‘We knew so little’

Hayden woman feels fortunate to be strong again after three-week scare

Bev Lingle is feeling good these days.

The Hayden woman bikes. She practices yoga. She maintains a healthy diet.

“I’m feeling very fortunate,” she said.

A few months ago, that wasn’t the case.

She was feeling awful.

She developed a cough that for three weeks wouldn’t quit. She had a horrible sinus infection. She couldn’t sleep. She was drained.

She believes she had the coronavirus.

And her reason for that?

In March, Lingle and her husband, both retired, were living in Sun Valley, where they spend winters.

The number of people infected in the U.S. with the coronavirus was beginning to rise and people were taking notice.

“It was starting to brew in Seattle,” she said. “Think back. We knew so little about COVID early. We knew so little.”

Lingle was a member of a choral group that rehearsed twice in early March. There were 60 of them.

“Forty of us have had COVID,” she said.

The situation in Sun Valley got scary quickly. She remembered that on March 19 there were five cases at noon. By 5 p.m., there were 16.

Things started to shut down in Sun Valley. A mandatory isolation order was issued for residents of Blaine County.

“Sun Valley was terrifying,” she said.

The Lingles decided it was time to get out and head to their Hayden home.

“What are we doing here?” they wondered, and left that night.

They returned home March 20 and for three weeks, never left their house as they self-quarantined.

In April, though Bev Lingle developed a sinus infection and the worst cough of her life. She didn’t have a fever, though, no aches that were indicative of COVID-19, and her cough was dry, so she didn’t think she had the coronavirus.

But looking back, she wonders.

“I was coughing for three solid weeks,” she said. “I was coughing so much I could not sleep.”

She called her doctor in late April and while she wasn’t tested for the coronavirus, an antibody test for the virus came back positive.

According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “A positive test result shows you may have antibodies from an infection with the virus that causes COVID-19. However, there is a chance a positive result means that you have antibodies from an infection with a virus from the same family of viruses (called coronaviruses), such as the one that causes the common cold.”

The CDC website says having antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19 may provide protection from getting infected with the virus again.

“If it does, we do not know how much protection the antibodies may provide or how long this protection may last,” the CDC said.

It urges anyone with a positive test to continue “to protect yourself and others since you could get infected with the virus again.”

“You may test positive for antibodies even if you have never had symptoms of COVID-19. This can happen if you had an infection without symptoms, which is called an asymptomatic infection,” The CDC said.

Lingle gradually began to feel better after that tough three-week stretch and is today once more strong and positive. She is exercising daily.

Some friends from the choral group that were infected with the coronavirus, however, are still having trouble breathing and sleeping, she said. Two suffered dizziness, fell and were hurt.

“I was very lucky,” Lingle said.

And she is today very guarded.

When she goes out, she wears a mask. She maintains her distance. She washes her hands. She and her husband are careful about who comes into their home.

Her husband, by the way, also tested positive for antibodies, but never showed any symptoms of the coronavirus.

While they like to eat out and support local restaurants, they’ve taken a break for now, especially with the latest rise in COVID cases.

They hope life returns to normal soon. But until then, they plan to be vigilant against the virus.

“I’m tired of being careful all the time, too,” she said. “It’s not fun, but we have to do it.”