I longed for Thanksgiving break. I purposely took extra time to prepare the entire week of my class following the break before going home that last Friday so that I wouldn't have to even think about school over the break.
Then I woke up that first Monday morning of my break with a horrible headache and body aches. I thought I slept wrong, so I took some ibuprofen and a hot bath and went about my day. I noticed that my cat suddenly wasn't eating or drinking, either, and I waited too late to get her into the vet. When I called, I found out you have to get onto the wait list by 6 a.m. So I got her some yummy wet food so she'd at least eat something and I forced her to lick ice cubes to stay hydrated all day until I could get her into the vet the next morning.
David and I went out for coffee, and we'd considering swinging by my parents' house to say hi since he was home for Thanksgiving, but since I'd had the headache in the morning, it made me a bit nervous to visit them. So I took David for a hair cut instead and then came home and played games with him.
That night, I noticed I was running a low grade fever and was glad we decided against going to my parents. I decided to self-quarantine with the cat that evening and night, though a few ibuprofen broke the fever and left me feeling just fine.
I didn't sleep well that night as I constantly checked on the cat, and I was nervous I wouldn't get on the wait list in time. When it opened at 6 a.m., I filled out the check in form online immediately and still ended up 12th in line with a 2 and a half hour wait. 3 hours later, David and I came home with a very sick cat running a high fever from an unknown infection, a round of antibiotics for her, and a big bill. The rest of the day I stayed close to home to take care of her. I slept in David's bedroom with her that night, and I woke up the next morning with horrible body aches (to which I attributed to his very uncomfortable futon bed). I went to go take a hot bath when I realized there was absolutely no hot water. Much to our dismay, the 11 year old hot water heater had rusted through and bit the dust. So Mike and David went to Home Depot and came home with a new hot water heater to install on his day off, and a very large bill--right before the weekend I'd hoped to be Christmas shopping. Ugh.
So I spent the day starting to get some baking done for Thanksgiving. At least that lifted my spirits.
That night, I started running another very low grade fever and was starting to get worried, but I kept telling myself that it was just a sinus infection and that I was just run down from the craziest, busiest, most demanding school year ever. I stayed quarantined in David's room and nursed the cat, who thankfully was starting to regain her energy. I woke up around 2 in the morning and couldn't get back to sleep, so I made an online appointment in the middle of the night to get tested for COVID the next evening just to be sure.
I felt tired on Thanksgiving morning after not sleeping well, and I started reading people's posts on facebook about recently getting COVID, starting with very similar symptoms as mine. So I kept my distance from everyone. Mike smoked a turkey, and I came out to cook the potatoes and make the banana bread shortly before the turkey was ready. Then we all went outside on the back porch to eat to make it as safe as possible just in case (though I really should have quarantined and not participated in anything that day).
Unfortunately, the place I'd made an appointment for called to cancel it, and being Thanksgiving, not a lot of places were open for testing. So Friday morning, after waking up with horrible body aches again, I called to make an appointment somewhere else, but they didn't have an appointment till the next day at noon. I took the apointment and figured maybe it was God's way of telling me I was fine. I spent the evening out in the living room watching Hallmark movies with Mike, though socially distancing myself and sitting on the floor.
But fine I was not as I drove home Saturday afternoon with a positive COVID test and orders to self isolate for 14 days. Truthfully, I was already on day 6. Yeah, it had been uncomfortable and I was very fatigued, but if that was the worst of it, it wasn't so bad. I was gonna get through this. I just hoped no one in my family got it since I had only been half way quarantining. Truthfully, Mike and David had thought I'd already over exaggerated all week before they realized my test was positive. I can be a bit of a hypochondriac, so they never really take my ailments seriously.
Well, Sunday was different, the body aches returned fiercely, and I felt like a truck ran over me. I stayed in bed all day. A friend brought over pizzas and even some orange juice at my request.
Monday, though, I felt good. I thought, Okay, this isn't gonna be so bad. I watched an entire season of my favorite show, stayed busy and distracted all day, and communicated with a few friends through texting.
Tuesday I noticed a slight cough that I wanted to kick right away, so I took some cough medicine instead of fever reducers. The "non-drowsy" meds not only knocked me out so much that I couldn't stay awake, but I started spiking fevers. Wednesday my head ached horribly, along with my body, and my fever spiked so much I had to take a cold bath to bring it down. I felt horrible, and I was terrified. Thursday I could barely muster up the energy to do an e-visit with a doctor, to which I got a reply that they wanted to see me in person. So I made an appointment with the urgent care on call doc, who came out to my car to see me since I am a COVID patient. She immediately put me on antibiotics to treat a secondary infection starting, likely pneumonia, and had me get an oxygen meter with strict instructions to head to the ER if my numbers dipped too low. When I got home and took my meds and measured my oxygen, my stomach ended up in knots over too many meds and not enough food in me. My fever took hours to break, and I was terrified because my numbers were not too far off from needing an ER visit. I was in horrible pain and could do nothing but sit and stare at the wall. I prayed all night long until my fever broke and I fell asleep for the second half of the night.
Friday I woke up, tried to drink a high protein shake to get something in my stomach before starting the meds all over again, and I dealt with fevers again for most of the day. Thankfully, my oxygen seemed to be improving. But I was still very weak and could only eat soup and macaroni and cheese. My mouth was still terribly dry that I couldn't chew anything without practically gagging on it. I kept myself as distracted as possible with movies on my ipad just to keep my mind off my symptoms.
Saturday, Day 13, I woke up feeling so discouraged. Everything just felt off, and I felt very weak. I was halfway through the antibiotic, and I expected to start feeling better. But I still coughed a lot and didn't have much energy to anything. A friend texted me to see how I was doing, not knowing I was even sick. When I told her, she exclaimed that had she known, she would have been doing anything to help, bringing over food, etc. She's a fellow second grade teacher, so I asked for help with my Math lessons for the upcoming week, as we're starting a very critical unit that I had no energy to make worthwhile videos for my kids. She said she'd e-mail them to me, which actually took a huge load off my shoulders. About two hours later, she also showed up at the door with three bowls of hot, ready to eat soup. I downed one bowl, and then downed a second one, too! I hadn't eaten that much or that good of food in an entire week, or had the appetite to do so. It truly warmed my spirits and really started setting off a chain reaction. A few hours later, I started noticing many of my symptoms lessening and I had energy to get up and clean up the disaster of a bedroom I've been living in. Plus I watched some really cute movies. My spirits lifted for the first time all week.
Sunday I woke up feeling so different. Good, actually. I hadn't had a fever all night. I barely had much of a cough left. My oxygen continued to improve. My mouth wasn't dry. I was HUNGRY and craved real food. I woke up requesting my third bowl of soup and then sent my son to McDonald's to get me a cheeseburger and fries. I was so excited to feel like I was finally getting better. Perhaps the worst was finally behind me. I went from taking round the clock fever reducer meds to stretching it out further between doses. What a difference that made in how well I slept, not having to constantly reminder what time I took what and if I had enough in my stomach at the time I took it. It also made a big difference in how I felt this morning, Monday, when I woke up to take my last dose of the antibiotic.
So here I am, Monday afternoon, day 15, trying to get through the day without any fever meds for 24 hours so I can be released from this quarantine in my bedroom. I am longing for fresh air and the chance to open the door to let some better ventilation in. And to sit with my family in the living room! David put up the Christmas tree for me, and I haven't even been able to enjoy it yet. I was originally told I could go back to work by Wednesday as long as I'm fever free for 3 days, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen (nor am I anywhere near ready to face the chaos of school on my minimal strength.) This took a LOT out of me.
Here's to hoping the end is very near. If it's not as near as tomorrow, I'm just thankful to be regaining my energy and my strength. As of two days ago, the thought of sitting long enough to even write this post was more than I could manage.
One day at a time. I have a lot of strength to rebuild.
Mask up, people. This sickness is nothing to play around with.
No comments:
Post a Comment