{"id":41913,"date":"2020-10-08T08:53:25","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T15:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=41913"},"modified":"2020-10-08T08:53:27","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T15:53:27","slug":"pearson-kellys-chelsey-bode-shares-first-hand-account-of-covid-19-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2020\/10\/pearson-kellys-chelsey-bode-shares-first-hand-account-of-covid-19-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Pearson-Kelly\u2019s Chelsey Bode Shares First-Hand Account of COVID-19 Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Chelsey Bode, Pearson-Kelly Technology<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In a year that\u2019s been wholly out of the ordinary, Chelsey\nBode was looking forward to achieving some semblance of normalcy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 37-year-old president of Pearson-Kelly Technology in\nSpringfield, Missouri\u2014a social butterfly with high energy and a zest for\nlife\u2014was eager to embark on the Labor Day weekend, and the itinerary included a\nweekend trip to the lake with husband, Kraig, and their children, ages six and\nnine. It would be a great way to cap off the summer and provide the kids with a\nfinal holiday hurrah before school started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Thursday leading up to the holiday weekend, Chelsey\nand her family sat down with her parents for dinner. Everyone was enjoying the\nmeal except for Kraig, who felt the Reuben sandwiches were disgusting\u2014in fact,\nhe said they tasted like \u201ccleaner.\u201d Neither Chelsey nor the rest of the family\nsensed anything out of the ordinary with their meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day, Kraig was experiencing a \u201csummer cough\/cold,\u201d but she felt fine. That is until Chelsey got a call from her sister-in-law. It seems one of the participants in Kraig\u2019s fantasy football league\u2014which had held its draft at the Bode home the previous Sunday\u2014fell ill and tested positive for COVID-19. Mindful of Kraig\u2019s taste complaint and mild cold\/flu-like symptoms, Bode became alarmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I heard this, I had a panicky shortness of breath,\u201d\nshe said. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel 100%, I felt icky and didn\u2019t want to do anything,\nwhich is the opposite of my M.O.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come Saturday morning, the trip to the lake was canceled. She had a fever of 101 and felt achy, with a sinus headache and a cough. They both got tested but needed to wait until the labs opened on Tuesday to receive the news. Still, they already knew they had COVID-19. And in fact, they did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Different Experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was striking is the difference in how husband and wife\nwere impacted. Throughout their isolation, Kraig only experienced a loss of\ntaste and smell (it returned after 11 days). Chelsey felt better by the third\nday, and was able to salvage Labor Day poolside at their home. But when day 10\narrived, COVID-19 hammered Chelsey in different and wholly unpleasant ways, as\nshe experienced a wide range of symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe worst part of it was the sinus pressure,\u201d she said.\n\u201cI\u2019d had sinus infections before, but on the worst days of this, when I\ncouldn\u2019t get out of bed, there was so much pressure. I\u2019ve never suffered from\nmigraines, but I have to imagine this experience is similar. I had pressure\naround my eyes, swelling of the face, and I couldn\u2019t lay flat. It was like the\npressure you experience on a descending plane.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her doctor prescribed Singulair, normally used to treat asthma patients because her breathing was extremely shallow. Her chest and heart area felt achy, and even now\u2014despite being cleared on Sept. 18\u2014she still feels occasional chest pain. For a 37-year-old with no pre-existing health conditions, it was an alarming experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got hit a lot harder than I thought I would,\u201d she added. \u201cWe have friends who have gone through it, and a lot of their experiences were similar to my husband\u2019s\u2014very mild. My expectation was that it would be a lot easier to endure. I don\u2019t think I took it as seriously for my situation as I should have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her biggest fear throughout the experience was the knowledge\nthat they had exposed her parents (and the Bode children) to the virus,\nalthough everyone else was symptom-free. Her only other exposure consisted of\nbeing near two Pearson-Kelly employees in the break room earlier in the week,\nand Chelsey informed them that she was symptomatic. Fortunately, they were not\ninfected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve steered clear of the office since (testing positive),\u201d\nshe said. \u201cFrankly, it\u2019s almost like you have leprosy, the way people react\nwhen they hear it. My doctor told me to stay away from the office for five to\neight days after the symptoms end, and I was cleared on Sept. 18. I didn\u2019t go\nback until the week of the 28th<\/sup>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, Chelsey has been able to quarterback the Pearson-Kelly\nTechnology team from the comfort of her home office. She relied on Microsoft\nTeams to conference into office meetings. Now, she hopes to fall back into her\nnormal office routine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chelsey tries to avoid reading too many articles about side\neffects that are still being discovered in COVID patients, but news is hard to\navoid. For instance, her sister lives down the street from a 30-year-old\nchiropractor who was in great physical shape prior to contracting COVID-19, and\nthat man is now saddled with permanent heart damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHearing things like that drives me crazy,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that remains now is the memory of a lost weekend, bad\nReuben and guilt over hosting a fantasy football draft. \u201cAfter six months, you\nget to the point where you still have to live your life to some degree and want\nthat social interaction. That is why we went for it,\u201d she said. \u201cIn hindsight,\nthat was dumb. But COVID-19 has lingered for so long, it\u2019s a fine line of\nmitigating risk and also still being human. Until we get a vaccine, it\u2019s just\ngoing to be a vicious cycle, in my humble opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is an upside for Chelsey. \u201cOn the flip side, I\u2019m the safest person you can be around for the next 90 days. I feel like I have a pep in my step for a hot second.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a year that\u2019s been wholly out of the ordinary, Chelsey Bode was looking forward to achieving some semblance of normalcy. The 37-year-old president of Pearson-Kelly Technology in Springfield, Missouri\u2014a social butterfly with high energy and a zest for life\u2014was eager to embark on the Labor Day weekend, and the itinerary included a weekend trip to the lake with husband, Kraig, and their children, ages six and nine. It would be a great way to cap off the summer and provide the kids with a final holiday hurrah before school started. On the Thursday leading up to the holiday weekend, Chelsey and her family sat down with her parents for dinner. Everyone was enjoying the meal except for Kraig, who felt the Reuben sandwiches were disgusting\u2014in fact, he said they tasted like \u201ccleaner.\u201d Neither Chelsey nor the rest of the family sensed anything out of the ordinary with their meal. The next day, Kraig was experiencing a \u201csummer cough\/cold,\u201d but she felt fine. That is until Chelsey got a call from her sister-in-law. It seems one of the participants in Kraig\u2019s fantasy football league\u2014which had held its draft at the Bode home the previous Sunday\u2014fell ill and tested positive for COVID-19. Mindful of Kraig\u2019s taste complaint and mild cold\/flu-like symptoms, Bode became alarmed. \u201cWhen I heard this, I had a panicky shortness of breath,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel 100%, I felt icky and didn\u2019t want to do anything, which is the opposite of my M.O.\u201d Come Saturday morning, the trip to the lake was canceled. She had a fever of 101 and felt achy, with a sinus headache and a cough. They both got tested but needed to wait until the labs opened on Tuesday to receive the news. Still, they already knew they had COVID-19. And in fact, they did. Different Experiences What was striking is the difference in how husband and wife were impacted. Throughout their isolation, Kraig only experienced a loss of taste and smell (it returned after 11 days). Chelsey felt better by the third day, and was able to salvage Labor Day poolside at their home. But when day 10 arrived, COVID-19 hammered Chelsey in different and wholly unpleasant ways, as she experienced a wide range of symptoms. \u201cThe worst part of it was the sinus pressure,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019d had sinus infections before, but on the worst days of this, when I couldn\u2019t get out of bed, there was so much pressure. I\u2019ve never suffered from migraines, but I have to imagine this experience is similar. I had pressure around my eyes, swelling of the face, and I couldn\u2019t lay flat. It was like the pressure you experience on a descending plane.\u201d Her doctor prescribed Singulair, normally used to treat asthma patients because her breathing was extremely shallow. Her chest and heart area felt achy, and even now\u2014despite being cleared on Sept. 18\u2014she still feels occasional chest pain. For a 37-year-old with no pre-existing health conditions, it was an alarming experience. \u201cI got hit a lot harder than I thought I would,\u201d she added. \u201cWe have friends who have gone through it, and a lot of their experiences were similar to my husband\u2019s\u2014very mild. My expectation was that it would be a lot easier to endure. I don\u2019t think I took it as seriously for my situation as I should have.\u201d Her biggest fear throughout the experience was the knowledge that they had exposed her parents (and the Bode children) to the virus, although everyone else was symptom-free. Her only other exposure consisted of being near two Pearson-Kelly employees in the break room earlier in the week, and Chelsey informed them that she was symptomatic. Fortunately, they were not infected. \u201cI\u2019ve steered clear of the office since (testing positive),\u201d she said. \u201cFrankly, it\u2019s almost like you have leprosy, the way people react when they hear it. My doctor told me to stay away from the office for five to eight days after the symptoms end, and I was cleared on Sept. 18. I didn\u2019t go back until the week of the 28th.\u201d Fortunately, Chelsey has been able to quarterback the Pearson-Kelly Technology team from the comfort of her home office. She relied on Microsoft Teams to conference into office meetings. Now, she hopes to fall back into her normal office routine. What Now? Chelsey tries to avoid reading too many articles about side effects that are still being discovered in COVID patients, but news is hard to avoid. For instance, her sister lives down the street from a 30-year-old chiropractor who was in great physical shape prior to contracting COVID-19, and that man is now saddled with permanent heart damage. \u201cHearing things like that drives me crazy,\u201d she added. All that remains now is the memory of a lost weekend, bad Reuben and guilt over hosting a fantasy football draft. \u201cAfter six months, you get to the point where you still have to live your life to some degree and want that social interaction. That is why we went for it,\u201d she said. \u201cIn hindsight, that was dumb. But COVID-19 has lingered for so long, it\u2019s a fine line of mitigating risk and also still being human. Until we get a vaccine, it\u2019s just going to be a vicious cycle, in my humble opinion.\u201d But there is an upside for Chelsey. \u201cOn the flip side, I\u2019m the safest person you can be around for the next 90 days. I feel like I have a pep in my step for a hot second.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":41915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1650,82,87,1638],"tags":[3425,3654],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41913"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41913"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41916,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41913\/revisions\/41916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}