I Had Covid

(I am interviewing myself. It makes for a much easier interview, because I know ALL the questions, and ALL the answers will be correct! Easy peasy!)

M: Hi Mary, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?

M:  Not at all

M: What have you been doing the last few weeks?

M: Well, for the most part, I have been pretty sick with Covid 19.

M: Really? How? Who? Where?

M: We went to a wedding in Florida. (Shh, don't tell Beth Kitchenman! She told me, 'you are braver than me' when she found out I was traveling to Florida.)

Such a nice wedding by the way. Benny and Georgia, she is Tim’s niece, are the sweetest couple!

 He is from Germany, met her in Turkey when both were there in missions and they fell in love! Their love story is amazing! Their wedding in Florida had to be cancelled in April due to Covid, so they had a State wedding in Germany and came back to Florida for a church wedding in August. We would not have missed it. Their vows were written by them and so beautiful! After they repeated their vows, I whispered to Tim and said, ‘Lets get married again!’  

(Humm, Tim really doesn't have yellow hair, I guess the lighting played a part in it. Here we are celebrating at the wedding, feeling just fine and dandy!)

We had an amazing weekend in Florida. We enjoyed a day at the beach.  

We did my favoritest thing, going out on Mike and Ruby's boat, stopping at the the Salty Dog for lunch, then boat over to Bird Key and gawk at the beautiful homes from the water! I always love it!

 We had a lovely family gathering with Tim’s siblings Sunday night, and then flew back home early Monday morning.

M: That’s nice,, but when did you get sick?

M: Actually, I started with a headache the Tuesday evening after we got home, but thought it was my contacts. Sometimes if I forget to change them, they let me know by giving me a headache and then I remember. But, the next day I realized it wasn’t my contacts. It hit me like a ton of bricks. My head was booming, my body ached all over and I was sick as a dog. The worst part of it, one of the Boova had been at our house overnight and was with us the next day when it hit me. Tanner went home and by Friday he had a slight fever.

M: How did you know it was Covid?

M: I texted my sister in law in Florida and said I am very sick, asking if she heard if anyone else at the wedding got sick? (by the way, we didn’t get exposed at the wedding) She called me back immediately. She said she was sick, that the day before, she started chilling, didn’t feel good, so she got in bed and fell asleep. When she woke up she felt pretty good and that was about all there was to it! However, because she works with elderly people on the weekend, she went to be tested right away. Once her test came back positive, I knew that is what I had.

M: What about Tanner?

M: Shana had him tested because he is in football. If they are exposed to Covid, they have to be tested and quarantined. He tested positive and later Shana did too. They both moved in with us to keep the rest of her family from getting it. Jeremy and the 2 oldest boys tested and were negative.

M: Did Tim get sick?

M: He didn’t! He was working so hard during that whole time, ripping out our old wood floor and carpeting, installing a new wood floor. That whole time we were living in dust and disarray which didn’t help much with being sick and all.

M: What is Covid like?

M: For Shana and Tanner, and Ruby, not more than a cold or slight fever, few chills, maybe some aches,, but not for me. I have never been so sick in my life! Think about having the worst flu ever x 5. If I took Ibuprophen for my fever, which topped at 102.7, it would really help, until I needed to take it again. My headache never went away, my head  spinning and dizzy was common. I was weak and ate more Chicken Noodle soup than I ever did before but it was about the only thing I could handle. I was sick like that for 12 days.

M: Did you ever get tested?

M: I did finally, because I could not seem to get over this. I called my Dr. and she wanted me tested so she can treat me better.

M: What was that like?

M: I was sent to the testing sight at the Greenville Hospital. It is set up in the parking garage which was kind of cool. Lucky for us, there were no car lines that day and we got right up to the spot. Shana had told me that Tanner just had a nostril swab so I was halfway expecting that, but oh no! For me, a nurse approached in a hazmat suit, with a long wire stick that had bristles on top. I should have known,, but willy nilly lifted my nose and up she went, all the way up to my brain I am sure! Then she had to turn it a bit to ‘get’ whatever there is to get! It burned so bad! I am not a wuss when it comes to pain, but this seemed to take too long. Tim tried not to laugh at my reaction. It probably did look funny. I got the results in 2 days, letting me know what I already knew. My Doctor had a couple of Virtual appointments with me then and pronounced me ‘cured’ after no temperature for 24 hours, and I had passed the 10 days since I started symptoms.

M: Tim still didn’t get sick?

M: No. The weirdest thing. My Dr. said he may have had it, that some people just don’t have it like others. However, Tim’s brother Mike in Florida, who was exposed the same time we were, never got sick either, but took the test to see if he had it and he was negative.

M: So, what do you think about it all now?

M: I am so thankful I didn’t end up in the hospital, that I had no problem breathing the whole time. Maybe me fighting so hard to get rid of my sore throat helped to keep it from going to my lungs.

I would recommend to anybody, the minute you feel like your getting a scratchy throat, whatever you use to fight a cold, start fighting it with everything you’ve got. You do not want that virus to get into your lungs. It likes to hang around in your throat first and you want that bad stuff to slip on down into your tummy and on out, not into your lungs!

M: Any advice?

M: You know, I prided myself in how careful I was after getting into the car when I got gas, groceries, or coming out from any store, I always used the handwipes in the car, made sure I never touched my face, was ultra careful. I always wear a mask when I am in public, because early on, before any mask wearing was mandated, my sister had sent me a mask and I decided that first day I got it, to wear it to the store, just to see what it was like. I remember how thankful I was that I had it on, because when in line to check out, a lady in front of me, who looked frail and used a cane, had a coughing fit. She did not cover her mouth at all, kind of turned back towards me and coughed some more. Both her and a girl with her, who looked like she was physically challenged did not have a mask on. I remember thinking that she looked like she would have underlying issues, a prime candidate to get Covid and thought she of all people should have a mask on, in this case, to protect those around her from not getting something from her. I was very glad I had a mask on so I didn’t have to walk through her droplets.

The main thing I would advise, if your sick, stay home. If you are exposed to Covid, or living with someone that has it, wear a mask to protect others from getting it from you. You may not be sick, but you can pass it on. That is how we were exposed to it.

M: Do you wish you wouldn’t have gone to Florida?

M: I wish I would not have had Covid, but no, I loved our trip to Florida. I can’t stay home till this virus is conquered. We all take risks every day, and this is one where we all have to be extra careful. I do feel that the Doctors know more about the virus now and can treat it better, which I’m sure we are all grateful for.

The other day at the Farmers Market, a couple came up to buy popcorn and said, ‘Hi, this is the first we see you since last year!’ I did not recognize them because of the masks they had on, but they went on to say that this is the first time they have gone out since all this started! They said they finally decided it is too depressing to ‘stay in’ and wanted to get out again. They sounded so excited to be ‘out!’ I think too, it would be harmful in other ways if everything would be locked down and you couldn’t get out. People need people! We need each other and hopefully soon we get to see the smiles again. I miss the smiles. 

M: So, how has this all changed you.

M: I was so sick, but I had high hopes of recovering sometime. During all this time and right now, my brother in law is going through chemo and radiation for cancer. He is very sick and I had to think of him so often, because he has more weeks of treatments to go through and not feeling good.

I think of all the others who ended up in the hospital and lost their lives fighting this very same virus I had.

 The after affects of being sick are remarkable. I tire very easily, my legs still feel like jelly when I walk around too much. A dull headache remains, my ears ring and once in a while, my head spins if I move too quick. My Doctor said that it takes up to 5-6 weeks to feel normal again. Sigh. I am not a very patient person. It has made me slow down and maybe now I will acquire that graceful slow walk I always envy other people for! And, I'm so very grateful to feel good again.

M: Well, I am glad you are on the mend.

M: Me too! I would never wish this on anybody!

P.S.

I didn’t write this blog for ‘oh you poor thing!’ etc. I wrote it because people asked me lots of questions about Covid and what it was like, Hopefully this may be helpful to someone else. 

They say you are most likely immune to the virus for 3 months after you’ve had it. (that’s all they can assure you for now, according to statistics)

Lets keep washing our hands, and stay home if you are the least little bit sick. Work on living healthy, be smart and mindful that there is a very contagious and deadly virus out there. 

Stay safe!