My Happy New Year Gift.... UGH!

So...

I was sitting around, minding my business around New Years Day...

Enjoying my two whole weeks of Holiday leave...

Just minding my business!! 

Then this happened:

Look at that. A positive covid test. What an exciting New Year gift. :( 

You mean to tell me that I have dodged covid for close to FOUR YEARS and NOW I catch it?

LAWD.

So around January 1st, I woke up with a sore throat. And it was barely snore. It felt like I may have swallowed a fish bone or something like that. Then on the January 2nd, I woke up with a noticeably sore throat. I could feel it when I swallowed.  But I felt alright. Then on January 3rd, I noticed it was still sore, and I was a little congested. I thought it was just a cold coming on. 

That morning of the 3rd, I was putting away laundry and I opened the bottom drawer of my chest of drawers and saw some covid tests. But they were old and expired. So I was just going to throw them away. I really needed that drawer space. 

But before I threw them away, I decided to take a test to see if it was any good. 

And after about 30 seconds, that first line, the one denoting a positive test, showed up.

I knew I was supposed to wait 15 minutes, but I just happened to be walking by and saw it. 

"No, that's not right," I said aloud.

So, I took another test, using a different brand. Positive again.

"No, that's not right," I said again. 

I called my local urgent care center. We had one that just opened a mile away. I made an appointment and got tested there later that afternoon.

"Guess what," the kind Nurse Practitioner said, his eyes tinged with kindness and sorrow. "You have covid."

O_O.

I thought I would cry or scream if I ever got it. But I didn't really react. 

"Okay."

That is all I said. 

He asked me to tell him about some of my autoimmune issues. I did. He wouldn't give me the antiviral medication. He told me to go call my rheumatologist. It was too late for all that. 

My sister's best friend told me to look online to see if the antivirals clashed with any of my current medications. They did. So, I opted not to chance it. I was just going to ride it through.

And as you can see, I am still here!

I think I had a mild case. 

I had been a little perplexed about the whole thing. I do not know where I caught it. I had been running a bunch of errands on the southside on New Years Eve weekend. I always wore my black KN95 mask  every time I went into a store. I sanitized my hands every time I got back in the car. I even had Chlorox wipes in my purse, just in case I needed them. 

But like most of us, I had let things slip a little. I have worn a mask during the pandemic and even now. I did not mind being the only person in a grocery store with a mask on. I had gotten past the funny looks. But that weekend, I had started using my debit card for buying stuff. I wanted to get away from using my credit card to buy everything. I thought it would save me from swiping too much and buying too much unnecessary stuff. But with debit card use comes having to enter a pin number into the pinpad at the checkout.

And I also went to the movies. Mind you, I went to a 9:00 am movie on a Saturday morning. And there were only 5 people in the theater. And I wore my mask the entire time. I went to see The Color Purple. 

And it was good. 

Could it have been from there? Who knows. We were all spread out. It was my favorite theater, and there were only 5 cars in the parking lot. 

I don't know. 

I did some yarn shopping. I went to the phone store to look at some phones, but there was a bunch of folk in there. I left immediately. 

I am not sure where I got it from. But I wanted to drive to the southside Fayetteville city limits and jump out the car and shake my fist at Fayetteville. Then get back in the car and drive home. 

I didn't do that. I just stayed at home and dealt with it. 

But my symptoms were mild. I had a sore throat that lasted all of 4 days. I had 2 days of horrible sleep, where I was waking up several times a night and drinking A LOT of water. It was that kind of sleep where I would wake up and thought I had been asleep for several hours... but it had only been an hour. LONG nights. Ugh. 

And a ton of mucous. Wow. 

I must've gone through four boxes of tissues. YIKES.

And I drank so much water. I got to a point where I concocted fruit infused water every morning. I had some strange thing for pineapple lemon water. Water, water, water. 

It was more discomfort than anything. My joints and muscles were no more achy than usual. I have arthritis, and I could not tell much of a difference. I was really happy that I did not have a fever. Urgent care prescribed an inhaler and cough pills. I didn't have to use those. Because I knew I was on the mend when I started sleeping better. I still feel like I was inhaling water, but that's fine. 

I got plenty of water. 

My sister made me text her every morning and every night before bed. I even texted her sleep oxygen levels recorded by my Smart Watch.

You can tell when I was most sick... my oxygen levels were ever so slightly lower than my normal 95%. I am not sure this meant much, but I told my sister if I hit 80% oxygen, I was making a mad dash for the hospital!

But I feel better now. I am still testing positive after 9 days, but the line on the test is real faint. I think by Sunday or Monday, I will be testing negative. Hopefully.

"You have Covid-Lite," one of my friends said. "This new strain ain't like the older strains. It's Covid-Lite!"

I hoped she was right. I haven't been paying much attention to the pandemic news like I had been early on. I don't know what strains are out. And I know, after this is all over, I will go on and get the latest vaccine in a couple of weeks.  

That was an experience. I remembered being glued to the television early in the pandemic, scared like crazy, and doing everything I could to protect myself. I think I would have fallen apart if I had gotten covid back then! 

But I just kind of went on through it, making sure I was taking care of myself the best I could. I work from home, so I continued to work. I had an addendum to a report that was due on January 9th. And I got it done. And when I felt a little tired, I would take a break. I would leave my office and go down the hall to my spare bedroom and lay down. That has had to be the best thing about working from home. 

But I tell you one thing... I don't want to deal with THAT again. 

But that is how my New Year started out. Glad to still be here to talk about it!