Two Boise girls have battled COVID-19 symptoms for 5 months. ‘What’s the next thing?’
The Richmond sisters were the model of health.
Neither Audrey, 12, nor Veronica, 14, had any issues growing up. All the routine tests came back negative. They kept pace and exceeded their growth charts. Aside from Audrey’s allergy to penicillin, doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with them.
Then the coronavirus pandemic hit Idaho.
The two Boise sisters never officially tested positive for the coronavirus. They couldn’t obtain a test during the early days of their symptoms, when the viral load is at its highest. But their ongoing symptoms point to a clear sign — they were two of the first Idahoans with COVID-19 infections.
Five months later, they still battle the effects of the disease. And each has shown early signs of separate autoimmune disorders that could remain with them for the rest of their lives.
“My girls were super healthy,” their mother, Jamie Richmond, said. “I don’t know if Veronica missed a day of school last year. Audrey may have missed a couple. This is extremely unusual in my girls’ lives.”
CATCHING COVID-19 FROM SCHOOL?
Pinpointing where someone caught the coronavirus remains an inexact science. The family traced all their previous contacts and came up empty. They can’t be 100% sure, but they point to the Treasure Valley Math and Science Center.
One of Audrey’s classmates returned to the Boise magnet school Feb. 24 from Wuhan, China, the original epicenter of the outbreak, Jamie Richmond said. Audrey started showing her first symptoms seven days later.
Idaho’s first confirmed case didn’t come for 11 more days until March 13.
“We don’t eat out a lot,” Jamie Richmond said. “We’re not going-to-the-mall type of people. We don’t do a lot of shopping. We’re kind of school- and homebodies.”
Audrey came down with a host of symptoms now known as signs of a COVID-19 infection — sore throat, headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. The family took her to the doctor four times in the next eight days, including a trip to the emergency room March 10. But she never had a fever, the telltale sign doctors looked for during the novel virus’ early spread.
She missed eight days of school before working up the strength for one last full day March 13. That turned out to be the final day before the Boise School District closed its classrooms for the rest of the academic year.
“We kept asking if it was COVID,” Jamie Richmond said. “We kept being told by the doctors, ‘No, she doesn’t have a fever.’ Now I’m horrified because we let her go to school because the medical people who were experts were saying that she didn’t have COVID.”
The virus then jumped to Veronica, who experienced a series of different symptoms. She discovered a red, throbbing toe March 29. It then spread to eight digits in a symptom now known as “COVID toes.”
She also temporarily lost her smell. She lost vision in one eye. (It returned after 90 minutes.) And skin all over her body has turned various shades of red and blue.
The COVID toes then showed up in Audrey on April 4, who was in so much pain she couldn’t wear socks or stand to have the sheets touch her toes.
Their father, Kevin, also saw three of his toes turn red, his only symptom. Their mother never showed any symptoms.
Crush the Curve tested the entire family April 21. Doctors warned too much time had passed since their first symptoms, which would likely lead to a negative result.
The results proved them right.
“It was just awful to be repeatedly gaslit and being told that this is nothing,” Veronica said.
SISTERS STILL BATTLE SYMPTOMS
Five months later, the Richmonds have yet to rid themselves of the virus’ symptoms. They’ve become “long haulers,” a little-studied group of coronavirus patients.
Audrey still battles chronic fatigue, struggles to concentrate and sports the trademark red COVID toes. The symptoms leave her a different person, Jamie Richmond said.
“Audrey used to be our very active (girl), moving all the time, wanting to do stuff constantly,” Jamie Richmond said. “It’s not even like I have the same kiddo anymore.”
Both still have the trademark discolored toes. And Veronica keeps finding new rashes, bumps and discolored areas of her skin.
Veronica’s largest scare came June 26. She sat on the porch of the family’s McCall home eating peach cobbler. It was 67 degrees and sunny. But her hands turned into ice.
“They looked like what a dead person’s hands would be. They were just that bluish gray,” Jamie Richmond said. “I grabbed them and they were freezing cold.”
The family remained careful throughout their COVID-19 scare. They haven’t set foot in a grocery store since March 15, opting to have their food delivered instead. They’d considered taking their daughters to a research hospital in a larger city but declined because of the travel risk.
Veronica took all the adjustments and worries in stride. But as her icy hands turned into full-body chills, it finally scared her.
The family rushed her to the McCall emergency room.
“I had been trying to evade going outside, going to hospitals,” Veronica said. “My mom had kept telling me we should go. But I wasn’t convinced because I didn’t want to risk anyone else’s life.
“Until it started to be a very real threat. I didn’t know what was going on and what was going to happen. It was terrifying.”
The symptoms disappeared before the emergency room doctor could see Veronica. But it earned the girls a referral to a pediatric rheumatologist in Boise. The doctor discovered early signs of autoimmune disorders in both girls, but they will have to wait for more testing to confirm.
“I’m like: ‘What’s the next thing? Are these symptoms going to end?’ ” Jamie Richmond said.
SCHOOL REOPENING DEBATE
The experience has cost the family $6,000 in medical bills and turned them into advocates for keeping school buildings closed this fall. Veronica and Jamie have testified before the Boise School Board multiple times, pleading with the board not to risk exposing another family.
Boise Schools started the fall semester fully online Monday and will remain 100% virtual until at least Sept. 8, following recommendations from Central District Health. But not all Treasure Valley schools are taking the same path.
Veronica said the argument schools provide social and emotional benefits only looks at research before the pandemic. The world has changed. Now students must navigate hallways wondering, “When was the last time this door handle was sanitized?” “Did that boy just cough?” “I feel tired. Do I have COVID?”
“It’s exposing elementary school students who are vulnerable, older teachers who are vulnerable, people with asthma, other illnesses and other long-term chronic conditions that make them more vulnerable, and for very little benefit,” Veronica said. “Because any socialization benefit is undone by the mental health and the stress problems that occur.”
Jamie Richmond empathized with school leaders who must make a tough call. But she points to her family as a living example of what can happen to even healthy, high-achieving students.
Veronica, 14, is entering her senior year at Boise High. Audrey, 12, will be a sophomore.
“Healthy kids can get really, really sick,” Jamie Richmond said. “It’s hard. There are no good answers. The school district is in a rough spot. But no one will ever be able to convince me that it’s worth losing someone’s life to open school.”
This story was originally published August 24, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
