It Finally Got Us

Crossing the Rubicon

After 2 and a half years of being ultra cautious, we finally got it. Karen and I have COVID.

We have followed all the rules, taken the shots, masked up and socially distanced. We are not sure where we got it – but it is nasty.

Before I hear from the anti-maskers and COVID deniers, I’ll just say this. You do you and I will do me. There is nothing I can say that will change your mind, any more than there is anything you can say to change mine.

I have trusted the science and I will continue to do so. I take advice from the medical community relative to the precautions I should take. Not some crackpot on Facebook, espousing any number of conspiracy theories that help to justify their complete lack of intellectual curiosity, in the name of their version of freedom. So far I haven’t found that my eating utensils have a propensity to stick to my forehead. If that changes, I will let you know.

Bottom line is we got sloppy. We are not sure where we picked it up. We went out for dinner on our anniversary on Oct 25 – Was it then? I had to get the oil changed in Karen’s SUV on Oct 27 and did not have a mask with me, so I took a risk and went in anyway – was it then? We met up with dear friends from Ottawa as they were passing through on their way home from Nashville on Oct 29th – was it then? There is no way to know. They tested positive 2 days after our dinner. Did they give it to us? Did we give it to them?

Karen had symptoms for over a week. She tested diligently twice a day but continued to test negative. She was convinced it was just a cold. I had a scratchy throat on Tuesday Nov 1 and was quite lethargic. I immediately tested positive. Karen didn’t test positive until the following day. She has been affected much worse than I, with a deep cough, fluid in her lungs and completely worn down. The only difference in her testing process, is that the day she tested positive, she swabbed her cheeks first and then her nose.

You don’t want to get this. Karen had a terrible headache for several days, has been coughing up a lung and has no appetite. She was convinced it was simply a cold and would go away, given her regular negative testing. Neither of us have a tendency to get colds or the flu. We are seldom under the weather.

Karen has been unable to sleep lying down, as her lungs fill up, so she has been sleeping in a lazy boy for 3 nights now. I am able to sleep between coughing fits. However last night, at my Doctor daughter’s suggestion, I took robotusin. It seemed to help with the hacking.

Our home looks like a subsidiary of Shoppers Drug Mart. Vicks vapo rub, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc lozenges, Robotusin, Nyquil and others I have likely missed. Kleenex all over the place. It ain’t pretty folks!

Despite the lack of visibilty by our governments, this virus is not done with us yet. Hospitals are filled with covid patients, and our health care providers are still over worked and many have left the sector for less stressful careers. We are in crisis with a lack of front line workers and family doctors. I am losing mine, after 40+ years in the same clinic.

It’s a perfect storm for an imperfect future.

Stay the course out there. All you can do is look after yourself to the best of your ability. Do whatever you need to do to stay out of harm’s way and let others cope in their own way.

As a wise man once told me: “This too shall pass”