I’m still vigilant despite a negative test
Being approached in a car park by a GP wearing what was essentially a Hazmat suit is unsettling even for a disaster specialist. Dr Sarb Johal outlines his experience in a testing centre.
The GP approached us in a blue onesie, long gloves, hair net, face mask and safety goggles. It was scarier than I have described. To all intents and purposes, it was a Hazmat suit. My 2-year old remained strapped in her car seat for both her and the doctor’s protection. ‘‘Hi,’’ she said warily, her tone turning to menace in just one syllable. She’s good at that.
Let me take you back a day or two when our 2-year-old and 7-month-old came back from a cafe with my wife. They’d been to see one of my wife’s old work colleagues.
Miss 7 Months had been a bit grizzly for a couple of days and we had no reason to think it was anything other than teething.
But Miss 2 looked pretty glum, was saying she had a sore throat, and was burning hot. She woke in the morning and she was still burning hot.
My wife wasn’t feeling great either and I had the mildest hint of a sore throat.
We called the GP clinic. We described what had been going on and the fact that we’d had an asymptomatic visitor from Melbourne eight days earlier. Better come in for testing, they said.
So, here we are in the car park of the clinic, with the GP in the Hazmat suit and a nurse standing a very safe 10 metres away. It’s a good job we weren’t expecting privacy.
We all got tested. It’s not horrific, but it’s not a pleasant experience, especially for little ones. We got the test results back two days later. All negative, thankfully, and everyone is recovering at home. But, I thought I’d share three key things that I learned from this.
First, at times, this all felt like it was happening to someone else. I felt like I was watching someone else’s life, only to suddenly be jerked back into the present moment.
I vividly remember this when I saw the GP approaching us in all his personal protective glory. My mind had flicked into a dissociative state.
Dissociation refers to being disconnected from the present moment. It is a subconscious way of coping and avoiding a traumatic situation or negative thoughts.
I think that is what was going on for me – it’s a protective mechanism that helped me to get through that moment.
Of course, if it’s going on all the time, then it’s more of a worry. But, for those few moments, I think it enabled me to just do what I had to do to help get Miss 2 through the testing process.
Dissociation works to get you through the shortterm, but if it’s something you find yourself doing all the time, try to get more information about it and/or talk to a mental health professional.
The second thing I learned was that the testing process that we experienced worked pretty well.
From trying to get advice, to booking the testing, to actually having the test, to follow up from the national Healthline service, where we first sought advice, through to my records being available at my GP, even though my testing happened at another clinic.
To be honest, I was surprised. I expected
glitches, but it worked well. I hope that is the experience everyone gets.
Lastly, I know that we still need to be vigilant. A negative test isn’t like a free pass. It could mean several things, which is why we will still continue to be careful about contact, and follow the advice we have been given.
There’s no way of knowing if we have had the virus, but it’s passed through us now and is at undetectable levels; if we have it, but it’s not present enough in enough numbers yet to show up on the test, or if it means we never had it in the first place. It’s most likely the latter, all factors considered, and especially that there is no definitive evidence of community transmission (yet) here in New Zealand.
The new alert system launched on Saturday will be a critical framework where we can see the state of risk of transmission and status of the virus spread across the country and in localities across New Zealand. We can clearly see the behaviour we need to engage in at each alert stage.
With no effective medicines or vaccine at hand, the best tools we have right now to deal with the virus threat is how we behave. Keep washing your hands and following all the advice to keep you and our communities safe.
Stay well, stay safe and remember to stay socially connected, even if you have to be physically apart. And do stay physically apart when required to. Lives will depend on it.
If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by events and how they are affecting you, please don’t be afraid to reach out for help.
The best tools we have right now to deal with the virus threat is how we behave. Dr Sarb Johal, right