Dealing With Stuff
  • Dealing With Stuff
  • About
  • Contact

COVID-19 Chronicles: Four Weeks of Coronavirus

4/29/2020

 
TEST RESULTS NEGATIVE!!!

Today, four-week anniversary of crawling into bed sick with COVID-19, got the test results saying all three of us had cleared it!

(Self, hubby, friend who drove us)

Also last day of antibiotics from secondary bacterial infection in my lungs

Still a little vertigo but otherwise, no more fire in my chest, don’t feel like an invalid for the first time all month

Thought I would share what it’s been like and what I would have done differently if I had it all to do over again, which, sadly, I might

Infection week: had no idea I was exposed, day 5 had to lie on floor with heart palpitations after 20-minute bike ride, told myself I was “just out of shape”

2nd asymptomatic week: “just tired and stressed out,” day 5: “allergy attack” with very itchy eyes, sneezing fits, feeling sick, “wrong symptoms,” “just being paranoid;” day 6 felt fine, went to grocery store; day 7, found out I had been exposed, went for a run, heart palpitations

WEEK ONE: stood up from dining table and started rolling sweat, extreme vertigo even in my sleep, malaise, sleeping all day, shaky, dizzy, hand tremors, chills, the rigors, constant sneezing fits, too tired to read or watch TV, so weak I could barely walk to bathroom, lost senses of taste and smell, then my hubby started coughing and I knew I gave him coronavirus

WEEK TWO: so weak I could barely sit up, most symptoms reduced but started having trouble breathing, gulping air, then a few days of constant racing heartbeat, resting 90 bpm (50% higher than normal), spike to 120 just from walking across the room, this was the week I thought I would die a few times, had a few paranormal experiences, one day of stomach pain, also very worried my hubby would get worse, call this week 20-40%

WEEK THREE: feeling back up to 50-60%, still confused, having trouble tracking conversation or following plot of shows, some neurological symptoms, exhausted after talking for 5 minutes, this is the week I felt illness level of flu or bad cold

WEEK FOUR: got sense of taste and smell back, felt like I was back to 70%, almost immediately wound up coughing all night, doctor sent me in for chest x-ray, “peribronchial thickening,” diagnosed bacterial infection in lungs, five days of azithromycin, burning feeling in lungs, chest pains, waking up all night for days, thought I would die again, got COVID test, results back: negative.

Total: 44 days since exposure, that is over 6 weeks

Assuming I had to go through all this and couldn’t just wish it away, what would I have done differently?

I would have taken the 1200 dose of Mucinex DM instead of the 600

I would have re-ordered Mucinex, Tylenol, and my vitamins a week sooner

I would have drunk 25% more fluids, especially hot tea

I would have listened to music when I realized I couldn’t read - too out of it to realize that was an option

I would have put on some nature-cams when I realized I couldn’t watch TV or movies

I would have paced myself and told myself “six weeks” instead of “five days” which was then stretched to “two weeks” - would have been much better for my morale to feel like I was “winning” rather than “taking too long to get well”

I would have quit pushing myself to get up and do things, hard things like microwaving a bowl of oatmeal

I would have set alarms for when to take my pills - the three worst days of symptoms I had were when I waited an hour and everything wore off, amateur mistake

I would have quit gaslighting myself, second-guessing myself, talking myself out of body

This is all based on the information I had at the time. If I *knew* then what I know now, meaning in some cases access to research that didn’t exist yet, I would have:

Spent time in prone position starting from day one

Probably gone to urgent care in the 2nd week, realizing I could just get oxygen mask or nebulizer for a few hours, not necessarily admitted to hospital, not automatically put on ventilator

Tried to get community COVID test sooner since doctor didn’t really believe me the first week

Looking back, I think I had a mild-to-moderate case

I did not have fever, sore throat, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea, felt like I might faint but never did, most of my worst symptoms only lasted for a few hours at a time, I was able to sleep roughly 7 hours a night and sometimes get an hour nap, did not really get a cough, that didn’t show up until the secondary infection

In other words, my experience was... well, it was scary and awful... and I did think I would die a few times... but reading other people’s moderate or severe cases made me cry

On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being ‘asymptomatic’ and 10 being ‘dead’

Let’s see:

1 no symptoms
2 not totally sure I had it
...
7 in hospital
8 on ventilator
9 coma
10 death

...I give my experience a 5

I did feel constantly sick for a month, but I did not feel constant pain, did not pass out, did not have to crawl on the floor, kept my appetite, for those things I am grateful

Actually gained 6 lbs, mixed feelings about that

Also, my parents and brothers are fine and my hubby made it out okay, out of my cluster of 12 who got sick, none of us were hospitalized, none of us died, to my knowledge I only spread it to one person (WRONG PERSON) but we got a happy ending

Speaking of happy endings, I looked into donating convalescent plasma, you have to feel healthy that day and be symptom-free for 28 days, obviously they don’t want blood with antibiotics or secondary bacteria in it

So maybe around Memorial Day my hubby and I can go in together, incidentally that will be the 15-year anniversary of the day we met, best friends

He was a saint during this, I told him he got promoted to Husband Level 3, he said, “Is that so”

Next steps, we are both going to assume we can get this again, just like the common cold, masks everywhere, I also wear safety glasses like at the dentist

I have not believed the 6-foot rule all month, I think 12 feet, will be aiming for 15 for my own safety, no offense but now that I know I’m not contagious I’m more worried for myself

The only infectious thing about us should be our smiles and our laughs

Love to all, thank you for your prayers, be well

Comments are closed.
    New podcast!
    Clutter of the Day

    Author

    I've been working with chronic disorganization, squalor, and hoarding for over 20 years.  I'm also a marathon runner who was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and thyroid disease 17 years ago.

    I have a BA in History.

    I live in Southern California with my husband and our pets, an African Gray parrot and a rat terrier.

    #Questioner
    #ENTP

    This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies.

    Opt Out of Cookies

    Archives

    January 2022
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015

    Categories

    All
    ADHD
    Birdwatching
    Body Image
    Book Reviews
    Books
    Cleaning
    Clutter
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    COVID 19 Chronicles
    Fibromyalgia
    Filks
    Fitness
    Food
    Future Self
    Futurism
    Goals
    Habits
    Humor
    Languages
    Martial Arts
    Mindset
    Minimalism
    Money
    Motivation
    Movie Reviews
    Moving
    Organization
    Past Self
    Pets
    Preparedness
    Procrastination
    Public Speaking
    Quests
    Relationships
    Resolutions
    Running
    Sleep
    Technology
    The Woo Woo
    The-woowoo
    Thyroid Disease
    Timemanagement
    Time Management
    Tiny Houses
    Travel
    Weight
    Work
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Dealing With Stuff
  • About
  • Contact