Covid Chronicles, Day 12

Just a quick Covid-19 update. I was diagnosed with Covid 19 by rapid test on August 6. Today is August 18. I finally feel solidly in the "good" category. Symptoms are mostly gone - still a little bit of stuffy head - and I am clear to return to work Thursday. (Since my secretary is off Wednesdays, I am going to go back tomorrow.)

Overall, Covid symptoms have been, for me, a combination of flu (mainly the fatigue) and cold (sinus pain, stuffy head, dizzy). I was under physician's treatment within hours of the positive test with anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, oral steroid, baby aspirin, and OTC vitamins. 

The non-medical issue is the terrible inconvenience. It literally shut down our family. My wife is a teacher. She had to work from home to try to get ready to teach remotely into her classroom. When she reported my test results to her principal, they sent a Hazmat-suited team to scrub her classroom. My daughter had to be tested and share that with her work, even while she is quarantined. My son is now doing home-based learning. He was supposed to be a marching band section leader. We think his position is safe, but he's missing 2 weeks of band practice. 

The biggest pain in my heart was having to call the 15 people from our Wednesday evening communion services to tell them that I had unknowingly exposed them to Covid-19. These people come to the Wednesday night group because they are in the high-risk category and I exposed them to the virus. I called each person (or family) and wept after each call, praying the Lord's mercy for them. I also texted every other day for ten days, checking in to make sure they were OK. The Lord is merciful and gracious: to my knowledge, no one got sick from me.

So, take aways: 
*Wash your hands
*wear a mask. Everyone at our Wednesday service wore a mask except when receiving the Body & Blood of Christ. No one got sick. 
*if you do get sick, let yourself be sick. Rest. Do not try to power through. You will not succeed.
*make your plan B & C now. Have 2 sermons prepared for your elders to read, or pre-record two services to show in your absence. Make sure they know you are sick. 
*I would recommend call your PCP while healthy and ask if they are prescribing meds for Covid. If not, find a doc who does so if/when you get sick you know who to call. Concordia Plan's teledoc services will not prescribe. 
*Have a week's worth of basic food staples on the shelf. 

Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions. I'm not a doctor but will answer per my experience.

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