Her parents did their best to keep Siena healthy, and so did her brother Fisher. They ran restaurants and cooked more at home. “When someone went shopping, it was usually me or Mark,” said Christine.
“We wore masks around the house when we weren’t in our rooms. We did a lot of hand washing. Diabetes or an autoimmune disease puts a person at higher risk because you are not sure how your body is going to fight off a virus of any kind, ”Christine said.
“I suppose we were very afraid of the unknown, like most people. Most things were canceled so it wasn’t too difficult to stay home at first, but when summer came and things started again we had to decide whether to let them go, ”she added.
Last fall, when school, softball, dance, and church resumed, Siena put on a mask and left. “Until then, we didn’t feel like we had to exclude them from activities or take distance learning,” said her mother.
But COVID-19 cases spiked late last fall and invaded the Bonk house in January. Mark got sick first. He had difficulty walking and breathing for about five days and was briefly hospitalized with breathing problems. He then had severe cold symptoms for two weeks.
Christine got her first Moderna vaccine in January. Two days later, Mark tested positive, and two days later she also tested positive.
