Our COVID Experience

 I have an admission.  Back in November 2020, our little household tested positive for COVID-19.

While we were definitely not the only people in America to test positive for it, it still feels shameful to admit we had it.  This may be because I figure if we had just stayed home for the holidays, we likely would have avoided contracting the illness.  We're not 100% certain where we got it and it really doesn't matter.  No one in our circle of friends and family would knowingly and willingly expose anyone else. Also, I did go shopping.  Maybe it was from being in stores that were fairly busy hours earlier...

Where we got it from really doesn't matter now, a month and a half later.  But you might be curious to know how it went because it seems COVID affects everyone differently. 

Here's what I can tell you about our experience.  We were lucky.  I feel very blessed because our experience was one of mild inconvenience. Ken and I both ran slight fevers for about twelve to twenty-four hours. I had full body aches for only a day but then had to contend with a persistent backache for about two weeks.  Near the end of my bout with COVID, I had some painful headaches that caused my neck to knot up. I had some phlegm and light coughing during the two weeks I felt less than stellar.  Ken ended up with a post-COVID cough he still hasn't managed to kick.

Gage had no symptoms that we are aware of because the kid is always coughing up phlegm thanks to year-round allergies. 

Hallie, Gage's girlfriend, had a few minor symptoms but she seemed to kick it fairly quickly.  

We found out much later that some of the people we had seen on Thanksgiving day also got sick. Like us, they had very mild cases.  

Luckily, KC, Allie, and baby Riley never developed any symptoms.  We hadn't seen them Thanksgiving day and, apparently, when we did see them the next night, we weren't yet carrying a high viral load.  Like I said, we were blessed. I would have been devastated had Riley gotten sick because of us.  For two weeks, I obsessively worried about their little family developing symptoms.  My prayers were almost manic. 

I am coming to realize I may have a slight catastrophizing anxiety disorder. That's a thing, right?  I'm sure it must be. 

Post-COVID quarantine testing came back negative, which was a relief.  I like Thanksgiving, but I love Christmas. Not getting to see my new grandbaby on his first Christmas would have been heartbreaking. Luckily we were good to go and sporting some antibodies. (You have to wonder where herd immunity is at now that so many people have gotten sick over the last nine months..). We celebrated Christmas and New Year, but we tried to keep our gatherings small and safe.  We canceled Christmas with my brothers, sisters, and their families; we're still considering an outside bonfire in the snow.  We didn't travel up north to see my mom or step-dad and their houseful of kids and grandkids. Instead, we invited my dad over on Christmas Eve so he could see his first great-grandchild's first Christmas at our house. 

We spent Christmas night with people who had already had COVID and recovered. Then, on New Year's Eve, we spent even more time with COVID-recovered patients.  Seriously, looking back on our New Year's Eve, there were only two people in the house who hadn't contracted COVID at some point in the fall.  

New Year's Day we spent with Ken's mom and dad.  Again, they were the only non-COVID recovered people in the house. Everyone else had had it and recovered already. Not that I'm not concerned about them. I am. Tomorrow will be one week since we've seen them. So far, they're fine.  I'll feel better, though, when it's been a full two weeks. 

With the holidays over, I think our exposure to people will go right back down to nothing. We're still working from home and Gage is still laid off.  Our only routine visitor is Gage's girlfriend, Hallie. We see KC, Allie, and the baby from time to time. They don't need a sitter like they did when both KC and Allie were working, so even my babysitting has been limited.  When Allie got laid off, babysitting requests died right down.  (This makes me sad because I love babysitting!)

So, we are recovered. Now I just pray we don't develop any of those ominous post-COVID ailments that plague some people.