I didn’t catch it from HersheyPark last August, or the indoor wedding that I was advised to skip in October, or from the Walt Disney World trip in January. Or from going to see a show in February, or going back to the office 1x/week starting in March*, or from going to TNP’s giant conference in mostly-unmasked Tennessee. Not even the baseball game on Mother’s Day. Or from the now-dozens of times I’ve eaten indoors in restaurants.
I didn’t catch it from any of those bad decisions.
Instead, I caught it from doing mundane errands on a Tuesday. Tuesday, the dullest day of the week. Tuesday, May 10th. I took BrunhIIlde to a NJ inspection center before work, stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts for a coffee and muffin on the way home. I worked at home all day and after work ran to Target for some groceries. I masked at Dunkin’ and Target, but not at the inspection station because it’s in a big garage structure with both sides open. But masking doesn’t work when you’re one of a handful in the store with it on, and we’re at a point where the only ones who can be blamed for this mess are the ones spreading harmful misinformation or the government that quit being proactive and forthright about Covid months ago.
Wednesday I was fine. Thursday night I was a little hoarse, but chalked it up to work’s HVAC, which sometimes blows the dust around. Thursday night into Friday morning, I laid awake in bed wondering if I was catching a cold. Friday morning I woke up with a cold. I tested negative, so continued about my day. I felt really run down Friday afternoon so took the afternoon off for a nap.
Saturday I woke up and was definitely unwell. I tested again Saturday morning, and if you’re familiar with an at-home Covid test, you do the snot collection, mix it with fluid, drop some fluid into a test cartridge, and wait for the results. As the fluid absorbs its way up the test strip the control line usually appears first, and if you’re positive, the test line will appear below the control line within 10-15 minutes. I have done this dozens of times. But on that particular Saturday, the test line showed up immediately, even before the control line appeared. I thought the test was bad, but when the fluid hit where the control line was, that line showed up immediately as well.
It was the only two line positive test I’ve ever seen. š
I didn’t even have the luxury of the 10 minute wait to worry. Done. Positive. I left a message for my doctor, and when he called back we talked about Paxlovid. He thought I’d get through this fine, so we didn’t go that route.
WM tested positive on Sunday, May 15th. His birthday. He didn’t catch it from the thousands of now-unmasked students at his high school. He caught it from me.
My MIL is still fine, and although we’re taking plenty of precautions, this is very contagious. But she has had her 2nd booster and I hope it’s doing its thing.
And here we are, on day 6. To say that this strain of symptomatic Covid is “like” a cold or bronchitis or flu is wrong, because I know how my body works with those illnesses and this one is brand new. I had a high fever, but it didn’t give me chills like a fever does. And it disappeared without breaking. The fever just … left. I had head congestion so severe that my head and eyes throbbed for days. I experienced fatigue that was so deep that I couldn’t really sleep. My taste and smell are dulled but not gone. My appetite is non-existent. That is not me. I never lose my appetite. Bizarre. Like nothing else I’ve had.
I worked this morning and by lunch was pooped, so I took a half sick day to recuperate. Tomorrow I’ll aim for a full day.
My congestion is easing up, but my voice is shaky and I have a dry cough. Today is my last day that I have to remain in the house. Starting tomorrow, I can go out as long as I wear a mask for the next five days. I’ll take a test first.
With every ounce of sincerity, I am so thankful that I had the privilege to stave it off this long. Yes, this 2022 strain is rough, but Alpha and Delta were killers. I am thankful I had the privilege to buy time and get vaccinated and boosted, and I wonder what this would have felt like without.
In a very weird way, I’m glad to just get this over with. I’ve been so frightened for so long and when that second line popped up (first – it was really really fast!) I felt a wave of relief.
Looking forward to getting completely past this and enjoying my immunity bump this summer.
* My choice – TNP is bringing us back 1 day a month starting this summer. But we’re not banned from the office so I’ve been using it as my $7/day coworking space.
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I know more people that have it now than I ever did back when it was “bad.” I thought for sure I caught it at the conference in Portland 3 weeks ago, but both at-home and PCR tests were negative. Hope it never progresses beyond the cold/flu it feels like now.
I know the CDC changed the way it reports but it has to be so many more cases than are reported, because everyone I know is doing self-tests and, THANKFULLY, nobody I know has been sick enough to go to the hospital. It’s invisible but I bet it’s at the December omicron levels or maybe higher.