COVID-19 Or Something
351 words.
You’ll have to follow me on Twitter if you want all the minute-by-minute details, because I still don’t have new glasses yet and long-form writing is a pain, but I’m pretty sure I got “it.” Either that or I got “something” at a ridiculously coincidental time, when I haven’t had “something” in a good ten years.
Fever spiked up pretty high yesterday (Saturday), and I spent most of the afternoon and night alternately shivering uncontrollably or drenched in sweat. So I’m officially now on day two of a strict two-week self-quarantine self-isolation inside my house. No symptoms before Saturday whatsoever.
Currently (Sunday) my fever is back down to somewhat normal and I feel better. However I’m still pretty exhausted and have some mild congestion, and occasional coughing (although I have that a lot anyway). I’m in reasonably decent health so I’m not too worried, although I hate feeling sick with a burning passion.
I was one of those people who for the last month have been thinking, “I’m pretty socially distant even under normal circumstances, I don’t really go out that much anyway, and now I’m washing my hands more than ever before, so there’s almost no chance that I’m going to catch this thing.”
But here we are. I have no idea where I might have gotten anything, let alone a coronavirus. The fact that it may have made its way to me should be concerning, if by some incomprehensible reason you’re still not yet concerned about the world health situation.
It’s possible it’s not COVID-19. Unfortunately I will probably never know for sure because here in the U.S. there is still a very big shortage of testing. My state is getting more test kits every day, but they still aren’t testing anyone unless they meet certain criteria, including being in direct contact with an existing COVID-19 positive case, which I haven’t.
Just letting you know. Don’t panic, but don’t ignore it.
P. S. My eye doctor appointment, the next step toward getting new glasses, was postponed until May due to the general shutdown of society surrounding the coronavirus. Sigh.
Archived Comments
bhagpuss 2020-03-22T21:10:21Z
Wow - scary news. Look after yourself. Fingers crossed it all carries on as you describe, that is to say, you get back to normal fast.
Hard to say if it’s better that what you have is corona virus or not, now you have something. Obviously you don’t want it to be the thing we’re all scared of but to have had it and recovered fully would be better than waiting to get it, I think. Supposedly that should grant you what they’re calling “short term immunity”, by which I think they mean seasonal immunity. It’s possible to get it more than once but unusual, apparently, so once you’ve had it you can at least relax a little for a while…maybe.
Of course, as you say, without a test it’s impossible to be sure. It’s going to help a lot when the other test is available, the one that tells you if you’ve ever had it. No idea how far off that is.
Mailvaltar 2020-03-22T23:15:52Z Wishing you the best, get well soon.
Jeromai 2020-03-22T23:54:01Z Oh dear. Getting sick is not fun. Take care of yourself and get plenty of rest.
everwake 2020-03-23T00:01:25Z
Glad to hear that you’re getting better!
I understand the irony of typing more to someone who can’t see well right now, but does increasing the font size of your browser or text editor make the situation more bearable?
UltrViolet 2020-03-23T19:19:19Z Increasing font size helps with reading text (as opposed to not being able to read it at all) but the letters are still blurry and indistinct. So it helps with comprehension, but it’s not comfortable. Gives me a headache after a while and sometimes it makes me nauseous. I have various “reader glasses” I’ve gotten over the last year that help a little, but they’re all imperfect and not comfortable long-term. The basic problem is the lenses in my two eyes are completely different now after having a cataract removed. Reader glasses that work well on the left eye don’t work so well on the right eye. I also have astigmatism so that’s another issue to correct. Was hoping to get a prescription for some kind of high-quality “computer glasses.”
Naithin 2020-03-23T20:42:09Z
Wishing you all the best with this, Ultr. I hope it doesn’t hit you too hard. Rest up and recover soon, whatever it is you have!
PS: re the Discord chat: I’m attempting this comment using the fields, rather than being logged in via WP.com.
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