Hoping for healthy, prosperous, COVID-free New Year
By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH
Staff Writer
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began earlier this year, I’ve tried to be so careful and limit my exposure because my respiratory issues put me in the high-risk category.
I limited myself to only work and home and followed CDC guidelines diligently. I wore my mask, practiced social distancing and washed my hands/used hand sanitizer religiously.
So, imagine my surprise when I tested positive for COVID in mid November.
My “symptoms” began on a Saturday morning and included a wet cough … nothing I haven’t dealt with when my allergies/sinuses give me fits. As the day progressed, I developed a low-grade fever. I believed I had yet another sinus infection since my head was congested and my ears were plugged … all totally normal occurrences for me, or so I thought.
Despite my little cough, I didn’t feel bad, but I wasn’t quite myself either.
Throughout the day, I took daytime cold medications and a decongestant, along with my regular over-the-counter allergy meds and breathing treatments before ending the day with a round of nighttime cold medication.
A friend also brought me several packs of Emergen-C (1,000 mg of vitamin C, along with vitamin D and zinc). Just in case it was COVID, she gave me the same advice a doctor gave her dad during his bout with COVID — vitamins, humidifier, lots of fluids and plenty of rest.
I woke up Sunday morning to an email from a business acquaintance/friend I had seen the prior Thursday. It was an outside meeting; he wore a face shield with rubber gloves the entire time.
Like me, he had developed a cough and ran a fever on Saturday. Because of his symptoms, he and his wife were tested for COVID. His test came back positive.
Well, that sealed it. I had considered getting tested, but now, it was a definite must.
That Monday, myself and some 475 plus others drove through Whiteley Park at one of the Butler County Health Department’s mass testing events. The test was quick and painless, and I still didn’t feel that bad. My temp was back in the normal 98-degree range.
As I waited for my results, I worked remotely from home. (A big thank you to my co-workers in the newsroom for helping pick up police/fire reports during my quarantine.)
While working in my home office, diligently writing copy for the next day’s edition, I got the call. The call from the Butler County Health Department.
I’m going to be honest, my heart sank into my stomach when she reported my test was positive.
Next came question after question about my symptoms and who I had been around. No, I didn’t lose my sense of taste or smell. No, I didn’t have chills or at least not that I was aware of. Yes, I had breathing issues, but no more than normal. Yes, I was tired/fatigued, but sometimes, that’s my normal state.
Turns out, I was one of 35 positive cases reported that day by the health department. I had never been a statistic before, but on that day, I was one.
My self-isolation ended just before Thanksgiving, and I returned to work the following Monday.
Just getting out of bed and getting dressed for work, including doing my hair and makeup, about did me in. (There are some advantages to working remotely — pair of sweats and your hair up in a ponytail, and you’re ready to tackle the day.)
By the end of that first day, I was about to collapse when I walked to my car, only to find its battery was dead. Perfect ending to an already exhausting day.
Thankfully, a friend’s parents were still in town and had a heavier set of jumper cables than mine, and he got my car started. They followed me to Auto Zone, where I learned my battery was, in fact, bad. But, guess what? They had no batteries to fit my car. What are the odds, right?
A phone call, followed by a trip to O’Reilly’s, and I was mobile again. By the time I hit my door, I could barely put one foot in front of the other and was off to bed just after 7 p.m.
What I realized that day was the fatigue that goes with COVID is relentless. Since then, my days have been split between working in the office and at home in the afternoons, after I’ve had a chance to lay down for a bit.
I don’t know how to explain the fatigue, but the activities I thought nothing about doing before, now require oh so much effort. Apparently, I’m not alone. I’ve spoken to several who have had COVID, and they all talk about the lingering effects of the fatigue.
“It will pass” was the message recently sent from a friend, who, along with his wife and daughter, had COVID in September.
He is so right. But, what I also realize is that I was very blessed. Given my respiratory issues, I had feared I would end up hospitalized if I contracted the virus.
So many have had it much, much worse than me. And, in reality, I have been much, much sicker during previous bouts with pneumonia and the flu. The last time I had the flu, my cough lasted for months. I didn’t think it would ever go away, but then, it just did, just as the fatigue at some point will do.
With Christmas less than a week away, my wish for all our readers and my news sources is they stay safe. I pray we all have a healthy and prosperous new year … COVID free.
Michelle Friedrich is a staff writer for the Daily American Republic and can be reached at mfriedrich.dar@gmail.com .
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