Since getting knocked on my ass last Monday, this has been a trip.
Aside from the physical challenges, this has been a big test of mental fortitude to keep calm so my asthma doesn't get out of control. I can endure almost anything on the physical side, but worrying about my chest has been the scariest part.
My first post was met with tons of support and advice, so I'd like to thank everyone for that. Hearing from many people helped when I needed something positive to think about. Even a few off-color responses got my blood flowing, and my responses were met with more appropriate replies to return the focus back to healing.
Here's an update for anyone who's curious or wants to know what my experience with what I'm taking a strong educated guess is "the virus."
I haven't gotten tested because I've checked the box with most of the symptoms, and because getting tested here is hard/not guaranteed. I was immobilized for the first 3 days and still don't see the value in exposing myself and others outside right when I should be resting/healing. You can see more of my logic in my first post and many comments here.
Since I'm based in the heart of a notorious global hotspot, and barely get sick every 1.5 years -- and nothing even close to this, I think it's safe to put the pieces of the puzzle together that I got what's going around. Heck, my asthma hasn't even been this bad since I was a kid.
Summary:
- Very unpleasant fever with heavy sweating and chills for the first two days.
- Spent the next 3 days feeling cold, weak, tired, achy everywhere and without much appetite.
- Short walks or tasks around my apartment were tiring. I'm in great physical shape, so this felt weird.
- Fatigue and general symptoms above seemed to lift by Saturday.
- I slept a ton from Mon-Wed, but stayed up for longer periods of time from Thurs-Sun. I probably should've kept sleeping as I was to stay ahead, but I didn't feel the need like before where I had no choice.
- My asthma has been the biggest worry since my bronchial tubes and throat have been constricted the entire time.
- I've been coughing consistently despite taking rescue and steroid inhalers. These are unproductive dry hacks leaving no relief.
- I lost taste and smell on Saturday and they're still gone. This is a clear cut symptom, oddly showing up later.
- Right now, I'd say that I feel 75-80% overall outside of the my asthma.
- After having a rough Saturday night with my breathing (I tried to do some cleaning which likely irritated my airways, and then COVID-19 research to probably give me anxiety), I slept from 3 AM to 5:45 PM solid without getting up once. My body needed it. This helped reset my airways to be much calmer after a bad tandem the night before. Lesson learned.
- Going to bed on Saturday was fairly scary and I had to dig deep to stay grounded. When you have nobody to turn to, you gotta face the music and find a way to persevere.
- My lungs seem to be ok in general with good capacity, but my throat and airways need more relief. Even if my lungs are ok, not enough air is getting to them with the asthma, the Catch-22.
- I should be getting a z-pack on Monday to take since a COVID19 nurse in my building advised that they've been helping some patients. My friend will pick it up for me since I can't leave here.
- Ironically my Mom had sent me a z-pack two weeks ago without telling me, but the strip of pills were loose in a rubber glove with the rest of the package contents. She didn't tell me it was loose, so I either dropped it somewhere, she didn't pack it, or I accidentally threw it out. I spent a nervous hour hunting for it after waking up calm and gave up. Figures...
- I hadn't told my family about being sick because I didn't want them to worry, especially my Mom. I finally told her on Sunday evening, and she handled it well. She knows that she can't make me anxious and is doing a good job being gentle with her follow ups so far.
- Talking on the phone is not easy. While I don't gasp, I am short on lung capacity because of my bronchial tube constriction. I have to talk softly and in shorter segments than usual. I'm paying close attention for any lung issues and feel no alarm in that region yet. I pray it stays that way. That's my biggest fear since I already have the asthma.
- I've been having protein powder, tea (with honey, ginger and fresh lemon juice), Gatorade, multi-vitamins, water and extra B+C+D vitamins. I continue to keep at this although I'm almost out of Gatorade (but I'm glad because I don't want all that sugar).
- I've been eating ok on my own, but nothing special. I've mainly had eggs, tuna, pasta, and beans since they're easy and I was tired most of the time.
- A big help was turning my air conditioner on and having one of the accordion sides open to get fresh air in here. The first few days were very uncomfortable because I wasn't getting new air in my place. I might turn on my bathroom and kitchen vents tomorrow to try to cycle some more air out as well. I don't want to open my door and let the air rush out into my building where it can not be good for others.
Assorted Thoughts:
My friends and neighbors have started bravely bringing me food like this steak dinner tonight. Sadly I couldn't taste anything. DAMN what a tease. Right after finishing this dish, someone else insisted on coming via the subway with a spaghetti bolognese dish they made and some supplies. I ate that slowly throughout the night, again tasting nothing. I was sort of able to sense the chili-flakes. It was a weird experience to not have those senses when you're expecting a ton of lovely flavors.
Sleep really tends to make me feel much better. The catch is trusting the process to go to sleep when I'm having difficulty getting air comfortably because of my asthma. This takes a lot of patience and calm or else panic could make it all much worse.
There are schools of thought that there may be a second phase that happens around days 8-10. I'm approaching that timeframe now and am hoping to God that I'll be clear of that. I feel much stronger now and don't feel any warning signs of any changes in that direction yet. Say a little prayer on this one if you don't mind.
Last night was one of the tougher nights for breathing, but I think it was because I got a little too ambitious with trying to clean and organize here. Reading up about symptom timeframes also made me worry a bit because of the potential for that second phase. Knock on wood.
This has also been tough financially because I can't sell anything in person (I keep having to turn down cash), and can't handle/ship items for my online business. Cashflow is frozen and will likely be this way for another week. My business was doing great until last Monday, but I'll just have to dig in to recover with that when I'm 100% again.
It's been a bit boring in my apartment by myself under this self-quarantine, but I don't want to get anyone sick.
I've only left my apartment twice in the middle of the night to throw out my trash and recyclables since they were getting backed up. I guess I had no choice, but I wore my N95 mask and gloves.
I was going to go to bed before writing this but thought I'd post it (now 4:40 AM) so I might have something to look forward to when I get up. A little self-therapy.
Hope everyone is doing well and not feeling so bad about being stuck inside HEALTHY with their loved ones.
Thanks,
Matt