I had been feeling unwell. Breathless a lot with a persistent sore throat so I decided to take a COVID test. I seem to be taking a test about once a month “just in case”. I certainly didn’t want a major illness to creep up on me. It seems one did, I must have had COVID for a few days. The first test looked strange, the T line was strong and bright but the C line looked a little faded. So the next morning I masked up and got some more tests. The new one looked identical. Can’t disagree, I’ve got the ’rona. Certainly explained a few things, the low energy, the fuzzy head, and that sore throat.
(Thunder outside. Luckily my two runs to the local shops and my Coles delivery are all done.)
Next step was a phone call to the GP clinic to arrange a phone consult. That got me some good advice and a script for anti-virals. I had to have one particular anti-viral as one of my meds, the one that helps with my sleep and anxiety, made the most popular one not a good choice for me.
I also wrote a note to the housemates and left them some masks and hand sanitizer. (You mean you didn’t pick up a bunch of those little bottles of hand sanitizer when the lock down lifted and everywhere you went seemed to be giving them away? I’m down to two.)
The persistent cough went but the breathless has stayed. I don’t feel it walking around the house but any trip down the stairs means one back and that will make me breathless.
(Heavy rain out there. I hope it doesn’t ruin a Xmas Eve for people.)
I mentioned the shakes in the previous post. They are so bad I can’t do Lego before lunch. Even now, in the late afternoon my fingers are shaking when I stop typing. I’m definitely halving the steroids tomorrow morning, my asthma is extremely well controlled so they may be overkill but you can’t stop a huge dose just in one go, you have to taper.
Today I went out a couple of times. The first was to get milk and a six pack of beer. I wanted two six packs but I thought that would be too heavy. then the second time was when I realised the house was almost out of toilet paper and neither of the others had bought any. The local Foodworks sells these packs of 18 that come with a handle making it easy to carry back home. The bottle shop was only a little further so I bought another six pack. Lots of beer in the house 😃. Still, since it’s Xmas Eve the next two days most everything will be shut so they were necessary trips,
Those trips made me sweaty and breathless. The air-conditioner has been turned on the whole time just to make sure my temperature is well controlled. It goes active for a short while every 15 minutes or so. At night I’ve been turning the temperature up and sleeping under just a sheet as a favour to the landlord, who pays the power bill.
I’ve coughed up phlegm a couple of times, not that frequently, maybe once a day, but today the sore throat was back and I coughed up a couple of times.
We will see how the symptoms progress. I haven’t taken another test yet, I thought I would leave that till I finish the anti-virals, that happens on Boxing Day.
(Look at that, there’s an extension for Visual Studio code that converts to smart quotes. (Nerds get excited about the strangest things. (They also do silly stuff like nest parenthetical phrases (Now how many was it I opened. Oh yeah, three, plus this one (that makes it four, oh no, I opened another)))))
Tony's Texts 