A rollercoaster of COVID-19 symptoms for this Hawaii family
HONOLULU (KHON2) — It has been a rollercoaster of symptoms for Ken Lykes and his family. He tested positive for the coronavirus even after he and his partner were cautious not to bring it home to their nine-month-old baby and six-year-old.
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Lykes said symptoms started when the air felt heavy and he began to clear his throat more often. As time went on more symptoms began to develop.
“For me, it was fatigue and lethargy if I did anything sort of stimulating like talk to a friend on zoom or facetime, I’d just crash right after,” he said.
He also started to feel fogginess in his mind. His partner began showing symptoms days after, like stomach aches and fatigue.
“For instance, my partner yesterday, she made some pancakes for breakfast and that just wiped her out,” Lykes said. “She sat down, took a bite and she couldn’t even chew and breath at the same time, we almost had to go to the hospital but we wait it out and she ended up being okay.”
She also lost the sense of taste.
Lykes said he has felt worse in past years when he was ill with the flu, but what makes COVID-19 more frightening is the randomness of the symptoms. He could feel fine one second and suddenly lose all of his energy.
The kids had the sniffle for about a day but very minor symptoms. He is the only one in their home who has been tested. Doctors advised the family to quarantine at home to prevent the virus from spreading to others.
Lykes said assuming the entire family is positive without a test confirmation could have its drawbacks.
“Goes to show all of the people who are unaccounted for in the numbers,” Lykes said. “Whatever day my number comes up, they are also not counting the possible three people in my house.”
It is tough to isolate at home for a family with two young children, and even though it has been nearly two weeks since he first felt symptoms, quarantine for the entire family resets whenever someone started feeling ill.
