Covid journey

I am keeping track so anyone who gets COVID for the first time can see what one person’s timeline looks like.

Me: 63 year old male, 6′ 0″, 195 lb, vaccinated, boosted (2) and an omicron booster in September of 2022.

I do NOT know (for sure) where I got it; my unmasked meeting were:

colleagues (2) on Friday 6 January, basketball game bathroom 7 January, football game bathroom 8 January, trip with a friend (8 January) visit with 4 other people (evening of 8 January)

10 January (Tuesday) a planned workout turned out to be much, much harder than normal.

10 January (Tuesday) burning eyes and nose, onset of fatiuge

10-11 January frequent urination while trying to sleep. Fatigue, body aches, burning nose and eyes. Tested: very dark positive.

11 January (Wednesday) : fatigue, body aches, fever (99 to 101 F) Felt like death warmed over. Started Paxlovid.

11-12 January: another rough night; some drainage.

12 January: some drainage, fatigue, but improved symptoms

13 January: better night. Some symptoms.

14-15 January (weekend) Better still; just a tad tired, and that is it.

15 January: tested. Positive line is there but very much fainter. Ended Paxlovid (5 day course, 11-15 January)

16-17 January: *almost* back to normal.

17 January: positive line is oh-so-faint…does not show up in the camera.

18 January: taught class online. Vowed to return on the 20’th. Looking good!

18 January evening: “not so fast”. burning eyes and nose comes back. Mild fatigue starts to set in. Drainage starts; nose is like a spigot of clear, runny fluid. Ruin another mask with so much drainage.

18-19 January: (Wed-Thursday) rough night. coughing and drainage. Mild fatigue (NOT like day 1)

19 test: strong test line after only 5 minutes. Fatigue, light body aches, drainage, etc.

20 Taught online. Some fatigue, light drainage. Napped on and off after classes.

21 Jan (Saturday) tested. Different type of test. Emphatic positive (red line) Drainage is way down, burning eyes are down, feeling better but not “well.”

22 Jan (Sunday) slept through the night sans NyQuil. Taking nothing regular. Normal urination patterns, very little coughing and residual congestion; not much. Still felt anxious upon waking up. slightly more energy. Fainter test line.

23 January (Monday) woke up a bit tired…somewhat “allergy eyes and nose” but improved with morning coffee. Normal sleep..ok, still sort of a “second sleep” pattern but none of the frequent urinaton.

24 January: fitful night; lots of urination. Felt I was going to test positive the next morning. I did. It was faint, but there. Need to rest more and drink more.

I feel as if I am in purgatory. I don’t feel poorly enough to warrant slacking so much, but I am still contagious. And yeah, I tire easily..very easily. Even teaching online classes takes something out of me. Attitude is not good. Tired of this crap. Wish I had been more careful; won’t make that mistake again.

25 January: BinaxNow tests; I screwed up one test with too much liquid (tough to get the drops to be 6) and didn’t trust the second test (though it showed negative). This is the third: negative. The night before: some frequent urination; stomach upset at about midnight. Felt great throughout the day; taught online, did chores, just a tiny bit tired.

26 January. Negative (though mostly line on one side) Felt good enough to go to the office and work.

27 January. Negative. Taught and worked a full day, with PT, 5 sets of 20 push ups and a 1 mile walk after lunch. And..that wiped me out. Am tired. I feel I am out of it, but strength is low.

28 January. Negative. Did PT (leisurely) and walked 2 miles at 15:00 per mile (15:15, 14:45) on mostly snow free roads. Low energy; napped in the afternoon. Note: sinus headache when I woke up but two Tylenol were sufficient.

Physical therapy notes: 20 Jan: back exercises in my isolation room.

21 Jan: back and shoulder on the porch (30’s) and 25 pull up repetitions (20 of them modified, one “Honest” set of 5)

Pulse oximeter: 97-98. Not an issue. No wheezing, etc.

Misery idex:

Death days: 1 (11 January)

Man-flu achy days: 5 so far (12, 13 January, 18, 19, 20 January)

Cold-caliber annoying days 3 so far (14 January 21 January 22 January )

“I feel well” days 3 so far (15, 16 and 17 January: fool’s gold).