COVID-19 Hits Home

Now that face masks have become a part of our daily attire and video chats have become our regular form of interaction, the world has transitioned to life inside. For Kassi Sanchez’s family, COVID-19 made their transition a bit more difficult.

After what was expected to be a quick visit to her grandparent’s home during her spring break, 22-year-old Kassi Sanchez had unknowingly made the decision that their home would be her place of residency for the next two months.

According to The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, over 950,000 cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed in the United States. In a matter of weeks, Kassi’s grandparents, 68-year-old, Ken Kuhnhofer and 67-year-old Linda Kuhnhofer were added to that growing number while living in their home in Palmdale, California. “They had complained of changes in their temperatures and weak muscles but had no signs of a fever or cough” Kassi explained.  Only two weeks after their initial symptoms, the Kuhnhofer’s visited their local hospital and soon their lives would change drastically.

The virus managed to affect the two quite differently. Ken Kuhnhofer was transferred to the hospital shortly after his diagnosis and after five days, his body was forced to rely on a ventilator. Kassi’s family was quite literally ripped apart in a matter of days.

Days turned into weeks without a definite answer of Kassi’s grandfather’s condition and during this time was a pivotal moment for the family but more specifically, Kassi.

Following the diagnosis of her grandfather, Kassi and 18 of her family members were asked to have their blood tested. After a small prick to the finger, Kassi’s results came back positive, confirming the COVID-19 virus was within her blood but reacting less aggressively than her grandfather’s. With Kassi’s living situation being confined under the same roof as her grandparent’s, this did not come as a surprise.

The next step the doctors were working towards was finding a positive match for a plasma transfusion to give Kassi’s grandfather. Kassi was told that “The plasma is important to get into your body because it has positive antibodies to fight the virus”. Without the donation, Ken was not expected to recover quickly.

With her grandfather’s condition still undetermined, Kassi and her family asked their loved ones to join a prayer circle at their home, from the comfort of the cars, of course.

Hundreds of cars lined Kassi’s mother’s house. Growing up, Kassi’s family was involved in Quartz Hill Little League so actively, they decided to build a baseball field in their backyard, welcoming the field to the local teams in the valley. The field was just as welcoming on this day, bringing together a team of people, praying and hoping for Ken’s recovery.

Hours after the prayer circle, Kassi’s family was contacted by the doctor confirming his condition to seemingly be getting better. “His lung on his left side was still inflamed and the one on his right side seemed to be clearing up” Kassi explained after a phone call with his doctor. Although this news was positive in his recovery process, her family was still hoping for a plasma match for him.

Following that fateful weekend, her family received the news they were waiting for. The baseball field had worked its magic and their prayers were answered. The doctors had found a match for her grandfather’s plasma transfusion. Kassi explained her feeling of relief, “For us to get the plasma gave us so much hope that it was just so encouraging that we could get something that could possibly help him.” It was an emotional turnaround for the family to hear such a drastic change in his condition.

After the phone call, Mr. Kuhnhofer was given the plasma that same night resulting in a positive change in his vitals and ultimately allowing him to be taken off of the ventilator. Kassi was overwhelmed with emotion affirming, “At this point, we are crying. How many times do we hear that people are realistically surviving this virus?”

Kassi’s family was in preparation for the worst. Without any prior knowledge of the virus and the fear of the unknown, it was difficult for them to find strength in his journey. The moment she was able to speak to him, Kassi was filled with hope stating, “The next day we were able to FaceTime him and he wasn’t able to talk but he could make noises and he could say, ‘Ya’.”

That one phrase was the hope they were looking for in his journey. Each day, Mr. Kuhnhofer is getting stronger and stronger with the help of his doctors and family by his side. Kassi’s family had angels in their home, the hospital and the outfield.