Twice. It was tiresome literally and figuratively on both accounts. I’m going to share my experience from the beginning to the end. Don’t worry it’s an alright ending as I’m still alive and kicking!
I had a feeling I’d get that bug one way or another since the people and myself included haven’t been wearing masks now. Chase and I were inoculated a week before with our third booster. He caught it first and started to show symptoms like dry cough and weakness for a couple of days. I tried my very best to not get it by wearing surgical masks in the house and constant handwashing but nonetheless, I got it as well. I started to get the dry cough and it felt like I had cotton balls down my throat.
Next day, I was starting to feel feverish and weak and the dry coughs had turned into dry coughing fits as I have asthma. It was annoying and my throat was starting to get sore. I took a RAT test but it turned out negative. Three days later after the intense coughing my voice was already hoarse and my fever had not subsided. I took the RAT test once a day and it only came out positive on the third day.
The virus is usually spread from person to person by:
- Close contact with an infectious person (I’m positive I got it this way)
- Contact with fine respiratory droplets and aerosol particles from an infected person’s cough or sneeze
- Touching objects or surfaces that have droplets from an infected person, and then touching your mouth or face.
I was starting to get worried because I could barely get enough sleep from the coughing fits. I sounded like a dying horse wailing in pain. I had trouble breathing and was always exhausted from doing simple tasks like walking around the room. Good thing I had my own Pulse Oximeter but it was starting to get alarming as my oxygen levels were going down to 93% (because 99% is the optimal level). I had second thoughts about going to the emergency room. But how would that help me if the wait was an agonizing couple of hours in the middle of the night? I had cold sweats and I seriously had trouble breathing. But I pushed through it. I cried when I discovered that I had loss my sense of taste. The usually salty fries was now bland and lacking flavor. I was so afraid it wouldn’t come back.
Symptoms of COVID-19 can range from mild to severe. Some people recover easily, and others get very sick very quickly. If you test positive for COVID-19 you may experience:
- fever
- coughing
- sore throat
- shortness of breath.
Other symptoms include:
- runny nose or congestion
- headache or fatigue
- muscle or joint pains
- nausea or loss of appetite
- diarrhea or vomiting
- temporary loss of smell or altered sense of taste.
The next day, I decided to get a telehealth appointment, and instead of going to the hospital, I just did a zoom call with a GP. They prescribed me some antibiotics and Budesonide which was new for me. It was uncomfortable but hopefully, I was on the road to recovery. It took me another week for my fever to subside but my voice was so hoarse that I sounded like an octogenarian with a heavy smoking habit.
4 months later, I got the infamous FLU-rona.
It’s not covid but the symptoms are so aggressive it got me coughing blood and a visit to the ER. The dry cough was a nightmare as well because I haven’t slept well in days because of it. Guess what made it worse, dealing with a period. The coughing fits led to a nasty case of costochondritis. It was agonizing everytime I coughed because my whole chest seemed to explode. I had to hold on to my ribs everytime I coughed so I could just give it some support. They told me it turned into a mild case of Pneumonia so I had to take antibiotics yet again.
Just as I was recovering, a month later I got covid yet again.
Yeah it was the same rodeo just like the first but I came prepared this time with my asthma medication, antibiotics, strepsils and all things that would ease my coughing and of course dozens of surgical masks. I wasn’t scared this time. The scarier part though was being unable to pay my bills!
Most adults with a mild case of COVID-19 can treat their symptoms in a similar way to how they treat a seasonal flu. That is, rest at home, take paracetamol or ibuprofen to relieve pain and fevers, to keep hydrated and take cough medicine if needed.
So here I am back to normal with slightly reduced lung capacity but surely on the road to normalcy. I might try to go for a run today just to shake the cardio. Wish me luck!
