I realize that during the height of the pandemic, there was actual journaling done of peoples' experiences with their progression through the symptoms of the disease and beyond, as well as peripheral other events that may have had significance, as the world needed to gather as much raw data as it could to learn about the effects of COVID-19 on the population. It was, as the long-form of its name suggests after all, novel, as in new, so we needed to know all about it.
Obviously 6 years plus in, and billions and billions of people later, that's not what this is. This is just simply my own personal journey dealing with my own symptoms as I've just recently discovered that what I'm suffering through isn't merely your ordinary cold or flu, but it is in fact COVID-19.
Let's do a little catch up first. I'll simply reprint an edited version of what I already posted in the previous post regarding the symptoms and discovery of this illness.
From this June 29 post after I complained of a night (June 28) of violent shaking chills, weakness, muscle aches, sneezing, etc. and waking up feeling 80% back to good health.
By after midnight (June 30) my symptoms including a slightly milder form of the shivering chills came back. Took more analgesics and headed back to bed. Fitful night of sleep, but at least I did sleep and now, 8:00 the next day, I'm back to maybe 60%.
Next Day: (Still June 30) I'm better for a few measly hours, even went to do a small bit of shopping that I badly needed and now just around sunset some, what, three days after the onset of this thing the chills are back! Chills, in 90 degree heat and shit? Temp 97.6
I took my COVID test around 3:30 pm and the results were definitely positive. See prior post for pics.
Symptoms stayed tamped down in that 40% range for the remainder of the day but aches and a little bit of coughing, plus, things I've read regarding the important fourth day of symptoms being the start of the heavier effects got me motivated to get over to Walmart and buy some fresher analgesics in the form of name-brand Extra-Strength Tylenol and some Walmart-brand cough syrup -- and I guess it's this that required the Walmart employee to age-verify me at my self-checkout station. Last time I bought cough syrup, you didn't need age-verification. Sign of the times.
All these trips to Walmart when I'm clearly spewing COVID! If it were 2020, I'd be locked-up or shot, or both! Chill folks, I took all precautions. Plus, they should have had their vaccines long time ago. Oh but this is Trump Country so, don't bet on it.
Symptoms remained in the "mild cold" phase through the night. Some wild multi-spasm sneezes (but frankly, I sometimes get them from dust or pollen so no big), lots of runny nose, body aches (ratcheting-up my shoulder don't you know), a little bit of a headache (but that could be from the violent sneezing) and scratchy throat. Slept "normalish."
6:56 am Normalish time I usually get up. Still feeling "eh" but nothing horrible... yet. I think today is DAY FOUR of my symptoms and from everything I read... well, here let me show you:
Okay I think that last graphic is a bit dated now. Plus it looks like it was put out by The Sun, a notorious National Inquirer-like rag that likes to rabble rouse, and I'm sure they loved the whole hype at the start of the pandemic as a way to maybe point fingers here and there and get the public all riled up. Or maybe the British or just fucking morbid, who knows?
But yeah the fourth day is supposedly the start of the real respiratory issues including the persistent coughing and that's the one that got me worried. I do have faith in the power of Moderna even though it's been
five years now since I've taken The Jab, I think the worst shit like the stuff detailed in the horror graphic pasted by The Sun above will be avoided, but I hate the idea of a Non-Stop hacking cough. So that's why I've stocked up on cough syrup, enough for my own Lean Factory.
7:00 Grabbed some ice cold diet ginger ale and iced coffee (black) after making my bed and washing the few dishes in my sink. Sitting down here and I guess, here I'll stay. Oh, I feel so quarantined, I think I'm going to be crawling outta my own skin, what will I do? Um, the same thing I do everyday, bitch. No one in the world has COVID isolation down better than me. (Unless I feel okay and I want more ginger ale)
8:00 Oh yeah, this ain't gonna be no minute-by-minute LIVE BLOG. Hourly is best it's gonna get. Unless we get some drama...
Let's get some vitals:
Vitals
Temp: 99.1 (oh, slight fever now)
BP/P: 114/66 69 (nothing has said BP is affected but I got the monitor so why not)
Head-to-Toe physical self check
Vision: normal (I do have a little of that behind the eye ache you get when sick)
Hearing: normal
Nasal: blocked 85% issuing regular clear fluid effluence (snot)
Taste: Fabulous! Oh, you mean... normal, just had a sip of iced coffee and it tastes like iced coffee
Appetite: Bitch please. If Ozempic can't ding it, you think COVID can?
Throat: Sore. Harvey Fierstein voice incoming.
Left Shoulder: So it's more sensitive, as I mentioned, but that could be because not only are all my joints achy, I'm especially being more gentle with it because I don't need the added problems of that jolt of pain from it during these other problems. I've noticed with frozen shoulder that if you baby it too much, you loose flexibility and it becomes tighter and more painful to move, so there's that.
All joints: as I've said, each have a degree of achiness, kinda mild, but not usual like general stiffness or edema or onset arthritis like I can get from time to time, this is virus related for sure
Heart/Lung/Gastro: As far as I can tell, just a little bit of congestion in my right lung, right side. No persistent cough, no shortness of breath, heartbeats seem normal, no upset stomach, no nausea, no diarrhea
Mental
Brain fog: Not more than usual (this ain't no joke)
Alertness: I just woke up after a 5 hour sleep (normal) and will likely need a nap sometime this afternoon but just a little more fatigued than usual.
8:50 You know what? I just had a small breakfast of a Walmart orange-cranberry strudel muffin (bland... oh no! Nah, it's just their bakery, they suck) took my meds, along with my new Tylenol and a couple ibuprofen, could probably use the cough syrup but I want to hold off as much as I can, but I am actually feeling quite wiped so I think I'll get that nap now.
9:47 Tossing and turning, can't get comfortable, body aches worsening, and just now the first real heavy cough. I got up, opened the bottle of cough syrup, poured out my 20 ml dose, and drink that. Doesn't taste that bad. Not as strong tasting as what I remembered. No alcohol in this formulation I guess, label doesn't list it.
10:24 Gave up trying to sleep, can't get in any comfortable position. Figured I'd try one of those chocolate croissants I bought at Walmart last night and with the very recent experience of the gourmet chocolate croissant from the coffee shop in the Lord Baltimore Hotel I'm entirely spoiled so of course it tastes like shit. That's not covid side effects, that's Walmart Bakery. Microwaved a small bowl of leftover homemade meatless chicken soup with spinach and orzo. Yummy and warm, soothing to my sore throat.
1:19
I've been hoppin' in and out of bed. Can't decide which way I want to spend my morning but I pretty much gave up on sleeping so I'm back at the old 'puter. Munchin' on a snack of Bit O' Honeys and Tootsie Rolls (what diabetes?) and I see this couple of bo-bos on top of the antennae of the Empire State Building and it makes me think back to some inside knowledge of being up near there that they're going to get cancer. If they don't fall, that is.
5:09 Symptoms pretty low level all day comparatively. What I mean is it hasn't elevated anymore than it has been. It seems to have plateaued. Just now though, as the skies outside are likely getting a little darkened (like I know? It's always dark in here.) I can feel in my bones the afternoon storms and the symptoms are elevating a little bit. I'm ready for 'em. Took another two Tylenol, three ibuprofen, one Gabby, and another 20 ml cough syrup.
8:00 Symptoms getting more intrusive now. Sleeping most of the day. Let's get out them vitals...
Vitals
Temp: 98.1 (came down a degree, no fever, yay!)
BP/P: 118/70 75
Head-to-Toe physical self check
Vision: normal (still have a little of that behind the eye ache you get when sick, plus, like I did when I went to Walmart yesterday, I had quite severe sensitivity to the sunlight... I'm sure I'd have that today too, if I had gone out into the sunlight, which I didn't)
Hearing: normal
Nasal: off and on blocked, constant drip it seems. I keep my little terrycloth snot rag nearby. Oooh, how gross!
Taste: Still got it
Appetite: No prob
Throat: Spotlight please: "I... Am... What I am... and What I am needs No Excuses..." Okay Bitch.
Left Shoulder: it is what it is
All joints: even my fingers... even my fucking fingers!
Heart/Lung/Gastro: general cold like lung congestion, nothing major and just here and there coughing.
Mental
Brain fog: again just the same old
Alertness: so very fatigued, like my batteries have all been drained. Typing causes me to space out due to the mental (and physical) willpower it takes to do it.
Dreams: Yes a new category. So I had weird dreams where I was living in a simulated Truman Show style city, but it was all CG so I guess I was a digital creation too like in the Thirteenth Floor, and part of the city was supported on eagles wings.
12:00 Midnight Alright, it's just staying in this status quo I guess, not sure when the big swing one way or the other's gonna come. But I'm going down for a good sleep (hopefully) assisted with a melatonin and, ya, you know what, a couple Benadryl's too, since they'll also help with decongestion.
DAY 5, July 2
9:00 am Shit's real now, bro! Everything is in pain! I feel like a steamroller ran over me and every bone in my body has been crushed. The only symptom holding back, thankfully, is respiratory. I'm still able to fully breathe, there's just some congestion as I noted before, with intermittent coughing, I guess the cough syrup is doing its job there. There's no doubt about it, this ain't no ordinary flu, this shit here be covid! I'm going back to bed, since looking at my monitor hurts my eyes.
7:00 pm All freakin' day massive body aches, terrible headache, incredible thirst, super fatigue and, to the same degree as before, the congestion, brain fog, sneezing, some coughing and even a little loss of appetite. In bed sleeping most of the day... watched one movie but back to bed right after it and it was a short movie. No computer time until now.
Vitals
Temp: 97.2 (is that bad?)
BP/P:
Head-to-Toe physical self check
Vision: I was out on the porch for a little while at 3:00 and the reflective sunlight hurt my eyes
Hearing: normal
Nasal: blocked on and off
Taste: still ok
Appetite: a little muted
Throat: Harvey has left the stage as it feels a little better
Left Shoulder: it's competing with all the other aches so it's hard to notice its uniqueness
All joints: screaming, and not just joints, all parts of the skeleton
Heart/Lung/Gastro: no change
Mental
Brain fog: no change
Alertness: no change
Dreams: oh they were doozies, but now I don't remember them. Very wild like the ones I had when I got the vaccines.
DAY 6, July 3
2:54 am I wake out of a weird nightmare where I'm partly in a plane crash and partly running away from some threat. Body aches galore still, especially headache, now something that I noticed yesterday is very much more pronounced: my skin is super sensitive to touch and it feels like it's stinging or on fire when I brush my hand over my arms, chest, legs... any large area of skin. And yeah, I'm jolted awake now and uncomfortable and in pain and can't get back to sleep, but other cold or flu like symptoms are seemingly starting to subside. It's just these weird things now. Oh I just want this horror to be over.
I think this will end the LIVE BLOG. I'm so over this, I don't even want to acknowledge it anymore. Maybe it'll feel better if I just start ignoring it.
