COVID- Week 1

Since I first posted about my illness on other social media, I have had a lot of sincere questions and concerns from friends and colleagues. So many, in fact, that I have decided to simply post the history and course of this illness as a way to both keep y’all informed, but also as a way to demystify this thing, and hopefully help others identify any symptoms early on... because I was initially unaware that what I thought was a simple “gut flu” was actually a symptom for what many of us think is a respiratory illness.

TO BEGIN WITH! READ THE ARTICLE I HAVE POSTED!

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/muscle-aches-extreme-fatigue-coronavirus-symptoms-go-beyond-fever-cough-n1173876?fbclid=IwAR1tqNY3n0lqsJ4UApDbutRDcj4fNZfWxnWK2It3OeglOiIVLOKGraCxu4M

You will learn a lot!

Now, on to my story.

I came down with what I thought was a gut-flu with D&V last Thursday (the 26th of March). Because of strict protocols at work, I stayed home, but felt much better by Sunday and Monday. I returned back to work on Tuesday, was screened for temperature when I arrived (that has been our SOP for several weeks now), and only had a 99 degree temp - well within parameters. However, I soon began feeling poorly, just generally not well, and about four hours into the day I broke into a sweat, with perspiration dripping from my head and neck. I took my temperature again and it had risen to 99.4. I noticed I had started coughing - not a lot, but enough to raise my internal alarms. I went home immediately, passed out, sweated through the night with fever dreams and then called Teladoc in the morning. My diagnosis is presumptive based on symptoms, but since I am in the DC area where we are approaching 4,000 confirmed cases, testing is impractical. It takes too long, and there simply aren’t enough tests for our major metro population.

So, I’m staying home, riding it out, checking my symptoms, and if I reach a trigger point, calling for an ambulance. What does that mean? I am watching my temperature, I am looking for respiratory distress - because that seems to be what kills people. My best tool is an app called OXIMETER that I bought for $4.95 and use almost hourly to check the oxygen level in my blood. I have been advised that if my O2 drops below 92%, call EMS. So far I am ranging between 99% and 97%, usually in the higher range, so... so far so good.

But that does not mean I feel well. I do not. I go through fever cycles with sweats and very strange dreams. I sleep for a dozen hours straight, which except for the dreams, are largely not interrupted. I am constantly fatigued with little interest in doing anything. Even getting up to use the bathroom initiates internal mental debate about how badly I really need to go.

So far, my higher intellect has won those debates.

Gastric distress has also been in play. I force myself to eat at least a can of Amy’s Soup (lentil, bean, vegetable... something healthy), and I have two bags of clementine oranges for snacking as needed. But generally, I’m not hungry.

I am also alone. And that poses a very strange dilemma for someone so extremely extroverted, yet ill with no energy. When people call, as much as I appreciate it, I often just don’t have the energy to participate in a conversation. Since this thing seems to go through cycles throughout the day, it really just depends upon how I feel at the moment how long that conversation will last.

I am not terribly worried about surviving this thing... The course of my life has rendered me pretty fatalistic... Everybody’s gonna die of something... So I don’t lie here in fear or excessive worry. I watch my pulse ox and symptoms, and if I see them trending south, I’ll call 911, drag myself outside with my wallet and toilet kit, and wait for the ambulance so that EMS won’t have to expose themselves to my contaminated home.

In the meantime, I’m as comfortable as I can reasonably be, given the significant physical impact of this disease.

And I have more than enough toilet paper. ??