For those of you who aren’t too concerned about the coronavirus or are just fatigued by it, let me give you a warning to stay safe.
I first encountered the virus back in April when my mom had it and was sick for eight weeks. It was hard seeing her go through that, and I knew I didn’t want to go through that. I got an antibody test done in early August and was informed I had the antibodies for the virus, so I assumed I must have contracted it asymptomatically from my mom. I still continued to follow Covid protocols for the most part, but I did that more for those around me than myself.
However, as I recently learned, I was still susceptible to getting the virus. I’m currently on Day 3 of my journey with symptoms, and this is my chronicle of it. If any of this sounds appealing to you, then don’t worry about following the guidelines and recommendations (only a hint of sarcasm there).
Day 1: I woke up with a ton of sinus pressure with my teeth strangely hurting in a very uncomfortable way. I didn’t think too much of it because I’m used to dealing with sinus issues this time of year. By the time I got out of bed, I had a splitting headache. But I had a lot to do that day at work so I took some Tylenol sinus medicine and went into the office.
The sinus pressure and headache eased up a little with the medicine and was at least tolerable. The medicine wore off by lunch time, so I went and bought more over-the-counter medicine, thinking one more dose would probably make it go away. However, by 3 p.m. I knew there was something more than just my sinuses going on.
As I started to lay out the sports section (this was Tuesday on our press deadline), I started getting pretty severe body aches and chills. At first it was just in my neck, but within 30 minutes of it starting it spread to my shoulders, back, arms and hands. Typing on my keyboard and using my computer mouse was becoming painful. I had a job to do and didn’t want to worry anyone, so I didn’t say anything.
When I left the office shortly after 6 p.m., I checked my temperature and realized I had a fever (100.8). I took it easy the rest of the night, took some more medicine and tried to go to sleep, believing I just had a bug that would be gone by morning.
Day 2: I remember the precise time I woke up in the middle of the night (3:38 a.m.). Every muscle in my body felt like it was on fire, aching uncontrollably and causing me not to want to move at all. My back was burning up and sweating, but my chest and arms were freezing despite me wearing a shirt and being under a comforter (my fever reached 102). My head was pounding much worse than it had earlier.
It was impossible for me to fall back asleep because of the pain throughout my body no matter what position I lay in. I finally caved to get up and take medicine, and once it kicked in I fell back asleep. But within 20 minutes of falling back asleep, I woke back up feeling super nauseous and had to run to the bathroom to throw up. I think I slept a total of 45 minutes the rest of the night and instead just laid there in complete agony.
The morning and subsequent day were no better than the night. I knew I had to get tested with my fever not breaking, so by noon I had my positive test results back.
By using some different medicine, I finally got the headache to subside some by the evening, but nothing else had changed.
Day 3: I at least avoided the burning up sensation throughout the night by getting my fever to break, but some new symptoms made their debut. My throat became sore and itchy, a cough began to make an appearance and my brain decided it no longer wanted to be sharp.
The “foggy mind/brain” people have reported with the coronavirus is no joke. It has become increasingly difficult to focus on anything for more than a few seconds, and I keep losing my train of thought. It probably doesn’t help that my head feels like it’s 50 pounds.
It’s still early on for me and I probably am one of the lucky ones with what are considered minor symptoms, but it’s definitely not an illness you want to play around with. I can promise you that.
Joshua Campbell is managing/sports editor of The Columbian-Progress. Reach him via email at joshuacampbell@columbianprogress.com or call (601) 736-2611.
