Sylvia Olsen is looking forward to the time when the coronavirus crisis is over and it's once again safe to hug her grandchildren.
Husband Tex McLeod is looking forward to going out for a good meal and finding a spot by the water to regain balance in his life.
“Normal seems so far off at this point,” he said on the phone from their North Saanich home, where the couple has been isolated since mid-March.
McLeod, 70, became seriously ill with pneumonia last month, had a high temperature and was wracked with “violent” coughing. “It’s like you’ve got a couple of concrete blocks sitting on top of your chest,” said McLeod, who runs McLeod Associates, a firm devoted to energy, housing and indoor air quality.
A March 16 test confirmed McLeod was positive for COVID-19 and medical advice was to stay home, remain isolated and look after himself.
Olsen, 65, a consultant on First Nations housing, author and historian, was not tested but presumed to be infected as well. She experienced extreme fatigue “right through my bones” and persistent severe headaches, along with shivering and a fever.
The two coped at home, with Olsen fearing for about a week that McLeod might not survive. They were advised by medical staff that if McLeod was struggling to breathe, they should call an ambulance to take him to Royal Jubilee Hospital, a designated centre for COVID-19 patients.
“You realize that you are at a pretty touch-and-go state,” McLeod said.
Olsen said she would ask McLeod every day if he could breathe, trying to compare his condition to the previous day. They were in touch with medical experts during that time.
McLeod’s cough has abated in recent days, and after three weeks, he finally feels as though his chest is clear. He pegs his current condition at “75 per cent and climbing.” Olsen said her only remaining symptom is an inability to taste and smell.
They are still isolating themselves.
Neither knows when they picked up the virus, but the two fell ill two days after returning from a conference in Toronto, where attendees bumped elbows rather than shaking hands.
The couple decided to share their experience to “help put a face on it,” McLeod said.
Olsen said fears and anxieties are heightened because of all the media reports about the pandemic. “It’s a narrative that is being superimposed on you,” she said. “We are the elders in a very, very large family and we need to help everybody understand and cope with it.”
The couple is urging everyone to follow recommended safety protocols to help fight the spread of the virus. “You just do not want to give it to somebody,” Olsen said.
McLeod added: “I don’t think you can be too careful.”
Olsen’s son, Adam, interim B.C. Green Party leader, wrote on his webpage: “It is a devastating disease and it must be taken seriously.”
Despite what they’ve been through, Sylvia Olsen emphasizes they are privileged to have a large, close family and friends who are dropping off food and gifts, leaving them outside for pickup.
They went through a “really scary situation within a huge environment of support,” Olsen said. For example, one granddaughter dropped off soup, while a young grandson left them ice-cream bars.
Olsen’s final word of advice is for people caring for children: Teach them protocols for reducing the virus’s spread, but don’t weigh them down with your own anxieties. “We need to be mindful of the children.”
