Mom Whose Son, 14, Had Coronavirus Urges Back-To-School Caution

NORTH BABYLON, NY — When the pandemic hit, North Babylon resident Suzette Rodriguez was prepared to self-isolate and take precautions to stay safe. She was used to taking precautions, already having an immunocompromised 8-year-old son and having been diagnosed herself with lupus, arthritis and breast cancer in the past.

However, she was not counting on her 14-year-old son, Anthony Rodriguez, contracting the coronavirus.

Back in March, just a few days after Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the closure of all schools, Anthony told his mother that his legs hurt. At first, Suzette just told him to take Motrin, thinking he had growing pains. Then he said he also had a headache and when Suzette took his temperature, she found he had a fever of 103 degrees.

"I instantly knew he had the virus," she told Patch.

Immediately after, she called the pediatrician to find a way to get tested to be sure, since both Suzette and her younger son were immunocompromised, and Suzette's husband was an essential employee, working in mass transit.

However, since Anthony had no shortness of breath or cough, they were told he didn't qualify for a test. As his symptoms worsened, he was finally able to qualify for testing, which found him to be positive for COVID-19. Over the next few weeks, Anthony continued to see the doctor; he was ultimately found to have a partially collapsed lung. When his breathing became labored, the pediatrician told Suzette to get an X-ray for Anthony, which showed he had double pneumonia. Anthony was prescribed a Z-pack and an inhaler. Suzette continued to monitor him — but he wasn't getting better. Time went on and her son's fatigue and body aches continue to get worse.

"There were days he couldn't get out of bed," she told Patch. "I've had 16 rounds of chemo and 30 rounds of radiation and I've never seen an exhaustion such as this. He physically could not get out of bed."

Nearly a month later on April 8, Anthony was still not feeling well. He was retested to see if the virus was still there, but the results came back negative. Both parents were able to get tested as well, and both tested negative.

Two days later, after another X-ray, they found that Anthony's double pneumonia was resolved but the scarring on his lungs persisted. At the end of April he went back for another COVID test to make sure it hadn't come back, since he kept developing symptoms — but the test came back negative once again.

By May, nearly two months since he first developed symptoms, Anthony continued to feel sick and had to be prescribed a second inhaler and take a variety of tests, including an ECHO and EKG.

In June he still had nerve damage and joint pain, but his blood work all came back normal; he had to continue taking pulmonary function tests.

Now, nearly four months later, Anthony still feels tired and weak. He still has to endure additional tests, including a CAT scan and neurological test, with and without dye.

"He was a healthy child and went from never having medical issues to going to doctors every two weeks," Suzette said. "He's frustrated because he doesn't feel the same; he's tired of feeling like this. Some days are better than others"

The most difficult part for the family is that the doctors are still learning about the virus along with them. Despite the fact that Anthony was never hospitalized, doctors noticed that people that weren't hospitalized still have the same after effects, despite having a variety of symptoms. The list includes embolisms, fibroids in the lungs, nerve damage and musculoskeletal damage.

"I just want people to be informed," Suzette said. "It's not a political issue. If someone asked you to wear a mask to not get cancer you wouldn't think twice about it — so this should be treated the same."

Suzette wants to give a warning to parents to keep their kids safe, especially with schools possibly reopening shortly. She says her younger son, who had already been used to many of the current coronavirus guidelines even before the pandemic, still forgets the best practices to prevent the spreading of diseases. While she believes it should be a personal choice for parents to send kids to school, she believes schools should also offer full remote learning options for kids who want them.

"I'm not saying this is life forever — this is temporary until they learn more— but I'm not going to put my son in a situation where he could get re-infected or even worse, my younger son gets it," Suzette said.

She was forced to leave her job to help care for her kids full-time.

"I need them healthy and alive, because otherwise, what's the point of this? For me to say that 'my son went to school' at his memorial?" she said.

She advises parents who are worried for their children to speak to their pediatrician, social distance, wear masks and use sanitizer.

The family takes many precautions already, especially when Suzette's husband returns home from work. She says he takes clothes off in garage, puts his clothes in a bag which goes straight to the laundry; then, he goes to take a shower and she washes the clothes in the washing machine.

However, she says that sometimes her child, who has been used to this life, even forgets to take such precautions.

"Kids, it's not natural to them. And even my child who has been doing this for eight years, he forgets, and that's okay, because they're kids," she said. "I understand that people have to work and I understand that my kids need to learn in person, but at what cost? That's a personal decision and people should educate themselves more because there's so much misinformation out there."

Through her efforts, no one else in her household contracted the disease besides Anthony, but Suzette has already lost her grandmother, her grandfather, her cousin and her aunt — all within two weeks.

"Yes, children can get infected with the COVID-19 virus and while some may be asymptomatic, as you can see from my son's story, there are also children that do experience symptoms and possibly with long-lasting side affects," she said. "I would urge parents to continue to be cautious. As we are still, including doctors and professionals, learning about this virus."

All photos courtesy of Suzette Rodriguez