It Finally Got Me.

So, as I’m sitting here writing this, I’m about 6 hours removed from a positive COVID test. I asked my dad to get me one on the way home from work this morning because for the last few days I’d been feeling quite sick, and from something I’d caught from him.

My positive COVID home test from this morning.

Now, it’s not uncommon for my dad to bring home some sort of cold or flu from one of the guys at work. But, in the age of COVID, it’s still important to be on the lookout. Initially, I didn’t think it was COVID because the guy at work that my dad thinks he caught it from had said he’d taken a COVID test and it came back negative (although he was exhibiting mild symptoms). My dad started showing symptoms on Wednesday night/early Thursday morning. And his symptoms presented like his colds usually do: nasal, sinus, and chest congestion, headaches, lots of sneezing, and fatigue.

I’m not usually one to get sick, but on Friday afternoon, I started getting headaches, muscle aches, and sinus and nasal congestion. Then last weekend I started noticing that I was feeling quite hot for the most part unless I was sitting in my spot on the love seat where the air conditioning vent blows, aided by a ceiling fan. We don’t have a medical thermometer, but I assume I was running a fever for the better part of two days.

Sunday morning it started turning into laryngitis. I could feel the pain and rawness in my throat, and my voice was going hoarse. It was completely gone by yesterday morning. Dad brought home a couple bags of cough drops, and after letting three of them dissolve, one after another, the throat pain finally started to go away and my voice has been slowly coming back since then. It’s not 100% there, but it’s healing up nicely. I’ve been saying I sound like an old bingo lady who’s smoked one too many cigarettes.

After my dad had gotten at least a couple of COVID related call ins from his crew yesterday, I asked my dad to get me a home COVID test on his way home from work. He ended up leaving work early because he’s still feeling some fatigue and stomach issues, but he picked up a couple of tests. (I don’t know if he’s planning on taking the other unopened test yet.) I took the test within a few minutes of getting up this morning. It’s supposed to take 15 minutes for the result to show up, but within three minutes of me setting the timer on my phone, both lines lit up like a Christmas tree. So, I’m definitely still in the middle of this thing.

While the aches, laryngitis, and fever have subsided (although I am still feeling quite heat sensitive if I go outside; getting this in the summer sucks), I’m still experiencing fatigue, headaches, wicked nasal congestion at times, and coughing. Still kind of nasty, but so far I’m not in a hospital bed, which is good. (I am vaccinated, which is probably why it’s only been at “nasty flu” levels to begin with, also combined with the fact that the omicron subvariants seem to be more contagious but less potent and deadly.) But I am going to be out of commission for a few more days.

Currently, I’m just trying to get plenty of rest, not exerting myself too much, and trying to get my appetite back. It was practically gone for the first couple of days of full-blown symptoms, but I do keep trying to eat, and I haven’t had the major stomach issues either.

The worst part of it seems to be behind me, but it’ll probably be a few more days before I really feel better.

I hope you all are doing much better than I am right now.