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#Post#: 1318--------------------------------------------------
So my Dad has Covid...
By: Steve Date: December 19, 2023, 2:09 pm
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This is going to be a bit of a rant. I am a Global Moderator
here; I am going to try to self-censor myself as best as I can
at the moment.
So my Dad now has Covid... My Dad, who hardly ever went out in
public with a mask even during the 'prime Covid years' (to the
public at large at least)... Has Covid. I can hear him coughing
right now. He had cold-like symptoms yesterday and I told him to
take a test. We've got at-home tests in the house. 'Take a
test,' I told him, 'take it now.'
[NOTE: Not exact quotes verbatim but these were the sentiments
relayed in more diplomatic terms.]
'No, no, it's just a cold,' was the reply. And then it was, 'I
think I'm coming down with something.' And then, he took a test.
I'm so upset right now that I don't even want to type anymore. I
have to take an at-home test now because I'VE been directly
exposed to him prior to his positive at-home test. I'm going to
try to get my Mom to take one as well.
Fortunately, we are all up-to-date with our shots. That fact is
the only thing that is giving me some hope at this point. A lot
of people get Covid and most recover after some time. But not
everyone.
WEAR. A. MASK.
WEAR. AN. N95. MASK. WHEN. YOU. ARE. IN. PUBLIC.
It's not that hard.
Anyone who wants to use this thread to share their feelings
about their family members getting Covid because they were
less-than-vigilant can do so.
#Post#: 1319--------------------------------------------------
Re: So my Dad has Covid...
By: Data Report Date: December 19, 2023, 9:52 pm
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I am so sorry to hear that your dad tested positive for covid. I
hope he has a full and speedy recovery.
#Post#: 1321--------------------------------------------------
Re: So my Dad has Covid...
By: Steve Date: December 21, 2023, 2:19 pm
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[quote author=Data Report link=topic=973.msg1319#msg1319
date=1703044376]
I am so sorry to hear that your dad tested positive for covid. I
hope he has a full and speedy recovery.
[/quote]
Thank you for your thoughts.
I am, obviously, a bit calmer now than when I wrote the initial
post but still no more disappointed about the situation than
before.
My Dad is currently mobile, lucid and active; For him, the
outward appearance has been no different than if he had been
suffering from a moderate to slightly-severe cold. My
interpretation of how he looks is that he is on the rebound.
My Mom, though, most likely has it now (and probably has had it
for at least the past two days) and her condition is a bit more
concerning. She may be currently at the worst point of it and,
if I had to categorize it, the outward appearance would be a
moderate to severe cold.
As for myself, I must assume that I have it. If I did "get it,"
I have not felt any significant symptoms. Perhaps the one
symptom that could be deduced is a slightly runny nose early on
but that I have also experienced that condition previously
because of using new masks (which dries out the nose). I am not
experiencing that symptom currently.
I think that it is important to report and display this
situation rather than hide it despite the personal nature. This
could be anyone's family, anyone's grandparents, anyone's
neighbors. I don't mean to preach (especially on this board) but
it is important to remember that Covid is not over. What is
occurring to my parents can happen to anyone else exposed to
this virus.
Thankfully, so far, I can report that there has not been no need
for medical intervention, such as an emergency trip to a doctor
or a hospital.
I can not stress enough, though, the cost of this entire
situation. Regardless of the holiday timing, I hope that people
take away from my family's struggles with this infection to
better protect their own by wearing N95 masks in public, getting
the necessary vaccinations and limiting their social
interactions.
To those reading this right now: This could happen to your
family no different than my own. I hope that it doesn't but, if
it does, be prepared to encounter what we are experiencing or
even worse.
#Post#: 1323--------------------------------------------------
Re: So my Dad has Covid...
By: Steve Date: December 22, 2023, 1:05 pm
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I have decided to chronicle my struggles with Covid-19 here.
This is not a vanity project; I want to convey to those who have
not yet experienced what a Covid-19 infection feels like in the
hopes that others become better prepared.
Today was my first "bad" day and, if there was any doubt that I
had it or was going to get it, that doubt is now gone. I have
it. Just the fact that I have it disappoints me enough but, at
the very least, I can say that it took 3+ years before I got it.
The symptoms that I experienced were similar, but far more
muted, to what I had experienced when I have received the
Covid-19 vaccines. "Muted" should not be interpreted as "mild";
There is nothing 'mild' about what I am experiencing. I can only
imagine how much more severe this might have been had I not been
fully vaccinated.
Of particular note is that I have had chills and a little bit of
achiness. I have not experienced brain fog. Things have tasted
normal and I do not detect loss of smell or that things smell
radically different. I do have loss of energy and I am
significantly slower in walking speed than I would normally be.
At one point, moving my arms was not ideal. It's still not ideal
but I believe that it has gotten better. My appetite seems fine
for now.
My Dad seems to be getting better. He is taking Paxlovid on the
advice of his doctor. It seems to be helping. My Mom still has
this as well; It is harder to interpret where she is on the
'bell curve' of recovery but I think that she may be over the
worst of it.
I can not stress this enough: Get vaccinated. Wear an N95 mask
in public. Reduce your social interactions as much as you
possibly can. This has happened in the year 2023, not 2020. It
has happened to a fully-vaccinated family. Why ruin your
Christmas and New Year's Eve (and Day) when you don't have to?
#Post#: 1325--------------------------------------------------
Re: So my Dad has Covid...
By: Steve Date: December 23, 2023, 2:22 pm
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Here is my daily report on having Covid.
I bottomed out yesterday from 2 PM to 8 PM local time. I think
that, after I made the last post, I climbed into bed and that
was it for any activity.
Sleeping was 'touch-and-go' and my appetite for the remainder of
the day was non-existent. I could move my limbs just fine but my
enthusiasm to get out of bed was very non-existent. Mentally, my
bed was The World's Most Comfiest Place in the World That I Did
Not Want to Leave and I was very adept at finding a reason to
stay in bed, to the point where I didn't even turn off my
computer or lower my shades (which I normally do).
I did not have brain fog and I still don't have brain fog which
truly amazes me because, each time I have taken the Covid
vaccine, I have had brain fog of some kind.
I finally forced myself to shut my window shades and turn off my
computer; When I did so, I was very shaky and trembly. My body
most definitely did not want me to move. I can't remember when I
did so but it was before 1 AM and after 8 PM.
At a little after 1 AM, I recognized that I needed to eat
something since I had completely skipped dinner. I walked very
slowly to the kitchen and got some crackers, I ate a few of them
along with drinking some water. I wasn't as shaky but walking
was very slow and measured.
By around 5 AM, I wanted to try to eat as much of a normal
breakfast as I could (I tend to eat breakfast very early due to
my work schedule). I ate maybe 1/4 of what I would normally eat
and, although I probably could have eaten more, I didn't want to
push it. I never felt as though I was forcing myself to eat but
I also never felt overly hungry, either.
My movement has greatly improved throughout the day. I have
battled a bit of a runny nose and my throat feels a bit
irritated. I have been coughing sporadically but never any
coughing fits.
I was able to eat a full lunch which amazed me. Again, I wasn't
famished but I was able to eat it without forcing myself to eat
it. Tomorrow, I will attempt an 'expanded' lunch, which is what
I typically do on weekends and on days off.
I will attempt to eat most of a typical (but 'light') dinner
tonight. I will probably not exercise although some very, very
light walking is not entirely out of the question.
My parents, in my opinion, continue to improve. My Dad claims
that Paxlovid has really helped him. My Mom is also improving
but she got Covid later (and is not taking Paxlovid) and so her
improvement is harder to judge. I am very confident that both of
them will make a full recovery but the timeline is yet to be
determined.
I can not stress these points enough: Use my family as a
cautionary tale. There are consequences for getting Covid. Our
Christmas plans are in great flux; Although we were going to
have a quiet (and isolated) Christmas to begin with, it is
likely now that we won't even have it on Christmas Day and will
have it on a day when we have all fully recovered (New Year's?).
Wear an N95 mask when you are in public.
Limit your social interactions as much as you can.
And GET VACCINATED.
Finally, I moved this topic to a more appropriate section.
#Post#: 1327--------------------------------------------------
Re: So my Dad has Covid...
By: Steve Date: December 24, 2023, 2:25 pm
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Here is my daily update on my recovery from Covid.
There is no way to create "spoiler"-type text in these posts.
Therefore, let me issue a warning right now that this entry will
get into "Too Much Information" territory. However, I want to
continue to stress that a Covid infection is not without it's
hazards and if illustrating all such hazards causes people in
order to shift to healthier habits, then writing about such
things will have served it's purpose.
Let's talk about bowel movements.
When your eating schedule goes out the window, so too does your
bowel movement schedule as well.
From Friday afternoon until this morning, I hadn't had a bowel
movement. That, by itself, didn't particularly concern me. When
you're only eating 40-50% of your normal caloric intake (and
doing no exercising as well ALONG WITH BEING SICK WITH COVID), I
fully expected that schedule to vanish.
When it did re-emerge, the best that I could describe it in
euphemistic terms is "semi-explosive semi-diarrhea." Under
normal circumstances, I would've been concerned. However, if
anything, I was pleased that the plumbing still worked at all.
Writing about plumbing, I have been amazed at how little that I
have been urinating. This despite the fact that I feel as though
I've drank a gallon of water within the last 24 hours in a
consistent series of tiny little sips. Again, I'm not too
bothered by such things as I'm afflicted with Covid and who
knows what machinations are occurring that is leading my body to
pass up relieving itself despite the water intake. And, to be
certain, I know the hazards about drinking too much water.
My throat is constantly irritated to the point where I have
rediscovered the joys of cough medicine. The mere act of
swallowing is irritable except for about the first two hours
after taking the cough medicine. I am definitely going to adjust
my routine to include more if for this evening.
Sleeping remains a concern. I'm not certain how much sleep I've
gotten from Friday afternoon onward but I highly doubt that it
has been enough. I do not feel tired, though, so that's a
positive.
Meals continue to be light but growing in size. I'm not forcing
myself to finish anything but my appetite continues to be
indifferent. Lunches are closest to a normal size and those are
eaten without difficulty.
I continue to force myself to walk and move about. Mornings are
the worst but I quickly improve. Can I lightly jog? Only if
absolutely forced and only for a few moments. Otherwise, I am
shuffling about at maybe half my normal walking speed (and even
that might be a generous assessment). At least I'm walking,
though.
Christmas plans have been called off; There's simply no point in
holding festivities when the family is in various stages of
recovery. With all due respect with the religious aspect of
Christmas, it is best to celebrate when there's something more
local and measurable to celebrate.
I understand if you are different. If anything, I would be glad
if you were infected and not dealing with the symptoms that I
have been experiencing. What I am experiencing may be "mild" as
compared to being hooked to a ventilator but it is not "mild"
when compared to a normal, daily routine.
I hope that these posts are encouraging people to re-double
their efforts in preventing Covid.
[center]WEAR AN N95 MASK IN PUBLIC.[/center]
[center]GET VACCINATED.[/center]
[center]LIMIT YOUR SOCIAL INTERACTIONS.[/center]
I look forward to the day when I don't have to make these posts.
Until then, stay as safe as you can.
#Post#: 1329--------------------------------------------------
Re: So my Dad has Covid...
By: Steve Date: December 25, 2023, 2:42 pm
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This is my daily update on my effort to recover from a Covid
infection.
The overall trend is promising and I currently see no reason why
I can't go back to work on Wednesday. I could even go back to
work on Tuesday (tomorrow) but I'm not sure if my sleep schedule
is entirely back to where it should be. As an example, for most
of today, if I been sitting at my desk instead of at home, I
could've performed my job without a tremendous amount of
additional effort.
I have not had throat irritation as I have had in the past. Has
it entirely gone away? No. Is it to a point where I am thinking
about cough medicine or other remedies at any given time? No.
I had about 2/3rds of a normal breakfast this morning and had a
slight bit of appetite for it. I even had a bit of orange juice
which was a gamble given the prior history of throat irritation.
However, the orange juice did not lead to greater irritation.
Lunches are completely normal and have been normal for both this
day and yesterday. For today, though, I did not even think about
appetite or if I was going to finish it... I just ate lunch as I
would have any other day.
Yesterday's dinner was a bit of a fluke; The can of soup I had
seemed almost jam-packed compared to normal and felt as though
there were TWO cans of soup squeezed into one can! Considering
my condition, I ate it anyway but definitely trailed off during
the final 1/3rd. Even if I was feeling perfectly healthy, that
still would have been a big meal. I did eventually finish it and
I did not take my slowing down to finish the meal as being an
indication of my condition.
I've already taken showers without any issues. I've accomplished
all of the elements from my morning and evening routines without
any significant setbacks or concerns. Today, for the most part,
(to poach from Winston Churchill) was not the end but felt like,
to me, the beginning of the end. Today was the first plausibly
"normal-ish" day.
That is not to say that there aren't ongoing issues.
Most important of all is sleep. While I slept better yesterday,
I did not sleep sufficiently. I still woke up way too many
times. I still felt, at times, overheated when under the
blankets and not warm enough when they were off.
I'm getting chapped lips from all of the water that I've been
drinking. I've even consciously cut back a bit on the water just
as a precautionary measure.
I think that my walking in the morning is still a bit too stiff
and 'shuffly' but, for the most part, throughout the rest of the
day, it's been perfectly fine.
My voice is still very groggy at times. Don't ask for me to talk
for any more than a few moments unless you turn 'subtitles' on.
For the past 36 hours, I've been prepping myself to get back
into my normal daily routine with tomorrow being a 'dress
rehearsal.' A full morning routine no different than normal with
very little modification to gauge just how close I am to normal
again.
I can not stress this enough: There was cost to this infection.
Christmas, for my family, was called off. Work has been
postponed. Schedules reshuffled. There hasn't been a single
moment yet since Friday afternoon where I have felt "OK, I'm
past this."
I am fortunate that I can even write that Wednesday is a
realistic date for returning to a normal work schedule (4 full
days since the onset of significant symptoms). A lot of people
infected with this can't write that.
Please, get vaccinated. Wear an N95 mask in public. Limit your
social interactions to only what is absolutely necessary.
I am hopeful that these posts will end soon. Until then, stay
safe.
#Post#: 1331--------------------------------------------------
Re: So my Dad has Covid...
By: Steve Date: December 26, 2023, 4:36 pm
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This is my daily update in my recovery from a Covid infection.
Today was my 'dress rehearsal' to see how capable I am towards
returning to work. In prior days, I had begun to re-establish
elements of my normal morning routine (eating breakfast,
brushing teeth, showering, etc. so forth). However, until today,
I hadn't gone through a complete 'as though I was actually going
to work' process. Even then, I hadn't performed such a routine
under the same time pressures as I normally would.
With very little modification, I went through my entire morning
routine exactly as I normally would. The breakfast portion would
be no different than normal and the other steps of the morning
routine would be no different as well. They were done exactly
when they would be done on a normal day.
Although I was on the slower end of 'normal,' I was very pleased
that it was still normal. I even simulated the amount of walking
that I would typically perform at the beginning of my day on a
treadmill.
All of the results were very promising. The only oddity observed
was that I felt very fatigued at the end of the experiment, far
more so than on a typical day. It felt as though I had just
jogged a couple of miles. Mentally, I hadn't lost a step but,
physically, it was clear that I was out of practice.
I added onto the experiment with some very local automobile
driving to simulate the physical stresses of driving (since that
is how I get to work every day). My car, which had stayed
dormant since Friday afternoon, needed the exercise as well.
As with yesterday, I could have performed my job albeit at a
slower pace. Tomorrow will be the real deal.
All of the meals today were perfectly normal-sized. I felt
appetite for breakfast and lunch (dinner was slightly early due
to circumstances).
Despite my great progress over the past few days, limitations
still remain, chief amongst them is that my voice still sounds
very groggy. There is still a lingering cough. There is still
the occasional runny nose.
Yet I am confident that this will be one of the last entries.
Tomorrow, I will also start some very limited exercising.
I hope that people read these entries and take caution. Covid is
still out there. As a fully-vaxxed person, it still took me
nearly five days to recover enough to say that I had recovered.
Much of that time was not productive. There was not just
physical cost (obviously) but mental cost as well as social cost
(given the very unfortunate timing).
Get vaccinated.
Wear a N95 mask in public.
Limit your social activities as much as you can.
Do it for yourself. Do it for others around you. Do it for the
community. And as a certain shoe company likes to always say,
"Just Do It."
#Post#: 1332--------------------------------------------------
Re: So my Dad has Covid...
By: Data Report Date: December 26, 2023, 11:01 pm
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Thank you for the daily updates, Glad to hear that you are
starting to feel better.
#Post#: 1334--------------------------------------------------
Re: So my Dad has Covid...
By: Steve Date: December 28, 2023, 3:19 pm
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This is an update detailing my recovery from a Covid infection.
This will likely be the final update. I am mostly recovered.
After two days of 'real world' activity, I don't feel as though
there is anything left to honestly cover. I am going about my
day as I normally would. There is some ever-so-slight slowness
in my morning routine but is it from Covid or just from normal
circumstances? It's hard to say.
About the only aspect left that needs to recover is my voice.
Speaking is not painful but my voice doesn't have the clarity or
endurance that it would normally have. Since my job does not
involve extensive speaking, I'm not overly concerned. Incidental
coughing has also occurred but has also diminished; I liken that
this symptom will disappear reasonably soon.
Should any new symptoms pop up or something continues to linger
(hopefully not!), I will add another entry into this thread.
Otherwise, from the time of significant onset of symptoms to the
time where I felt as though I could 'return' to normal
activities was from Friday noontime (If I'm being honest with
myself, maybe a little sooner than that) to Wednesday morning:
About 4.5 days.
I can not stress this enough - There was significant cost to
those days where I was sick. This was not "free time" and it was
not stress-free. I don't want people looking at what happened to
me and thinking, 'Only 4.5 days? That doesn't sound too bad.'
Remember that I was fully vaccinated and didn't have to care for
others. I had paid time off for all of those days.
[center]Wear an N95 mask in public[/center]
[center]Get vaccinated[/center]
[center]Limit your social obligations[/center]
This virus is not over and there's no indication that it will be
over soon. Stay safe.
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