Covid-19, Day 7 - Reflection

Covid-19, Day 7 - Reflection

First, a quick update. Still stuffy. Woke up with a lot of sinus pressure and a bit of a headache, actually. The worst part was this was 4:30am. Bummer. No rest for the weary. I got up and watched the new Tom Hanks WWII movie, GREYHOUND. It was OK - the book it is based on, THE GOOD SHEPHERD, was better. Sharp listeners will notice Hanks' character prays Luther's Morning Prayer. The character is the son of a Lutheran pastor - that's mentioned in the book, not the movie. 

I added a Vitamin B to my pill salad this morning and promptly dozed off at 8am. I woke at 9:30 and actually felt human - like being able to do something, not just an abstract and nebulus "want" to do something. So, I did some laundry, played with Reese for a bit, and puttered in the shop, assembling some crosses I had previously cut out. Felt good to do something so relatively trivial. I'm not used to just sitting...and sitting...and sitting. 

I've had some people ask how I knew I was sick, when I realized it, and why did I figure out it was Covid. Good questions. Since there aren't much updates, this is a good time to tell the tale.

Last Wednesday morning I felt fine. I did a scheduled shut-in visit in the late morning. I had lunch and went back to the office for a little while. As the early afternoon moved into mid afternoon, I started feeling more and more tired. I had been battling tooth problems - a terribly painful cracked #30 led to an emergency root canal the week before - and hadn't been sleeping well on the nights on each side of the root canal. I thought it was catching up to me. Since I had evening service, I knocked off a little early and dozed on the couch at home before dinner. I ate, felt a little bit more energized, and did two small-group communion services, one at 7, one at 7:20. 

I am grateful that, so far, none of these people I was in contact with on Wednesday show any symptoms. I wore a mask in the evening, washed my hands carefully, and prepared the Sacrament with sterile care. I want to be clear: I was not negligent, intentionally putting people at risk. Other than fatigue, which I was attributing elsewhere, I had no other symptoms that I would have attributed to Covid-19.

That changed later that night. I had a tickle in my throat when I got home - an indicator of bad things for me. I started getting a chill, but my thermometer said I was still below 99. I went to bed before 10, curled up in a blanket like a cotton boll weevil, and dozed off. Laura woke me up a little before midnight and said I was burning up, but I was shivering and sweaty. Thermometer said my temp was 100.4. I toweled off, took a couple Tylenol, and fell back into fitful sleep. The next morning I felt somewhat better - showered, shaved, got dressed for work - but slowly felt my "OK" levels fading and my "uh-oh" levels rising. My head hurt at the base of my neck. My hips and knees hurt, like when I get the flu. My throat was sore and the tickle had become a dry, barking cough. A trip to the drive-thru quick testing center confirmed my suspicion: Covid19. 

The clinic did not provide me any prescriptions, but I want to be clear: I did not ask for a physician's appointment, just the test. They told me to treat symptomatically. I called my PCP and his nurse got me on an antiviral, antinflammatory, and oral steroid. She also recommended baby asprin and Zinc and something to combat the sour stomach that these would cause. (I have since added Vitamin D, C and B as well after doing some more reading.) I took the meds for the first time Thursday night. They began to work immediately. Fever was gone Friday morning, as were the aches and pains.

Saturday I felt pretty good and Sunday I felt better. In fact, I felt downright silly sitting on my back porch recording Bible class "knowing" I was over it and should be at worship doing my job.

That fool's thought ended Monday. I think the biggest thing for me is that the 'roids keep my mind going so I could not sleep. Anyone who's sick knows, you gotta sleep. But, I cannot sleep with my thoughts racing. I would compare it to too much caffeine late at night. All night, all morning...thoughts. Not bad, not good - just random, stream-of-consciousness thoughts. I wrote a whole short story in my head - damned if I can remember it now. I thought it was good, too. I considered wood projects, sermon ideas, family needs, prayed for people. I got up and read, watched videos, and sat in the dark. So, after three, four, five days of 2-4 hours sleep a night, I think I just ran out of gas. Already drained, and not putting anything back in the tank, I'm whipped, wiped out, and washed up. In fact, I may try to squeeze in another nap - or, at least, doze for a while. 

People have asked where I got it from. Who knows? It's not like people walk around with signs, "Want Covid-19? Gimme a kiss." And, even if they did, I would take a hard pass on that invitation. Probably. More than likely. Well, let's leave it there and just don't tell my wife. It's everywhere, they say, here in Victoria. I had been in Houston last Monday, another hotspot. Perhaps I picked it up there, in a moment of incomplete and insufficient sanitization, introducing the cooties to myself. It could even be off a gas pump handle. There is simply no way for me to know. 

So, for those who wanted some back-story, there it is. 

I appreciate the kind words, your notes, and your prayers. I do feel better today than yesterday, but I'm still short of "good." 

Romans 15:13