COVID-19 Chronicles: Herd Immunity

I can’t taste chocolate. Jealous yet?

Over two weeks in and I know I’m in the elite, apparently everyone wants what I have, which is the inability to taste or smell basically anything that is not a vegetable. And the possibility that I might be growing my own coronavirus antibodies.

Suddenly a vocal minority are demanding the right to be infected with a deadly virus, because they believe that is the way to get herd immunity

The exact same herd immunity in which the anti-vaxx community has been refusing to participate

And what I want to know is, are any of these... the same people?

Because I’m confused

Apparently it’s better to try to get exposed if it’s wild-caught rather than farmed

Probably this approach confuses me because I’m a lawful good character, and we never get the joke

While I am pretty sure that trying to get as much of society sick with coronavirus as possible, as fast as possible, is a chaotic evil approach

Hey everyone! Let’s all get a virus so we never get it again! You know, the way it worked with

Hepatitis

Tuberculosis

Herpes

HIV

Common cold

Influenza

Yeah! Go team, we can do it!

One of the things that helped me get through the first week of COVID-19 was the beautiful fantasy that I could donate convalescent plasma and then use my antibody protection to nurse any of my family or friends who might get sick.

As the delusions (and possible delirium) wore off, and I started to be able to read a little more each day, and the research started coming in, I stopped talking about this

Because I realized IT MAY NEVER HAPPEN

This may be like any other cold or flu in the sense that YOU CAN GET IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN

And be JUST AS SICK EACH TIME

In 2018, I spent much of the year sick in bed. It seemed that I got every cold and flu that went through my region. I would barely finish getting better before I’d come down with something else.

Finally I started looking at it as a research project

I actually got a doctor visit and a full blood panel because we thought I might have developed an autoimmune disorder, or leukemia or something

It turns out that if you are very sleep deprived over a long enough period, and also working out too strenuously, too often, you can wear down your immune system

A common problem with medical students completing their residencies

My doctor said I would probably keep getting sick until the end of cold and flu season

Turned out she was right because I got a cold at least another 5 times before summer

But then I got better

Had to quit my gym and quit working out entirely, and finally we had to move to a new apartment

But I did get better

Just like I’m finally starting to get better from COVID-19

This morning I MADE MY OWN BREAKFAST

And TOOK A SHOWER
 
On the SAME DAY

I was actually feeling pretty good and smug about things until around 7:30 pm, when I started having another sneezing fit and getting chilly, had to bundle up in two blankets again

Bit of an argument over whether my case is ‘mild’ or ‘moderate,’ I believe it’s mild compared to accounts I have read, others who have been following my blog say moderate

Which is validating, thank you

But this is why I believe I’m in the bottom third, not the middle

Let’s say ‘severe’ means you have to go to the hospital, probably be on oxygen, most likely be sedated or put in a coma and on a ventilator, some of these severe cases are in the hospital for 2-6 weeks

Obviously none of that applies to me, at least so far

If you read Paula Pant’s account over on Afford Anything, poor Paula, she had to do this ALONE

Reading that while I was still sick almost gave me a panic attack, unimaginable, fainting, high fevers, basically unconscious for days, couldn’t get any medical advice, had to drive herself to get tested, absolute nightmare

That was supposedly a moderate case
​
None of that happened to me

I never fainted, never had a fever, never threw up, never needed prescription meds, never even really developed a cough

I was able to get up and walk myself to the bathroom the whole time, even with dizziness and vertigo and tremors etc

This is why I say I had a mild case, and my doctor seems to have agreed since he never wrote me any prescriptions, got me a test, suggested I check myself into the hospital, etc

But then, struggling to breathe changes your perspective on life

It has made me very quick to get weepy, I cry about something or other most days

When I think of other people with my exact symptoms, but suffering alone, I sorta lose it

And of course that’s what is going to happen if we let this thing develop unchecked

That’s what everyone is hoping for, that all y’all will get COVID-19 from community spread, just like I did, and have yourselves a nice mild case, just like I did

So you can be too sick to bathe or make your own meals for three weeks, just like me

Wish I could help, but I have no idea how long it will be until I can make it three days with no symptoms