Voices by Susie Kayst Susie Kayst is an Emmy Award winning journalist, writer, and events producer, who – after a bout of provable COVID-19 - has taken a fancy to the board game Ticket to Ride, while in quarantine just outside New York City. She comes to the Montecito Journal by way of its editor-in-chief, a dear friend from years of working together at ABC News
Lady Windermere to the Rescue
I
opened my eyes and for the first time in probably 16 days and realized I was sleeping on my side. A luxury. I could see the bottle of Tylenol, thermometer, and oximeter through the clear half drunken bottle of Glacier Freeze Gatorade on my bed stand. Was it Lady Windermere who had paid me another visit? I realize not everyone is as fortunate as I to have a best friend who is a doctor that specializes in pulmonary disease and internal medicine at New York-Presbyterian-Columbia University. Emily and I have been friends since our daughters were three and we met at the playground some Susie Kayst, before she had Covid-19, not socially 20 years ago. With perfectly coiffed distancing with a giant baby chestnut hair and a slender build, she makes the best eggplant rollatini this side of the Atlantic, and is the on-call doctor to me, my family, and our group of friends, 24/7. With all of us, it’s a wonder Emily still has time for a thriving practice to boot. My personal saga began as I plodded through Grand Central Station one mid-December morning. My cell vibrated. Even without reading, I could see the text “call when you can” was important. Funny, I’d never known Emily to be in touch before 9 am. My stomach was tight as I pressed her number. Maybe I instinctively knew, or perhaps it was my telltale cough that erupted from down under. The cough had been raging for over two weeks, but to my dismay didn’t seem to be getting any better. It was during my trip to visit my family in Minneapolis over Thanksgiving I finally gave in and felt the need to involve my fine doctor friend. Her first thought was to make sure I was equipped with the right inhaler for my allergies. After a couple of days of no improvement, Emily sent me to get a chest x-ray upon my return. I reckoned that’s what she was calling about. She got right to the point. “Susie, I just read the results from your x-ray and there’s a foggy area which looks like you have a case of walking pneumonia. I’ve called in a prescription for you. I also want you to come in for a CT scan one month from today. I’ll have my assistant call to set things up. You’re going to be okay!” Was there worry in her voice? I was trying to process – especially that last sentence. I guess my silence prompted her to say it again. “You’re going to be okay!” I knew I would – after all I was in the best of hands. But why did Dr. Emily feel the need to reassure me not once but twice? I took my meds and things improved. The holidays came and went. My chil-
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dren were home. The cough was put to rest. Mid-January came, along with the CT scan and another diagnosis from Emily, “You’re fine, but I can see you have a case of mild lung disease called Lady Windermere Syndrome. It’s probably why you’re always coughing. I actually specialize in that too.” So once again, from pneumonia to Lady Windermere Syndrome, I was being treated by an expert in lung disease. Named after the main character in Oscar Wilde’s 1892 play, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Lady Windermere is a Victorian socialite who accuses her husband of having an affair with a woman, who’s actually her mother – but she doesn’t know it’s her mother, because the mother has all along been presumed dead. All’s well when the mother leaves town without her daughter ever knowing the truth, and Lady Windermere ends up back with her husband. Sounds like quite the bodice ripper. Unfortunately, the plot of the disease is not as exciting, and feels more like a bodice tightening than a bodice ripper. Despite her fancy name, Lady Windermere is not a welcome guest. And her namesake syndrome is a lung condition that is part of the Mycobacterium Avium Complex (MAC). Note: for easy purposes, just understand that “bacterium” is involved. These bacteria can be traced, and perhaps ingested from dirt, water, or even a filthy shower head. Eew. It is not contagious. The name was inspired when bacteria were found in the lungs of several white, thin, elderly women – who akin to Lady Windermere, would probably have quelled the urge to cough up sputum. Ahem. In other words, instead of having a phlegm filled coughing attack in public, a “proper” woman would somehow hold her white gloves to her lips and quietly suppress her cough, thus not clearing the bacteria.
A Tilt-A-Whirl on Steroids
Although not quite as well-mannered as Lady Windermere, I was still happy the cough had subsided, and all was status quo. That is until the outbreak of COVID-19 hit New York in the Spring of 2020. Now a new worry set in. Let’s see, I’m 59 years old… but do I now have an underlying condition? The answer came to me like a Tilt-A-Whirl on steroids before I had the chance to discuss my concern with my physician. I’d already been home bound for nine days since last seeing my colleague who tested positive for the virus. I was feeling confident – out of the woods from the typical “common five days between transmission.” But something seriously kicked in while brushing my teeth one Saturday morning. The room was spinning so intensely, I had to hang on to the edge of the sink. I felt nauseous, clammy. My stomach was queasy, and my heart was racing. Was I having a… panic attack? I went online. At that point, only fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath were the noted symptoms of the coronavirus, so I chalked my vertigo and GI problems up to a bad bug. Nevertheless, that bug would stay with me for over three weeks to come. Fortunately, so would Emily too. Days 1 - 2 After the first eight second flash of vertigo I felt okay, just a bit off kilter – like I was driving through fog. However somehow nothing tasted or smelled the least bit appetizing. Day 3 Woke up feeling so dizzy I couldn’t bring myself to sit up. My heart was palpitating. I could hear my ears thumping, putting pressure on my sinuses – especially on the bridge of my nose. I was so nauseous I couldn’t get out of bed. My head was buzzing and my eyes were watering uncontrollably. My family was feeding me Cheerios, pasta, and – what I was craving most – black olives from the can. Salt. Day 4 I was eating laying down, wishing there was a straw that would go from my
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