Community News

Jackson County couple recalls COVID-19 experience

FAIRPLAINS -- March and April were rough months for Larry Sharp.

Less than two weeks after suffering a heart attack, he was hospitalized again with nausea, a fever, low blood pressure and low oxygen levels. After nearly a week, he tested positive for the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

"I told my wife it's like running a gauntlet," Sharp said in a recent phone interview. "Start off with a heart attack, then the dreaded corona-19, and then there's diabetes and arthritis at the end with a baseball bat."

His wife Carolyn, a teacher at Ripley High School, also tested positive for the virus. She was able to ride it out in self-quarantine at home with mostly mild symptoms, which didn't start until after she was diagnosed. They included a sore throat, mild cough, low-grade fever and runny nose, like a "nasty cold," she said.

"At some point, I lost my sense of smell," she said.

Although the most common symptoms of the virus are respiratory issues and fever, a recent study published by the International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology journal said loss of smell and taste are strongly associated with COVID-19 infection.

"I was able to wash clothes and move about and do a little bit of cooking," Carolyn said. "It's just kind of crazy. You wonder why people have such different symptoms."

Carolyn believes she contracted the virus from being in close contact with her husband before he was diagnosed. They have a couple of theories as to where he might have been exposed, but neither has been confirmed.

They are believed to be among the 39 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Jackson County, as of Friday morning.

The Sharps said Larry was tested while a patient at WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center and Carolyn was tested at a site in Kanawha County, but cases are generally assigned to the individual's county of residence.

Jackson County Health Department administrator Amy Haskins said she could not discuss individual cases or patients' identities. It's also not the department's policy to discuss where cases might have been contracted, although "all of our cases, we are able to track," she said.

Larry Sharp had his heart attack on March 8 and was taken to WVU Medicine Jackson General Hospital, then on to Camden Clark, where a stent was put in, his wife said. He was released from the hospital on March 12. During a follow-up appointment March 17 at Jackson General, he had a low-grade temperature, upset stomach and low blood pressure.

Carolyn Sharp said she figured his symptoms were related to recovering from the heart attack and a blood sugar medicine not agreeing with him.

By the time they got to a cardiology appointment in Parkersburg on March 18, "he was just sick," Carolyn said. His doctor sent him to the Camden Clark Emergency Department for a blood test, a chest X-ray indicated he had pneumonia and he was admitted to the hospital. He was later diagnosed with emphysema, she said.

"He continued to worsen and eat less and didn't sleep well," Carolyn said. "He's sicker than I've ever seen him in the 39-plus years I've been married to him."

She said she asked about having him tested for the coronavirus, but at first was told he didn't qualify. He eventually was tested on March 23, and the diagnosis came the next day, Carolyn said. At that point, he was primarily cared for by a single nurse to limit exposure, she said.

"Just in there by yourself all day long," Larry Sharp recalled. "(Just a) nurse coming in there, special nurse with all those gizmos on."

"He called it 'Hotel California,'" Carolyn recalled, referencing the Eagles song about the infamous accommodations where "you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."

After Larry was tested, Carolyn decided not to leave the house, except for her own test and to bring her husband home on March 27. She was worried about a family meal on March 15 and whether her children and grandchildren might be infected. One son, his wife and their two children were tested, and the results were negative.

During their quarantine period, Carolyn said she was in regular contact with the Jackson County Health Department. She gargled with salt water and Jack Daniels with honey and lemon, ate pickled garlic, put peppermint oil under her tongue and more to address her symptoms.

"I just pulled everything out of the hat as far as home remedies," she said.

People brought them items they needed while steering clear of in-person contact.

"All of our neighbors came and left things in a bag on the sidewalk for us," she said.

The help wasn't always material.

"I do feel that people just prayed protection around me," Carolyn said.

Their quarantine time ended on April 8, but Carolyn didn't leave the house until nearly a week later, going to Walmart with a handkerchief covering her mouth. She was still apprehensive about possibly exposing her grandchildren to the virus, so they've been giving "air hugs" and occasionally watching them play in the yard while she and Larry stay on the porch.

Haskins, speaking generally and not addressing any specific cases, said federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines say a person can resume contact with others if they've finished their quarantine period and have gone seven days without symptoms or three days without a fever and the use of fever-reducing medication.

Larry Sharp said he's tired these days, with pain in his joints because he had to reduce the medication he was taking to address his arthritis after the heart attack.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.