In case you haven't seen my other pronouncements about this . . .
I TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID - I think it's safe to say that I've been an advocate for COVID mitigation measures. Get vaxxed, wear a mask, social distance, I support the various mandates, and feel that if EVERYONE got vaxxed and exercised a little common sense/courtesy, we could have put this behind us by now.
So when I woke up this past Tuesday morning with the tiniest of catches in my throat - not a sore throat but like there was a seed stuck around my Adam's Apple that I couldn't cough up - I didn't give it much thought. When it was still there Wednesday morning, I also didn't get it much thought although I contemplated bailing on my normal Thursday Aquarium of the Pacific dive because our protocols are if you don't feel 100%, don't come in. But Wednesday evening at the fabulous Dodgers/Cardinals wild card game, I knew something was wrong and I was getting sick. (Fortunately, it wasn't horrible and I was able to make it through the entire game to see the exciting finish.)
Thursday morning when I woke up I was beat and definitely felt sick. So I let AOP know I wasn't showing up and fell back into bed. Slept off and on most of the day. Typical fatigue, body aches, nasal congestion (but nothing in the chest), and a low-grade fever (100º). I really thought I picked up a mild flu.
Friday morning the fatigue was nowhere near as bad but I still felt sick and decided I needed to know what it was or more specifically, what it wasn't. Because I KNEW it couldn't be COVID since I'm vaxxed, I wear masks, and I try to be careful. There's an L.A. County pop-up testing site a few blocks away so I made an appointment, went over there, stuck the cotton swab up nostril one then nostril two, stuck it in the bag, and left.
When I got up Saturday morning, there was an e-mail telling me my results were ready so I logged in, fully expecting see the word "negative." I was quite stunned/shocked to discover this was not the case as the word POSITIVE stared back at me from my screen. (But it also underscores how virulent the Delta variant is.) After the shock wore off, I decided to get a second test to confirm that this wasn't a false positive and got those results Sunday morning. Ken - 0, COVID - 2. Very glad I've been vaxxed though, because if I feel like crap WITH the vaccination, I'd hate to think what this would be like without.
As best I can tell, I probably picked this up a large (100+ people) indoor event I attended. Because there was eating/drinking, a lot of people abandoned their masks all together. I had mine off to eat and drink. My symptoms showed up about 4 days later, which is apparently typical. The L.A. County Public Health recommendation is to go back two days before your symptoms appeared and those are the folks you could have exposed while asymptomatic. Fortunately for me, that was only three people.
I'm certainly functional. Main symptoms are fever that comes and goes but now seems manageable with Aleve, occasional cough, horrible running/stuffed nose (but Mucinex seems to be helping there), fatigue, occasional loss of focus, little loss of appetite (which is slowly coming back). I'm not sleeping great, which exacerbates the fatigue I'm sure, but last night was better than the previous nights. I'm following the L.A. County protocols which require a 10-day isolation from onset of symptoms and have already had a contract-tracing interview with them as well as with the Aquarium.
And maybe that's the biggest lesson to reinforce with all of this for those of you reading this who still be vaccine-hesitant. (I'm using the polite phrase.) This isn't just about YOU getting sick. It WILL affect others either because you get them sick, or because they need to get tested and then quarantine to confirm they didn't get infected. (One of my three contacts was my sister and although she tested negative the same day I tested positive, today is my sister's birthday and I've managed to ruin it for her because she had to cancel plans to get together with her friends and basically quarantine herself inside until she can get another test done Monday morning. On top of that, she had to sell our tix the Monday Dodgers/Giants game as well. My public apologies Susie.)
Because it's COVID, the personal ramifications for me go beyond I'm-sick-I-got-better-let's-go-dive. The Aquarium post-COVID protocols require me to sit out for the next three months to confirm there's no long-term lung damage. DAN post-COVID recommendations are similar. Although I don't feel like this has gotten down into my lungs (I've had no issues with breathing and my pulse ox levels have stayed in the mid-to-high 90s), I don't know where I am in the progression of the disease right now so hopefully it keeps getting better rather than turning for the worse. (I will consult with my primary care doc tomorrow.) And before anyone can return to diving post-COVID, you want to insure that your lungs have not been damaged lest you suffer inadvertent lung issues or a dive because you didn't realize there was a problem. So the recovery process is more than just, "I feel better now."
For those of you with your head in the sand and don't think you need to be vaxxed, go get vaxxed. For those who don't think you don't need to wear a mask, wear a mask anyhow. For those who think it's totally your business, that goes out the window when your actions affect others. Mine is what I'd term a mild case right now. But it's also not anything I'd wish on anyone else.
It seems anti-climatic at this point to go through my usual news of the week so I think I'll end it here with a reminder that we have Zoom Seekers on Tuesday but I'll send that link out to you tomorrow. Also, many thanks to those of you who have already sent me e-mails of good wishes.
This too shall pass.
- Ken |