Covid19
It has surprised and irritated me how much I took my health for granted. After all we have been through with Rory over the last 14 years you would think I would appreciate being healthy but it is easy to slip into old habits when all is well. We grizzle about being tired even though we sleep through the night, we complain about minor aches and pains even though they are insignificant and we moan about how our bodies don’t function as they did when we were in our 20s. I am currently on Day 5 of Covid19 and it has been a wake up call. Sean, Rory, Colt and I, in our little bubble, had managed to remain Covid free, in spite of our high level of activity in the community; work, school, the gym, volunteering. I was beginning to think we had natural super immunity, like those bitten in a zombie film which don’t succumb to the infection, until this week. I had a bit of a dry cough on Tuesday afternoon and started to feel unwell on Wednesday. I had two negative nasal RATs on those days but when I got up on Thursday feeling worse a throat swab result was positive. The boys isolated me at the top end of the house and I have been feeling pretty awful; the most painful throat I have ever experienced, continuous headache, muscle aches, low grade temperature, high heart rate, wet cough, sinus congestion, no sense of taste or smell and the energy level of a jellyfish. I gave Sean a fright yesterday morning when I fainted in the bathroom (I was lucky he caught me). He thought I was dying and called an ambulance. The paramedics checked me over and said my vital signs were ok, apart from very low blood pressure. They gave me a choice of going to the hospital or staying at home with close monitoring, more fluids and regular paracetamol. Apparently there is a resurgence of Covid in our community and Days 3 and 4 are the worst of the infection. I have barely moved from the bed. This morning, although all symptoms remain, I must have turned a corner. I am up at the computer getting a few tasks done with the personality of a grumpy bear. I am looking forward to being able to swallow without pain, stop coughing, walk to the letterbox, sleep though the night and hug my family.
As far as I can tell from my limited view of life at the end of the house Rory’s week has continued as normal. Sean and the boys are doing RATS every day (much to their displeasure) and our greatest fear is Rory will get infected. If it is as bad for him as it has been for me it is going to be bad and he is at much greater risk of complications. He will need the anti-viral medication as soon as he tests positive.