KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City mom is sharing her family’s story after COVID-19 hit their household.
Jessica Salazar Collins says she, her husband and their oldest son, 12, all tested positive for the virus and all had varied symptoms. Their youngest son never showed symptoms, but the family was told to presume he also had it.
Salazar Collins’ husband started showing a range of symptoms.
“He had a fever, he was sneezing, coughing,” she said, adding that when he suggested getting tested, she didn’t think it was coronavirus at first. She said their family took precautions.
“I work at a hospital, so this was something that we just took very seriously,” she said. “Always washing our hands, always wearing masks when we go out, which is very limited. You know, we’ve turned down family gatherings, our kids aren’t doing summer camps this summer.
“So it was still kind of a shock that the one time we decided to venture out, that’s when we got sick,” she said.
Collins said she got an email that someone had tested positive somewhere they had recently visited. When her son started getting sick, she took him to the doctor.
“So we went to urgent care and his ears tested fine. He tested negative for strep,” she said. “Then it kind of clicked. I said, ‘Oh my God, could he have coronavirus?’”
Salazar Collins said she, her husband and son were tested for COVID-19 at Care Now and got their positive test results in two or three days.
"The health department told us not to leave our house, not to even go outside," she said.
The family quarantined, and so did other family members who see their children each day.
“I don’t think I could have forgiven myself if anything happened to them, especially my grandma, because they take care of the kids,” Salazar Collins said.
Fortunately, Salazar Collins said those other family members never showed symptoms. In her household, symptoms were varied. Her husband, she said, “had nausea, high fever. He even got pink eye. My son just had a high fever and slept for three days and then by the fourth day he was fine.”
Her symptoms started like allergies.
“And then I woke up one day and the flu-like symptoms hit me. I just felt like I was hit by a truck,” she said.
Now, they’re staying at home even more and keeping up their video chats with loved ones, including one grandmother she hasn’t seen in months.
“I mean, we’re a really close family and I haven’t seen her in person since February,” she said.
The family ended their quarantine last month. She said symptoms had started four to five days after their believed exposure. Collins said she and her husband still deal with lingering effects of the illness. She still sometimes needs an inhaler that she was prescribed due to COVID-19. Her husband still battles fatigue.
She hopes that by sharing their story, more families will take the virus seriously.
