren’t sick, given federal recommendation now for everyone to avoid large crowds.
“I was planning on doing that anyway, because I don’t want to get it,” she said of COVID-19.
Rasmussen hopes others will be thoughtful, and keep their distance from one another.
“Social distancing is very important,” she said. “If not for your own health, for the health of others. I’m so worried about the people we care about.”
‘They cannot test him’
Joe Lee, 53, hasn’t been able to see his son for a week.
His 22-year-old son has been experiencing symptoms associated with the coronavirus for about eight days. Fever. Cough. Trouble breathing.
His son, Allen Lee, who works as a busboy in a Charlotte restaurant, started to feel bad last Tuesday. And by Wednesday morning, Allen was running a 103-degree fever. His chest constantly felt tight.
“He’s just feeling horrible,” said Lee, who lives in York.
Lee told his son to go to a Rock Hill urgent care. He did and he was tested for flu and had his lungs X-rayed for pneumonia. Both were negative. Allen was sent home to self quarantine, and healthcare workers told him to call in a few days if his symptoms hadn’t subsided.
His fever continued throughout the weekend and his cough got worse. Allen called the urgent care back that following Monday.
“And they told him with current guidelines, that they cannot test him unless he’s traveled to China, Italy, Iran or one of the countries with a high case history and high death rate,” Lee said.
So, Lee called the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to know why his son hadn’t been tested for the virus.
“Their response was basically exactly what the doctor’s office told him that,” Lee said. “Unless you’ve traveled to one of these countries or are in critical conditions, we’re not testing.”
DHEC was not immediately available for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Lee said the decision to not test his son may be misleading the public.
“That tells me that the state of South Carolina, or someone really doesn’t want to know what the numbers are,” Lee said. “Because they are not testing people who are displaying obvious symptoms.”
Lee and his family have tried to stay away from Allen, who lives in Rock Hill.
His older sister brought him groceries the other day and left them at his door. Lee, who struggles with asthma, is fearful to go near his son and said he would feel relieved if Allen were able to get tested.
“Definitely if I contracted it, I would be in serious condition quickly,” Lee said. “If I could be in contact with him, it would kind of help him to see friendly faces. I can only share my care by phone. I can’t check on him.”
The separation has taken a toll on Allen, too.
“The hardest part of staying away from my dad is thinking of the possibility that he will be exposed to the virus anyway due to the lack of testing being done,” Allen said.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 3:28 PM.
