This isn’t my first bout with Covid.

If you’ve followed my blog then you’ll know that my stint in the Peace Corps was cut short when the disease first reared its nasty little head back in 2020. I was a few months into my third year in Namibia when the Corps made the unprecedented decision to recall ALL volunteers worldwide. It was done for our safety, of course. Covid had begun wreaking havoc with airlines and other modes of transportation and it became apparent that the disease was a serious problem. 

Since that time I’ve been vigilant about keeping up with my vaccinations, not just for Covid, but for seasonal flus and pneumonia. Still, I’m not overly cautious when I’m out and about. I don’t avoid crowds, though I’m naturally not attracted to them, I don’t mind a handshake or other forms of physical social interaction. I do what I can to minimize germs I might catch or pass on, but I’m not zealous about it. 

My philosophy is that our bodies have evolved to keep us healthy while we scurry about this soup of viruses, bacteria, and other forms of biological and non-biological toxicities as we go about our day to day lives. Every so often we do need help to address new dangers, that’s what vaccines do, but for the most part, we get along just fine. 

Until we don’t.

As you may have surmised from the title of this post, I have “The Covid”. 

Last Wednesday, after spending time with friends, when I got home I noticed that I was feeling a bit off, not quite myself. I had a mild fever, nothing that would’ve alarmed any health care pro, but it in combination with my general sense that something wasn’t right internally led me to think that I might be coming down with something. Various strains of flu viruses have been going around and I figured that must be what my body was trying to tell me. Still, to be sure, and to make use to the stockpile of Covid test kits I had accumulated since 2021, I decided to test myself.

If you are like me, whenever you learned that our government had Covid test kits to give out for free, you ordered some. And, if you’re like me, you’ve had few opportunities to use said kits on yourself or other members of your family. So, we have a nice little stash. 

Pubic Service Announcement: if you have the iHealth COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test kits (these are in orange and white boxes with a dark grey check on the front) and you know they’re older than one and a half years, toss them and order new kits. The fluid use in these kits will likely be dried out or almost so, making them useless. The kits that are now being issued (as of 11/20/2023) are called Binax Now and they come is a black and blue box. These are MUCH easier to use. Get your free test kits here.

Anyway, I tested myself and sure enough, my test showed positive. As I’ve said, at the time I only had a slight fever and an odd feeling, nothing that seemed indicative of the dreaded Covid. So, I tested myself again just to make sure.

Positive!

Damn!

I texted the folks I had hung out with earlier to let them know that I might have infected them then checked my pantry to see if I had enough in store for at least 5 days of isolation. I live in Florida where hurricanes are part of the environment and being prepared is just part of living here. I have several varieties of soups, coffee, several types of teas, canned goods, but most important, a bottle of unopened Maker’s Mark Bourbon, and several bottles of wine.

So, yeah, I was stocked. 

That was Wednesday night. By Thursday afternoon I started feeling like I actually had something that wasn’t a flu bug. My fever, while still fairly minor (101 degrees f), was enough to give me chills. My joints started to ache and what was a minor headache the night before had become a major pain. 

But Covid was just getting started.

By Friday night my entire body hurt. Even my skin hurt!  I was so uncomfortable that I couldn’t sleep more than 2 hours at a time even with medication. I was beginning to think that what I had was a bit more serious than your garden variety virus, and that it might hang on longer than I hoped. 

Observation: Why does time seem to slow down when you’re sick? I would take pain meds and go to sleep at, say 10pm. I’d wake thinking that I had slept 4, maybe 5 hours. But the clock beamed 11:30pm back at me. What the heck?? I’d take pain meds and thinking they should start working in maybe a half hour. Thinking at least an hour has passed I check to find it’s been only 10 minutes since the last time I checked. 

It’s like being sick puts in some kinda weird time-eddy where you just swirl around, not going anywhere fast.

Anyway, I had other reasons to be concerned about my infection. My plan was to drive out west to see my son, daughter, and my grandson. We were all going to have Thanksgiving together. I had been looking forward to that trip for months. My hope was that if I tested negative by Sunday (11/19/2023) then I would go. But it wasn’t looking good.

By Saturday evening, however, things had changed. My body aches had diminished dramatically. My headache, though still present, was a shadow of the monster it was the night before. I was feeling pretty good, relatively speaking. Even though my fever persisted, I started to hope that I’d get through Covid and make my trip out west. 

I tested myself again Sunday morning.

Still positive!

Double Damn!!

All day Sunday my health improved. My headache was all but gone. The fever, though still present, was lower. I didn’t feel quite as tired and I actually slept for more than two hours. I started thinking that maybe I could still make this trip out west. I decided that a test Monday morning would be the deciding factor. If I was still positive, I’d stay quarantined and miss Thanksgiving with my kids. If I tested negative I’d pack up the car, stock up of drugs, masks, and antiseptic wipes and head west.

It’s Monday morning. No body aches. No fever. Minor congestion. I feel good, if not 100%. 

I tested.

Postive!!!

Triple Damn!!!

So, my friends, instead of heading west towards family time and turkey, I am stuck in self-imposed isolation. Such is life.

If you’ve read my blog before and wondered why I haven’t posted anything (until now), I will first apologize (so sorry!) and explain. 

I got sidetracked and I got lazy. That’s really the gist of it. I’ve been consumed with tackling some much needed maintenance on my house and working on a video (which I had hoped I’d be done with by now) that any sort of writing just took a backseat. I’ll try to keep this blog updated as I anticipate some changes are afoot.

Stay tuned.

Vern