I Got Tested

COVID-19 testing site at the county campus in White Cloud

N3 Staff goes through the process. Free testing continues tomorrow (Sunday, June 14th) 10am-4pm

No, I haven’t been symptomatic.
Oh I cough and sneeze on occasion and experience shortness of breath when I climb the multitude of stairs we seem to have in and around N3 World Headquarters but hey, I used to get shortness of breath going from first to third in softball.
Side note: I was known for hitting some of the longest singles on the team since my speed on the basepaths matched my endurance.

Fatigue? Well sheesh, since I’m closing in on joining the septuagenarian crowd I get tired watching sports these days much less participating.
(South Korean baseball league, mornings at 5:30am on ESPN. Perhaps worth another story some time)

Aches and pains? Look, I walk about 3 miles a day, work out when gyms are open and try to do a bit of stretching here and there and yet when my friend Mark, an avid pickleballer takes me to the courts  I spend a minimum of a half hour getting my socks and shoes on the next day.

Loss of taste? Well, unless taste in clothing is included, no none of that. In fact should I ever lose my taste for Lil’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookies or rhubarb muffins life would be significantly emptier indeed.

So no, no outwardly obvious and newly acquired symptoms and no presently known preexisting conditions that would make me more vulnerable...well, except that age thing of course.
It has been mortifying to hear about a particular age group being vulnerable and suddenly realizing you’re in it.
Me at the start of the pandemic: “I sure feel bad for those older folks who are more susceptible to the virus.”
Lil- “It’s OUR age group they’re talking about you know.”
Me (suddenly struck by the reality of my years) “Yeah, I know. I just meant…”. as my voice trailed off like it does when I realize the folly of something I just said.

But despite no apparent cause for concern all of the folks with medical and scientific backgrounds that I trust seem to indicate widespread testing is one of the ways to give us a handle on the extent of the spread and hopefully help in this once in a couple three lifetimes event that I never wish to repeat.

I know, I know, there are some out there who  embrace any number of theories about this whole shebang but in the land of ‘what ifs’ I tend to lean toward precautionary approaches to situations that could lead to disastrous results.

So I got tested.

Our local (regional) health department in collaboration with the National Guard, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), Local Law Enforcement and Emergency Management are testing this weekend at the county offices in White Cloud. It provided a golden opportunity to do a drive through testing for myself and check out the system they had in place. Was it going to be crowded? Would the process be difficult? How were they going to pull off a community wide testing?

What I found when I got there was a thing of organizational beauty. It was well planned, well guided, seamless as possible and operated with the efficiency of a well oiled machine.

I was directed to drive to my first station where I was registered and received instructions on how to get my results, which would take a few days. A small baggie containing my information was placed on my windshield and I was directed to the testing site where an exceptionally polite young man explained the test and said there might be a little discomfort as he proceeded to probe my right nostril with a swab.

It was over instantaneously and I was guided to the exit where I saw my friend Dianne Taylor Chandler was manning her post. We chatted for a bit while maintaining proper social distancing and I was on my way.

My hope, of course, is to pass with flying colors (a phrase seldom appropriate during my scholastic career) and not end up having to quarantine or risk passing it along to the nurse who lets me share living quarters with her.

Overall it felt like a good thing to do and as I said before if it helps in any way to supply more information and give us all more tools to  combat COVID-19? 
It was worth a bit of right nostril probing.
-Ken DeLaat