COVID DAY 5

COVID DAY 5

Yesterday found me wakeful, alert, energetic even. (Well, let’s not go crazy. I summoned enough energy to feed the dogs, unload and reload the dishwasher, cleaned up, and put on some festive, holiday leggings, a cozy sweater, and a soft hat.) My spouse had been hinting that maybe we could still have Thanksgiving if we felt better and test negative. In my fuzzy angora fair isle knit, I could almost imagine a relaxed holiday with fires, friends, warm beverages, cozy scenes…

I spent much of the day watching football and cheesy holiday movies on TV, and I was starting to consider a similarly-paced Thanksgiving holiday scene. I was having a struggle imagining the dinner though: considering that I still can’t smell or taste anything. Honestly, other than the cozy scene with friends, I was having a really hard time imagining what a tasteless and scent-less Thanksgiving would be like.

But day 4 was a pretty good day! I was clean, cozy, and apparently on the upswing.

Day 5 is a sucker day.

I woke with excruciating lower back pain. Slowly maneuvering out of bed while trying not to whimper too loudly and wake my spouse, yet also trying to move quickly enough that I don’t lose control of my bladder. This is a legitimate concern, given the quality of lower back pain, and the fact that the first steps feel like I’m walking on marionette legs made of jelly and string.

I looked like the Winter Warlock from the 1970 animated holiday classic “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” trying to put one foot in front of the other and also not pee on the floor.

Today I feel both flush and chilled, and maybe I should check my temperature. We haven’t had fevers so far, but today feels…different. Today feels like I should go back to bed and sleep through not only Thanksgiving week, but probably Christmas and New Year’s too.

It’s Monday today, and there are a few calls to make before places close for the holidays. Urgent matters to attend to. Whereas, today I’m struggling to stand up straight, and have a persistent cough.

COVID is not yet finished with me.

I ordered Thanksgiving dinner to be delivered on Wednesday. My spouse is sad. He asked if I am giving up on the idea of going anywhere for Thanksgiving. Yes, I mostly am. If we’re great and negative can we go someplace? Maybe. But I want to have something here at home just in case this is where we need to be.

I was supposed to take a proctored exam today. The exam fee is $45 and non-refundable. If I had rescheduled 48-hours in advance they would have charged a $32 reschedule fee. Because I didn’t, there’s no refund or reschedule option and I’m out $45. This seems like a CRIMINAL ACT during a global pandemic. They are literally encouraging people to come to test with COVID. I’m furious that their “customer service” options are a website that loops back to itself.

For three and a half years I have been both preparing for and trying to avoid this illness. I was not prepared for my #1 symptom to be lower back pain. I finally googled it this morning, and found that there is very limited data, but a regional study involving fewer than 1000 subjects indicates that lower back pain is a significant concern for a quarter of COVID survivors.

Yet another example of how our limited knowledge, and lack of continued research is leaving us to figure out COVID on our own, which is absurd after such a prolonged pandemic.

It's disheartening to think we're still making it up as we go along.