Centreville mom says she caught COVID-19 in her own home
'Everything hurt … like my eyeballs were hurting,' stepmother to 4 children says
Kelsey Seymour knew something was wrong when she couldn't taste one of her chocolate-and-oatmeal cookies.
The Centreville woman had been feeling sick for a few days before the telltale COVID-19 symptom showed up.
"I realized that I couldn't taste the oatmeal or the chocolate," she said. "It was kind of like the blood left my body."
So she started walking around her kitchen, attempting to smell fresh basil and rotting bananas.
Nothing.
'We're not spreading COVID in the grocery store'
Seymour, who has been working from home since March, believes she caught the virus at home.
She started getting sick after a family member visited her house a week earlier.
That family member was in their kitchen visiting her husband, Andrew DeRier, for about 20 minutes.
Seymour was upstairs working when the family member was visiting.
The family member was pre-symptomatic at the time, Seymour said, but ended up getting sick within a couple of days.
That family member has since tested positive – the only person in their close circle to do so – and recovered from COVID-19, according to Seymour.
But she said the incident has highlighted an important lesson.
"We're not spreading COVID in the grocery store," she said. "We are spreading it in situations where we are not wearing masks and physical distancing."
Discovering the virus at home
Seymour's husband was the first to get sick.
He felt feverish, tired and had back pain and a headache on Friday, Nov. 13.
"He just felt under the weather for a few days."
DeRier, who travels back and forth to Presque Isle, Maine, for work in mental health and community integration, had a co-worker who'd been ill and tested negative.
The couple figured it was some "kind of bug."
And by Monday, everything was back to normal.
So he went to work.
LISTEN | Kelsey Seymour of Centreville shares her family's experience with COVID-19.
That same day, Seymour started experiencing back pain.
"I couldn't get comfortable," she said. "I was doing meetings from the floor, from the couch, from my desk."
By afternoon, she said, she felt exhausted. She finished work early and slept for hours.
"Everything hurt … like my eyeballs were hurting."
It felt like the first day of a flu. She felt achy and feverish.
Seymour said she took her temperature, but it was never higher than 37 C.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but: I got Coronavirus in my home, unmasked & undistanced, from an extended family member who dropped my. Keep your circle small to protect your loved ones & community.
—@kelseylseymourBut things didn't get better.
She was sick for about 10 days, relying on Advil or Tylenol for some kind of relief. She had headaches and some of her mornings were spent throwing up.
One of the worst symptoms was brain fog, Seymour said. She had a hard time concentrating and remembering things, particularly when it came to contact tracing.
"It felt like a dream."
'I couldn't smell anything'
Seymour and DeRier filled out an online request for a COVID-19 test when she realized she couldn't taste anything — four days after she started to feel sick.
They were tested in Hartland, almost 30 kilometres south of Centreville, that afternoon.
"I was afraid of the stigma before we tested positive," said Seymour, who also had a COVID test earlier this fall.
They stayed home until the test results came back.
That's when Seymour became obsessed with smelling things in her home: bananas, coffee, deodorant.
"I couldn't smell anything."
The impact on our family and community will be weighing on us pretty heavily for a while.- Kelsey Seymour
She was constantly refreshing the New Brunswick Public Health site for 48 hours to see if her results had come back.
Two days later, DeRier received a phone call from Public Health, confirming he tested positive for COVID-19.
Seymour was in the next room, listening for some kind of diagnosis.
When her husband mentioned her loss of taste and smell, Seymour's eyes welled up with tears.
As part of the contact tracing process, Public Health called her next. At the end of the conversation, Seymour asked about her results.
"She checked my file and said, ' Yep. You're positive,' " Seymour said.
Soon after Seymour learned of her diagnosis, the rest of Centreville did, too.
In a small village, she said, "anonymity was not an option."
But Seymour said it was important to let people know the couple had tested positive to prevent any potential spread.
"My biggest worry was what would happen next."
Stepdaughter tests positive
Seymour's four stepchildren were immediately tested.
Three of the tests came back negative.
But Seymour's 11-year-old stepdaughter tested positive. Now her entire class is self-isolating.
"She was obviously quite upset," said Seymour. "For an 11-year-old, it's a very traumatic thing to know that you have coronavirus."
The 11-year-old is in week two of self-isolation, while her dad and stepmother are in week three.
Seymour isn't sure how many others picked up the virus from her family. But she believes there have been a couple of cases, and at least 100 people have had to self-isolate.
"You might think your bubble is small," she said. "But when an entire class and their families have to isolate, it's really very big."
Seymour wants to remind New Brunswickers to download the COVID alert app, keep a small contact circle and to get tested — even if they're just experiencing a minor symptom.
"It's a service to yourself because you will feel horrible if you cause others to isolate or to get sick," she said.
She and her husband have recovered from COVID-19, but the anxiety that comes with it still lingers.
"The impact on our family and community will be weighing on us pretty heavily for a while."
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