My Battle With COVID-19 - Webcommand.net

I haven’t posted to my blog in over a month, and not that anyone cares, I do this because I personally enjoy writing. (even if I’m not that good at it) When I started this blog back in 2017 my mission was to write articles on things that I found useful, content that I could refer back to overtime and if it happened to help someone else GREAT. Three weeks ago on October 21st I was diagnosed with COVID. I am happy to say I’m still here and almost fully recovered. I would like to take a few moments to record my experience.

COVID-19 IS SERIOUS!

To all the people who said COVID-19 is not real, IT IS 100% REAL and will knock you on your ass! I’m not exactly sure when I was exposed to the virus, I’m not a “front line” worker. I take reasonable precautions, wash my hands often, wear a mask, but still managed to get sick.

IMPORTANT – LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.

On October 20th I came to work and had a headache. Nothing strange about that. A couple Advil and pushed through the day. I remember going to bed Tuesday night feeling extra tired, but again nothing I haven’t experienced before.

On Wednesday October 21st I woke up with what I thought was a head cold. My symptoms were headache and a bit of post nasal drip. I went to work again and didn’t give it a second thought. As the day progressed I felt a cough develop, nothing Luden’s cough drops couldn’t fix. I completely ignored the signs and put everyone I work with at risk to catch COVID!

The Long Ride Home

I left the office and on the trip down the Garden State Parkway I was informed by my wife, under no circumstance am I to set foot in the house without a COVID test. Being the Macho- Macho man, I would have normally refused and said people still catch colds, its not always going to be COVID. However four weeks before my wife had a hysterectomy and also had some post operation complications. To help put her mind at ease I stopped at the urgent care before getting home.

The longest line

You would think in this age of technology we would find a way to reduce our wait times and a more efficient way for people to wait their turn. Apparently not! After two hours standing in line, not feeling so great to begin with I finally made it in the building. Good thing too, when I first hit the back of the line at 5:15pm I was told I would be the last one of the day, and they didn’t close until 8pm,

I remember waiting online with a group of strangers brought together by this stupid virus. Some were sick like me but didn’t know it yet, some were looking for negative tests so they can return to school or work, while some were exposed to the virus in some form and needed the reassurance they were negative.

Again, after two hours of waiting I finally made it to a room and the Doctor came in and asked how I was feeling. I told him exactly my symptoms and how I had a head cold, but my wife was making me get tested for COVID. Next thing I know was SWAB.. SWAB.. SWAB. He ran the rapid test, the long term test and checked me for flu too.

To my surprise I was COVID POSITIVE! I said to the doctor the test must be faulty, how could I be COVID positive, I was not exposed to anyone. The doctor explained the rapid test was not always accurate, however since I was experiencing symptoms, I was running a low grade fever of 100.2 (wow that’s new) more than likely I was COVID positive.

The media enjoys the fear

Have you ever had the wind knocked out of you? I remember walking out of the urgent care center and feeling devastated, like the doctor told me I have a week to live. In reality the doctor said there was no treatment for COVID unless I was the president of the United States or had a lot of money. I could buy myself some Remdesivir or Regeneron. Since I’m not a politician or ultra rich. I was banished to my home quarantine to ride out the virus no matter how good or bad it was.

Thinking the worst I called my wife from the car in tears, told her that I was positive and I was sure I would not survive the infection. She tried to calm me down, but I proceeded to tell her all the passwords to my bank accounts, where I keep my life insurance policy and quoted David Muir from ABC news. Every night at 6:30pm for the last 8 months David comes into my home and tells me how terrible the virus is, how many thousands of people have died and there is pretty much nothing you could do once you were sick.

Does the news media enjoy keeping the people in a state of controlled panic? Yes there is a pandemic, yes we have to distance, wash hands, ETC. What about all the people who recovered? They never mention the millions of people who beat this virus and are fine. As I drove home I tried to think of everyone that I knew that had already gone through this and came out on the other side just fine.

Home is where you quarantine

I arrived home close to 8pm and upon entering the front door I was ordered to my bedroom. Do not talk to us, do not look at us, don’t even pet the dogs, my wife yelled and that would be the last time I saw anyone for two weeks.

I managed to take my laptop, portable monitor and Firestick up the stairs into my bedroom where I immediately setup my quarantine office. I adjusted the ironing board to a good height and setup my laptop and display, found a snack table and folding chair in the closet that quickly became my dinner table and connected my Firestick to my TV. This was going to be home for the next 14 days, under house arrest in my bedroom. My wife dropped off three meals a day at the door and instructed me to take temperature checks throughout the day and Advil for my fever.

The first two days were pretty easy, a little of fatigue, cough and headache, however by day three things started to change. My joints were painful, every joint in my body! Ankles, knees, elbows, knuckles. It felt like someone beat me with a hammer. It wasn’t hard to get through the pain as I was so tired I was sleeping 10 to 14 hours a day. I have heard that many COVID sufferers experience trouble breathing. At the end of week one my breathing was OK. The virus had not managed to make it into my lungs yet and I wondered why, I felt very sick at the end of the first week, but no lung issues. Could it be that I use a CPAP nightly for my snoring issue? I wonder if that saved me? I was thinking the CPAP dries my nasal passage out and forces air into my lungs was helpful at keeping my breathing somewhat normal.

Week two – still sick

During week two my join pain subsided and I lost my taste. For some reason the fever would be gone during the day light hours but would always return around 7pm. NyQuil was helping get to sleep and I would be out for 12 hours (easy maybe more) My appetite never suffered, however for most of the 14 days I did suffer gastrointestinal issues. Around day 12 I started to feel better and my fever finally broke! The only problem the virus finally got a foothold in my lungs. Breathing was more difficult but nothing I couldn’t handle, it felt like I spent the entire day in the pool and maybe drank a bit too much pool water.

Energy levels came backup and was sleeping under 10 hours a night. On day 15 the family finally let me out of quarantine! Hooray! The first thing I noticed is I got winded just walking down the hall. I couldn’t even climb a flight of stairs!

The after math!

For the next four weeks I would need more sleep than prior to COVID. I pretty much couldn’t do anything other than sit in a chair. Simple things like climbing stairs or helping bring in packages from the store winded me quick. As I said earlier I tested positive on 10/21/2020, not until the first weekend of December would I feel well enough to do yard work, carry the laundry basket and feel like myself.

I finished this post on 12/10/2020 and for the most part all of the physical damage that COVID did has resolved, however mental issues still linger. My wife still has not contracted the virus and she is now more terrified than ever. The doctor told me I have some level of immunity, but when and if that will end is unknown.

Bottom line.. don’t take this virus lightly! Its serious and all reasonable precautions should be followed. When the vaccine is available in your area TAKE IT! You do not want to catch this!

Things I did / took to help me feel better while battling COVID. Everything was purchased at Amazon and delivered to my home

These items helped me weather the COVID storm and kept me sane while in isolation!

Thank you for reading my blog.