689 days. It had been 689 days since my kids’ last taste of normalcy.
Our story isn’t that different from many of yours. My daughters — Avery, 5, and Lila, 3 — are pandemic kids. In March 2020, Avery was in pull-ups, and Lila was still nursing. When we were told to isolate from the world, we, like most of our neighbors, did so. Our entire support system was gone in a flash.
I’m a public health professional. We put our trust in the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — and not blindly, but because they are the leading public health scientists, researchers and clinicians in the world.
So, when masking guidelines were released in early 2020, we masked. When travel was restricted, we stayed home. When we were told to isolate, we got lonely and sick of it, but we did it all out of respect for the greater good.
Eventually, our children went back to school. In our estimation, school was a necessary risk: for them, for us, for our careers, for our marriage. We live in Pittsburgh, and when my husband and I became eligible for the vaccines, we drove to Johnstown to be some of the first in line. Then, in December 2021, Avery was vaccinated at a clinic held by her school. It was a such a victory.
In the year and a half the kids have been back in school, we’ve had several known COVID exposures. In between, we’ve had colds and croups, ear infections and sore throats, and other ailments. My children are extremely susceptible to croup. I am the croup guru. It’s almost always croup.
But then, in January, it wasn’t.
What started out as a benign sore throat led to a positive COVID diagnosis for Lila. Fever, fatigue and congestion followed. While putting her to bed that night, I knew we had a long road ahead of us to recovery, but I never could have prepared myself for the hours to come. For three hours, her airway closed intermittently. Lila begged me to take her to the hospital because, she said, it “hurts to breathe.”
Imagine your 3-year-old begging: a healthy, strong and independent toddler crippled by this violent virus.
After two breathing treatments, we were rushed to the intensive care unit. Lila couldn’t catch her breath. Lucky for her (and me), we were able to watch “Frozen 2” on repeat. Elsa and Olaf kept Lila distracted enough to endure a third breathing treatment, which finally stabilized her breathing and heart rate. From there, she was pumped with IV fluids, more steroids and additional medicine. She was poked and prodded to test all of her bodily functions. It took doctors five to 10 minutes to suit up in proper PPE and masks to visit our room. The door remained sealed shut for our entire stay.
Lila was in so much pain that she lay awake all night with me, side-by-side in the ICU bed, waiting for her test results.
Back at home, Avery began to run a fever, then chills and hot flashes and fatigue. Luckily, I could FaceTime with her while also keeping Lila calm in the hospital. Around noon, it became clear that both girls needed Mom. After consultation with the pediatrician, doctors recommended that Lila spend a second night at the hospital for observation. My husband wasn’t keen on the idea of taking Lila home, but for me, keeping everyone in our family stable meant leaving the hospital. The pediatrician agreed to discharge Lila but instructed us to return immediately if her breathing became stressed.
When we arrived home, I found Avery on the couch under a blanket. Her fever spiked to 103.5 degrees. Not once did she lose her breath or feel pain inhaling. Our fully vaccinated kindergartener had flu-like symptoms, and within 48 hours, she was back on her feet.
Watching my two children, two years apart, from the same family, yet with wildly different reactions to COVID, the distinct difference was clear: One was vaccinated, and the other was not.
Sure, Avery got sick, but that’s not abnormal. What is abnormal is driving your child to the emergency room and being ushered into the ICU in the middle of the night to stabilize her breathing due to a disease we should have collectively slowed a year ago.
In a recent op-ed, Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz shared his opinion that masks are harming children. He characterizes COVID as not that serious for children and alleges that “junk” science is inaccurately convincing Americans to live in fear of the virus. He scapegoats President Joe Biden, the CDC and teachers unions for hindering quality education by closing schools and smothering children with masks.
Smothering? A simple face covering to limit the spread of a virus that put our unvaccinated 3-year-old in the ICU?
Lila is a preschooler who attends a COVID-conscious school, where mask-wearing is normalized. It’s likely that she caught the virus during lunch from a peer. But in a class of 19, Lila and one peer were the only two to contract COVID. Why? Because everyone in the class, and the school, strictly adheres to masking requirements to keep each other safe.
Masking and vaccinating our children shouldn’t be a partisan issue. This is about the health, soul and vitality of our children. If there’s one thing that should be able to unite us, it’s this.
Casey Monroe is a women’s health advocate and public health professional living in Swisshelm Park.
First Published: February 16, 2022, 5:00 a.m.
