They live in New Orleans. My brother can't stay with her. They have two children. Carly is 12 years old, and Luke is seven.

I'm moving from stunned to terrified. And none of us can go be with him.

My thoughts and fears are with you.

Hope she pulls through just fine, Beth. I'm sure you're worried sick. Most are surviving so her chances are good. Glad she's getting supportive care.

Oh Beth, I know that you must be so worried. I hope that your SIL gets the very best of care.

Maybe your trust in ducks is misplaced, but I for one refuse to believe that!

And also, the Bell-Shaped-Curve is on your side.

Beth dear, you know we are with you on this.

I spent a decade in the New Orleans area, and while I have some good memories, I tend to think of it now almost as another country. They speak English there (most of them, anyway) but in some ways the local culture feels "foreign."

One other woman in the office where I worked was from somewhere else, and we were invariably referred to as "Yankees." We never quite assimilated.

Please keep us updated on your SIL's condition, and know that our community here cares!

that someone close to you was going to get infected. I'm so sorry that she is sick and my thoughts are with you and your family. Please keep us posted.

Beth, will be keeping your sister in law in my thoughts as well as you and your family. <3

So sorry Beth, this has to be terrifying for all of you.

be "young" so unless she has underlying health issues the odds are on the side of her recovery. Please keep us posted as to her condition. All the best!

How lonely for that poor family --being apart, and I'm sure terrified at the same time.

Best thoughts for them.

We're all behind you and your brother's family. I'm glad that she's getting care in the hospital ,and that she recovers quickly.
I know that all of you are nervous.

Our Very Best for you & all victims of this disaster

I just read this article today:

by Reuters
Wednesday, 25 March 2020

https://news.trust.org/item/20200325200808-oc1ie

"New Orleans emerges as next coronavirus epicenter, threatening rest of South"

At least the levy won’t break.

The virus levy already has. Goin' down, goin' down now.

I spoke with my brother yesterday. She's been in the hospital FOR A WEEK. Yesterday, my brother posted something on FB, my daughter saw it and told me, and I started texting with my brother.

She's been sick for about four weeks. My brother got sick first, and they thought it was the flu. He still has a cough but otherwise he feels fine. My SIL also had a cough and fever. On the third day of her fever, they started calling around trying to get her seen. Her doctor couldn't see her, urgent care couldn't see her - neither had tests. On the fifth day of her fever and cough, her doctor told them to take her to the ER because they can't turn her away. They admitted her.

She hasn't been intubated. She's on oxygen, and they're trying to get her to walk around. She's very tired. I told my brother about when my daughter had pneumonia when she was 12, and how we had to walk around. My daughter was in the hospital for 11 days.

My brother wondered if it would be better if she came home. I told him that it's good that she's in the hospital (he's been watching YouTube, and a lot of the information out there is bad). My niece and nephew are fine.

What else? Yes, she's pretty young - she and my brother are in their mid to late 30s. My brothers are 12, 15, and 16 years younger than me. My dad's are the the eldest and the middle brothers, and my mom's is the youngest. My middle brother is the one who lives in NOLA. My SIL is from NOLA and has deep family ties there. My brother's best friend from middle school went to Tulane and stayed, and my brother went down after college and stayed.

So, yeah. I'm the big sister who broke in our parents with my shenanigans so their worse behaviour didn't seems so bad. :) They used to call me when they were in some sort of fix to ask me how to tell Mom or Dad. I ran interference for them for years, and I guess I still do. A couple of months ago a collection agency of some sort called me asking for my eldest brother. I was like, "Errr...what's the middle initial...er...nope! Don't know him!" Then I reached out to him and asked him how I could help and I hadn't told Dad, blah blah." He took care of it.

Back to my SIL, Carly made cupcakes for her, and my brother said he was going to call to see if the hospital will let him leave them for her. My SIL, brother and their kiddos facetime a lot. We think that it helps the kids, plus visiting people in the hospital isn't usually a good thing unless someone just had a baby. It's probably good for the kids to know that they can call her anytime. It's hard for anyone in the hospital to be so alone.

Babble babble. I'll talk to my brother later and see how she's doing and I'll facetime with her, too if she's up to it.

Thanks again. When I found out, I was thinking she was unconscious and on a vent. I'm glad they admitted her and had a test they could use, even though the results took a little while to come in. They didn't test my brother or his kids which, under the circumstances in NOLA, makes perfect sense.

Okay - work!



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2020 06:17PM by Beth.

Whew! Some fear abated.

I'm glad that she is doing relatively well. IMO being on oxygen as opposed to a ventilator is a good thing. So is the fact that she can walk around.

A Chinese physician said that her cases for hospitalized patients took about a month to resolve.

My niece is in NOLA, and I fear for her. She, too, was one of those people who went to Tulane, fell in love with the city, and stayed.

Well that really sucks, not that I can think of anything about this that doesn't suck. Sounds like there is reason to be optimistic. Wishing y'all well.

Aww Beth...that is a really tough deal. Hoping she recovers. Good vibes to her and her family and you. Be well.

Poor lady.

But, since she wasn't intubated, hopefully she can leave within another week to 10 days.

Sounds like your brother obviously had it, too. It seems ridiculous that we don't have more tests available. I'm glad she was able to get in the hospital.

Oh jeezus. That's horrible.

And as you say, the truly horrible thing is no one can visit.

I wish your SIL very well soon.

Keep us posted. I am so glad she is able to communicate with people. One of the worst parts of this is you can't be with those in the hospital. I think if we could get adequate testing we would find out that a whole hell of a lot of people have it :(

I am so sorry for your SIL, for you, and for all of your family, Beth.

I am wishing all of you the very, very best possible.

Hoping for the best for you and your family :)

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-pandemic-coming-new-orleans/608821/

Here’s another prediction that’s safe to make: The city of New Orleans—and, potentially, all of Louisiana—is going to become the next front in the fight against the pandemic. Even as national attention is justifiably focused on the aggressive outbreak in Washington State and the mounting pressures on New York City’s hospitals, the virus’s advance in Louisiana has shaken local officials and doctors, and the state is already approaching a similar burden of infections and deaths as the crises to the north. There’s good reason to believe that this southern outbreak will be even more difficult to contain, and is perhaps a better harbinger of what’s to come as the pandemic spreads across the country.

The numbers already indicate that Louisiana is a global epicenter of the pandemic. Just over 1 percent of the U.S. population lives in Louisiana. But according to the COVID Tracking Project, 7 percent of all COVID-19 deaths, 7 percent of all hospitalizations, and 3 percent of all positive tests have been in the state. New York has suffered about two deaths per 100,000 residents. Louisiana is at 1.8.

If you've ever been to NOLA, then you know why they're in trouble. It's not just Mardi Gras. This is an extremely social city where people are outside and mingling all the time. The French Quarter is typically packed. Restaurants, bars, and public parks are normally packed. People are usually very neighborly.

This lovely city was a disaster waiting to happen. My niece is there, and I fear for her.

I hope she'll be on the upswing very soon. It sounds like she's weak, but otherwise doing okay, as much as could be expected.

I have a friend in Louisiana who has been very sick and has toughed it out at home. She doesn't think it's the C-word virus because she hasn't had a fever.

But by the sounds of what she has been experiencing, I'm convinced that's what it is. She's finally starting to do a little better, but it has taken three or four weeks before she started to recover. A lot of tiredness and weakness. A lot of aches and pains.