Heidi Stevens: I took a COVID-19 test as a precaution. A week later, I was hospitalized

I got the call on a Tuesday that my COVID-19 test came back positive, and my mind raced to two places: my kids and my heart.

My kids because I feared they, too, were infected. (How could they not be? I work from home, they school from home. Laughing, singing cheek-to-cheek dance parties are standard in our kitchen.)

My heart because I already have a heart condition brought on by a virus. I had viral meningitis in 2011 and, a cardiologist surmised, my body sent fluid to my organs to protect them. The sac of fluid near my heart never reabsorbed, so I live with a pericardial effusion that has neither shrunk nor grown in the past 9 years. It's a minor inconvenience, but a nagging reminder that viruses can do unexpected, lasting damage to your