The Trauma Never Stops

Yesterday, I got a short email from Tom saying, "COVID has hit the camp. I might have to go into quarantine". That was it. We knew that if he had to go into quarantine for whatever reason, it would be likely that he'd just drop out of communication. Disappear like he did when he first went in. Because the staff wouldn't allow him to make a call to me to tell me what was happening. So we arranged beforehand for me and a couple of other inmate's family members to be in contact. That way, they could get word to me, or I could get word to them if something like this happened.

So when Tom didn't make his usually 11:00 a.m. phone call to me, I knew something was up. I got a phone call from one of the wives telling me that Tom and three other men had tested positive for COVID and were being put into quarantine.

Up until now, I haven't been overly concerned about COVID. I know that about 98% of people who contract it survive it. I'm prepared here at home with the meds we need and there are monoclonal antibody infusion clinics all around that we would have access to. My fervent prayer was that Tom would not get the virus while he was in the prison because the prison will not care for him properly.

All of Tom's CARES Act paperwork is done and is scheduled to be reviewed and approved at tomorrow's staff meeting. The case manager claims that it then has to go to a committee in DC to be approved by them. Since he was already approved previously, we didn't see a problem with getting it approved again...except for the completely arbitrary and diabolically cruel BOP system that might reject it for any reason or no reason. So I was looking forward to that and to getting a date for his release. I don't know what effect, if any, this diagnosis will have on that process. It seems to me that they would go ahead with it. And since he has to quarantine before being released anyway, this quarantine could serve as his exit quarantine and he could come directly out at the end of it.

Having Tom diagnosed in the prison was a blow that I didn't feel like I was going to survive. The terror of the unknown is unbearable. Tom could be one of those who gets a serious case. He could be one of those who will die from it. Especially since he will not be treated until or unless he is seriously ill.

I called the prison and was finally able to talk to someone in medical. She refused to tell me anything about Tom. When I asked what the protocol was in general, she proudly told me about their "monitoring". There is no early treatment. They "monitor" until the inmate is sick enough to warrant some kind of intervention. She wouldn't tell me at what point, or what they would do at that point. Monitor is all they get. I guess they monitor them until they're sick enough to be rushed to the hospital where they let them die because the government has banned the meds that really work.

I called again today trying to get an update on Tom. I spoke with the unit manager, who is the boss of the unit Tom is in. She also would tell me nothing. She was clearly angry that I knew that Tom tested positive. She wanted to know how I knew. I wouldn't tell her because of possible retaliation against the inmates. But I asked her, "Would y'all have told me?" She would only say that they have a policy they follow if an inmate is "sick" and that I would be notified. So I said, "So if he's sick, then you'll tell me. So that must mean he's not sick yet." She did reluctantly confirm that. I asked how they would notify me, by mail or a phone call? She told me they would call me. So now I live in dread of a phone call from the prison telling me that Tom is sick.

I asked were they going to let Tom call me, that I really needed to hear from him. Her answer was that he is in quarantine and will not be allowed any phone calls. Period.

So, the quarantine is going to be 21 days, so they say. That's 21 days that I will not be able to talk to my husband. 21 days of no email contact either. 21 days of not knowing how he's doing unless he can get some letters out to me. He went into quarantine with just a few stamps that another inmate had loaned him. I explained the stamp situation here.

The prison is scrambling to deal with this. The information I've received from my illicit grapevine is that Tom and the three other men are being quarantined in the chapel, which is a small metal building next to the barracks where he lives. I've only peeked in the window of the chapel as I passed it. The room was about 20 x 20 from what I can remember. It has one or two windows. So thank goodness he's not in a small cell in the main facility with no window like he was last time. And he has the other men with him. I have no idea yet if there is a toilet or shower in there or what provisions they will make for them. I can only wait for Tom's letters and hope and pray that he doesn't get "sick".