Ever Vigilant

I was blessed with a strong immune system. I haven’t called in sick for years. That‘s not to say that I haven’t felt under the weather occasionally. My body seems to be able to wait until I have a weekend or a break before succumbing to whatever ailment is around.

As a teacher, this is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Preparing for a substitute is not something I enjoy. I teach music. My own lesson plans are rarely more than a phrase, a sentence or a song title. After teaching for nearly 35 years, I know where I’m going with it. However, I never know if my sub will have a musical background, so I need to make my plans easy enough for anyone to follow and get materials and music arranged. Add to this the need for lessons from kindergarten to eighth grade, and you may get an idea of how much time I need to spend just to stay home for a day. So there’s the advantage of getting sick on weekends and breaks, but as you can imagine, it’s not much fun spending precious down time feeling crumby.

Then, along came Covid-19. Teachers around the world scrambled to find meaningful online lessons to keep students from losing valuable instructional time. Online learning is NOT the same for most students. We did the best we could with the difficult hand we were dealt. Teachers and students are still feeling the effects of the time school got turned on its head.

By the time we were allowed back in the classroom, any illness was cause for concern. I got myself fully vaccinated, with the booster as well. I washed my hands religiously.

On Friday, January 21, 2022, towards the end of the day, I got a sore throat and some congestion. As usual, I knew I’d have the weekend to recover, but unlike usual, I had to wonder if I had contracted Covid. Added to that, when I got home, I developed some chills and felt feverish. The illness didn’t last long, but I wanted to get tested anyway. No place in my small town offered the rapid test, and nothing was open on the weekends. So, I arranged for a sub and went to Urgent Care on Monday. By then, I felt totally fine. I was convinced that I had just gotten a spot of your everyday variety flu. I returned to work with a mask and keeping my distance, not touching anyone, and being fastidious about hand-washing. I had a first and second grade performance for which to prepare.

Wednesday, I got a call regarding my results. Uh-oh. You guessed it. I had tested positive. I’ll never know how or from whom I got it. I started working on lesson plans again, and then emailed my principal. She included the district nurse in the thread and said that the new guidelines specify that I could return to work after five days without a fever from the start of symptoms. Since that time had already passed, I didn’t need to miss more school.

Friday, one week from my original symptoms, I got a relapse. What is it with me and weekends? Again, it started with a sore throat and some congestion, followed by feverishness and chills. I’m lucky that I didn’t experience some of the worse symptoms. By Saturday, I was already feeling a bit better again. The thing is, do I trust my body to not get yet another relapse? Should I quarantine yet again, for longer this time?

Covid has had lots of changes. My daughter got it in January of 2019, when they hadn’t yet named it. She said it was the sickest she’s ever been, but she was in her 20s. If she had been in my state, I probably would have attended to her and gotten Covid much earlier, when it was more likely to be deadly.

Most people know someone who didn’t survive a run-in with Covid. The bottom line is, this is still hanging around. Vigilance is key. There is a lot of controversy over whether masks help or not. Frankly, I don’t care. If there’s any chance that they help, I’m going to do my part, especially on the heels of an illness.

So, back I go to prepare for a sub yet again.

Update: I stayed home for a full week for the first time in my career, having developed a sinus infection. I’m finally feeling better.

Be careful out there everyone.