Reading this brought back memories. I caught it back in March here in WA state. I’m not sure when I got it. But I’m pretty sure it was the week before the lockdown (March 23rd). I was already self-isolating, but I just got careless one day. I went grocery shopping, wore a mask, brought my groceries home, put them away, and then ate something and scratched my nose. It was right then that I realized I hadn’t washed my hands after I got home and put away the groceries. About 3 or 4 days later, it kicked in.
My doctor was basically the same as the one in the article - couldn’t do anything for me. Kept telling me my case is considered minor because I can still breath and my temperature wasn’t spiking. I never hallucinated though. Feel like I missed out on that :)
My fever hit 103 and stayed there for over a week. A couple of days it hit 104. I told myself if it went higher I’d figure out how to get to the hospital. Luckily it didn’t go up. I was able to just stay home.
The chills were terrible. I was so cold and shivering so much that I couldn’t sleep. Eventually exhaustion caught up with me and I just passed out. I have no idea how I kept my dog fed and a minimum of accidents in the house. I really don’t remember anything from those 2 weeks. It’s just a haze.
But the one thing I do remember is the cough. I’ve had the flu, bronchitis, walking pneumonia, and even real, ICU pneumonia (to be fair over 2 decades ago so I don’t recall how bad it was), and the COVID cough was so much worse. I would curl up in the fetal position because I had coughed so much that I couldn’t straighten up. I walked hunched over because my abs hurt so bad. There were several times I’d start crying because I felt a coughing fit about to start. I don’t know if cough medicine helped at all, but I was drinking it every time I was lucid enough to remember to. I ran out one day and started panicking. I got really lucky and found a couple of bottles at a local Bartells. But I couldn’t go get it. I have great neighbors though. And one of them went and picked it up for me. They put themselves at risk to help me. They dropped it off at the end of my driveway and didn’t come within 40 feet of my front door. I waited till they were back in the house before I went and picked it up.
So yeah. It’s a “fever and a cough”. I really hope that none of you ever have to experience that “fever and a cough”
Edit: Some bio facts about me. I was 43 when I caught it. At the time I was training with power lifting, CrossFit, and a lot of rucking. If I really pushed myself, I could hit a 7 minute mile (not competitively fast, but fast for me). I would call myself healthy at the time I contracted it. No underlying health conditions (beyond bad eyesight and partial deafness).
My doctor was basically the same as the one in the article - couldn’t do anything for me. Kept telling me my case is considered minor because I can still breath and my temperature wasn’t spiking. I never hallucinated though. Feel like I missed out on that :)
My fever hit 103 and stayed there for over a week. A couple of days it hit 104. I told myself if it went higher I’d figure out how to get to the hospital. Luckily it didn’t go up. I was able to just stay home.
The chills were terrible. I was so cold and shivering so much that I couldn’t sleep. Eventually exhaustion caught up with me and I just passed out. I have no idea how I kept my dog fed and a minimum of accidents in the house. I really don’t remember anything from those 2 weeks. It’s just a haze.
But the one thing I do remember is the cough. I’ve had the flu, bronchitis, walking pneumonia, and even real, ICU pneumonia (to be fair over 2 decades ago so I don’t recall how bad it was), and the COVID cough was so much worse. I would curl up in the fetal position because I had coughed so much that I couldn’t straighten up. I walked hunched over because my abs hurt so bad. There were several times I’d start crying because I felt a coughing fit about to start. I don’t know if cough medicine helped at all, but I was drinking it every time I was lucid enough to remember to. I ran out one day and started panicking. I got really lucky and found a couple of bottles at a local Bartells. But I couldn’t go get it. I have great neighbors though. And one of them went and picked it up for me. They put themselves at risk to help me. They dropped it off at the end of my driveway and didn’t come within 40 feet of my front door. I waited till they were back in the house before I went and picked it up.
So yeah. It’s a “fever and a cough”. I really hope that none of you ever have to experience that “fever and a cough”
Edit: Some bio facts about me. I was 43 when I caught it. At the time I was training with power lifting, CrossFit, and a lot of rucking. If I really pushed myself, I could hit a 7 minute mile (not competitively fast, but fast for me). I would call myself healthy at the time I contracted it. No underlying health conditions (beyond bad eyesight and partial deafness).