It’s official. I tested for the antibodies and I had both types. IgG and IgM. This means I had Covid relatively recently (IgM) and that I’ve had it long enough to start building up longer-term immunity (IgG.) This checks out. Here’s how it all went down.
I was exposed to Covid while playing volleyball at a large, indoor sports venue. Three days after participating I started feeling sick. No specific symptoms, but general fatigue and a mild headache. I slept OK that first night, but on the morning of day 2 I felt like I had a cold. Something wasn’t right.
That same day I learned that another participant had tested positive and was going through the same symptoms I was having. I had Covid. During the 2nd night this thing kicked into gear. As we went to bed, I had chills and a fever. I took some Tylenol and slept fitfully through alternating sweats, chills, and a worsening headache. My fever abated slightly day 3, but I felt terrible. My head throbbed, my lower back ached, and I just wanted to sleep. I stayed in bed most of the day and stayed in my room so I wouldn’t get anyone else sick. I may have taken another Tylenol, but I was trying to avoid any medications (whether they were meant for people or for horses.) I drank a lot of water. That evening I got the chills again, my entire body shook uncontrollably until I piled the blankets up around me like a caterpillar wrapped in its cocoon. The night proceeded much like the previous and day 4 started off the same as day 3.
By this time I had spent two full days holed up in my room, occasionally logging in to work, laying in bed a lot, and not eating much. I decided I’d do something different on the 4th day. Around noon I went outside in the 95-degree sun, I took off my shirt, and I sat on a pool chair for 30 minutes. I ate a nice-sized salad and we picked up some vitamin C and magnesium supplements.
At this point, 72 hours in, I started to wonder what the normal progression looked like. I did some searching and found that covid generally starts with a fever, progresses to achiness, and sometimes stomach issues. Then 5 to 8 days in you may lose your sense of taste and smell, followed by a hacking cough. Then you’ll start having difficulty breathing. Then you’ll get admitted to a hospital. Then you die. Pretty much every website listed that progression. What about the people who survived? Well, they don’t exist in online lists of symptoms. Online, everyone dies of covid. If I allowed myself to think about it, I could feel my throat tightening up and my breathing getting shallow. Fear is powerful. Our minds are powerful. We can actually give ourselves symptoms that aren’t there. In serious cases, it’s called psychosomatic disorder. For a couple of nights, I had to purposefully refocus my mind and attention away from the disease and toward positive thinking and peaceful meditation in order to get to sleep. Covid isn’t just a physical battle, it is mental as well.
I had a slight fever at the end of day 4, around 101. Lianne also started feeling bad and had a 103-degree temperature. She also noticed that her eyes were sore. This is something I haven’t heard much about, but I realized I had the same symptom. If I moved my eyes to look left or right, I would feel an ache on the opposite side of my eyeball. A few days later Davin expressed the same ache in his eyes, but that was the only symptom he had.
I slept a little better that 4th night and day 5 started a slow and steady progression of feeling 10% better every day over the next 7 days. I was still lacking energy and feeling under the weather, plus I now had a deep cough. I was sick and tired of being, well you know. Living in a 100 square foot room was weighing me down, so we went to the new house and I decided to push mow a portion of the backyard in the 90-degree heat. It was miserable. I sweated so much. I drank a ton of water. I hated it and then the very next day decided to put on a bee suit and check the bees in the 90-degree heat. I drenched myself in sweat once again. Continuing the theme, Lianne and I went for a long walk on Saturday. I was dragging a bit, sweating and breathing hard, but she was already starting to feel better. She is tougher than me. Through all these physical activities, I told myself I was sweating out the disease. I had spent enough time lounging around in bed. I was ready to get back to life. I don’t know if that’s the smartest move. Maybe we should rest and allow our body’s resources to go toward fighting the disease. I do know that I felt better mentally. It was good for me to go do something physical. It worked for me.
Fast forward to day 12 and I was feeling normal, with a nagging cough which lingered for a couple more weeks. I’ve only been really sick twice in my adult life. The worst was a 7-day flu I had 25 years ago. Covid was the 2nd worst. Not a picnic, but manageable. Three takeaways.
- Our overall health is so important. I’m 47 years old and I have zero comorbidities. I’m a healthy weight and I exercise. Research shows that this is just as powerful as the vaccine at preventing serious disease.
- If you don’t feel well, quarantine. I didn’t need to get a Covid test to know that I should stay home. Nobody outside of my immediate family got sick from me, even though I went to church Sunday morning before I had symptoms. If you feel sick, stay home.
- Lastly, mental health is important. Staying isolated inside is depressing. Go for a walk, hop in the pool, and if fear tries to take hold, meditate and pray.
The vaccine is one tool in our toolbox, but it’s not the only one. Let’s take advantage of our body’s natural ability to fight off disease and eventually we’ll beat this thing.