Jansen talks about battle with COVID-19
Joleen Jansen (center), of Elkader, discussed her recent experience with COVID-19. She’s pictured with children Jenna, Jacob and Jessica and husband Jim. (Submitted photo)
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
In “God’s Country” is where Joleen Jansen and her family have resided for the better part of two decades, out of a love for the rural “hill country,” the river that runs through it and an Elkader community where friendships flourish and open-arms support is never far behind.
“We are very fortunate to be in the community,” Joleen said.
Such fortune has become vital as the COVID-19 pandemic continues marching through cities, suburbs and rural areas that thought they were immune.
Joleen, who has history as a medical technologist, having worked for the health department in the city of Dubuque, often in the microbiology department, cautioned family against being alarmists in the early days of the pandemic. But as the spread worsened, so did Joleen’s trepidation.
The news junkie with working knowledge of infectious diseases “quickly changed [her] tune,” realizing that this “could be a problem.” Shutdowns came and went, the numbers trended upward and the Jansens grew cautious.
Everything in Joleen’s previous experience informed that COVID-19 could happen in Clayton County, and, eventually, it did.
How it struck the Jansens, especially Joleen, remains a mystery, but during the lull in cases as the state reopened, she returned to work, sometimes traveling to West Union, meeting people and engaging with media members. Despite taking precautions, such as maintaining small groups at work, socially distancing—even at home with the family—and wearing a mask almost everywhere else, COVID-19 took up residence at the Jansens’ home in early July.
It was daughter Jenna who started showing symptoms first, then Joleen. Then the positive test came back for Jenna.
“We immediately went to the four corners of our house,” Joleen said. The other members residing at the home, husband Jim and son Jacob, tested negative.
According to Joleen, Jim spent time in the shed and Jacob “kept things going” around the house. The entire ordeal was a family effort.
While Jenna tested positive, Joleen, exhibiting every sign and having doctors rule out every other possible option, did not, testing negative twice.
However, this is not uncommon. A recent Johns Hopkins Medicine analysis revealed that as many as 20 percent of all COVID-19 tests produce false-negatives.
Regardless of test results, the symptoms came fast and furious, leaving Joleen and the family anxious, worried and sad. Then came the extreme headaches, shortness of breath, coughing, heart beat fluctuations, hurting joints, a “spinning room,” severe lethargy and bouts of heightened emotions.
“I felt sick all over…like it would never end,” Joleen said.
At its peak, everything required more effort than usual, but it wasn’t always the physical that hit the hardest. Sometimes, the emotional burden took a toll. It was difficult to watch everyone else worry—to see the pain on faces unable to help the situation.
There was also the stressful disquiet attached to possibly transmitting the virus to someone else. Joleen admitted there was a lot of crying, desolate dreams and moments where she “started to feel detached.”
In the aftermath of quarantine and suffering from a virus she “wouldn’t wish on anyone,” Joleen took to Facebook, not for sympathy, but in an effort to be open and transparent. As part of the community, she felt an obligation to teach and spread the word that COVID-19 exists. It “can’t be treated like a curse.”
While Joleen is now virus free, the effects linger and the symptoms persist. There are a lot of unknowns related to COVID-19, which should lead to greater caution being taken, she said.
The ordeal reminded Joleen of why she and Jim chose “God’s Country” so many years ago: community. “The community response has been overwhelmingly supportive,” she revealed. Knowing she wasn’t alone in the struggle against a global virus has kept her “hopeful” through it all.
Still, there is a growing polarity revolving around COVID-19 that can undercut the welcoming atmosphere. “We have to be tolerant, open minded, and willing to learn…[because] if you can’t change your mind, you can’t change anything,” Joleen declared.
The issue is a passionate one for Joleen. As a survivor with firsthand experience of what COVID-19 is like and what it can do, she warned, “This is a highly, highly contagious disease,” and it is not something to “play Russian roulette with.”
Joleen went on to address the impact a large outbreak could have on the town. “The lifeblood of our community is our school and the hospital…and we have to recognize that,” she said. “If all we have to do is wear a mask so we don’t inundate our small hospital and make their jobs that much harder, then we should do it.”
“It’s not about our personal liberty, as much as it’s about our personal responsibility…because it is possible someone could die,” she continued.
The community, so beloved by Joleen, should, in her estimation, and without being preachy, promote public safety. It should be seen as a “time of sacrifice.”
