Damn. The dreaded
pink T-line. We had both tested positive, after several days of thinking it was
just a bad cold. I mean, we’ve been SO careful to avoid COVID for nearly four
years: triple-vaxxed, triple-boosted; masks when necessary; untold numbers of
Lysol spray cans and bottles of hand sanitizer used over the years. Avoiding
crowds.
By the time I
finally broke out the COVID home test kits, after several days of denial, we
were outside the window for Paxlovid, so we decided to just tough it out. Since
the cold symptoms started, we hadn’t gone anywhere or seen anyone, so we were
spared the embarrassment of calling people and telling them we’d tested
positive.
As near as we
can figure, Toni brought it home from a physical therapy session in a gym-like
setting. It was the only time in the three or four days prior to the onset of symptoms
that either of us had been away from our apartment.
We both
figure that our triple-vaxxed, triple-boosted status is what kept us out of the
hospital. As far as we’re concerned, the vaccinations did their job. From what
I’ve seen, a lot of folks don’t understand that the vaccine doesn’t prevent you
from getting COVID. It helps mitigate the worst effects of the virus, which we’re
convinced is exactly what it did for us.
My guess is
that my case was mild, and Toni’s was moderate. While she pounded Tylenol, I
was overdosing myself with DayQuil. I think I consumed a hundred or more orange
liquid-gel Day-Quil capsules over the course of my bout. We both had nasty,
nasty coughs, stuffy heads, runny noses, chills, and muscle aches. Toni lost
her sense of taste. It wasn’t stay-in-bed-sick; it was just annoyingly
miserable. We quarantined ourselves in our apartment and binge-watched TV.
One afternoon
when Toni and I were both dozing, my friend and former on-air partner Sly
called to share a funny story. We started recounting some of our outrageous
on-air adventures, which resulted in a laughing spell that turned into a
coughing spell. I said to Sly (who had a bout of COVID a few months ago) between
fits of coughing, “I have to hang up! You’re killing me with these stories!!”
Since Toni
and I have both had serious cases of pneumonia requiring hospitalization in the
past, we were concerned that if the COVID started to affect our oxygen
saturation, we’d head to the ER immediately. I also have asthma, controlled by
daily medication, so I’ve used a home pulse/ox meter for years. We monitored
our oxygen sats every few hours, and at no point did either of us dip below the
mid-90’s.
I started to
feel better after a week or so, but Toni’s case hung on.
On the tenth day after the symptoms started, I finally tested negative. Toni was still positive, but three days later, she took another home test and it was negative. We were finally out of the woods. We both still coughed intermittently, and weren’t back to full strength, but the worst of it was finally behind us.
Now, a couple
weeks later, we’re back to normal. And you can bet that if the CDC says it’s
time for another booster, we’ll be among the first in line to get it.
