My Covid 19 story
I was sick with Covid-19 symptoms. Why I wear a mask even though I have recovered
I went on a business trip late January to Hawaii, and Carrie got sick while we were there. I did not get really sick until we got back. We had all the symptoms, loss of taste, smell, and appetite, severe headache, runny nose like a faucet, severe fevers. I ended up taking nearly three weeks of sick leave, sleeping sixteen to eighteen hours a night. March 1 I went to the doctor, and chest x-rays confirmed pneumonia. No Covid 19 test was available, and I was sent home with multiple antibiotics. Ten days later and I am down to only 12-14 hours of sleep a night. Called the doctor and was advised to keep sleeping and call back if fevers returned. Nearly two months later and I am still not 100% Went from running four eight minute miles five days a week, to feeling fatigued doing basic chores. If I had not been fortunate enough to be tele-commuting, I would probably have taken another 60 hours or more of sick leave. I realize that I am very fortunate. There are a lot of people who do not have the sick leave available, if they are even employed. Even if they do, they have other responsibilities and people dependent on them and simply could not sleep 18 hours a night even if they were not at work. There are a lot of our friends who do not have the health coverage I am fortunate to have, to be able to call your doctor and get advice and reassurance. I am extremely fortunate to have Carrie, who took care of me through my recovery, a job that allowed me to continue to do meaningful and productive work in this situation, and the luxury to take the time to rest. For those of you who are not afraid of this virus, could you afford to take several months recovering? Data shows that you are contagious up to five weeks after the symptoms are gone. I still have body aches, and most likely am still contagious. Yes, I wear a mask when I go out. It’s the responsible thing to do, and I choose to be responsible. Are you choosing to show people you don’t care about them or your community by going out without a mask, by not distancing? Shame on you. I know my friends are caring generous people. Thank you for choosing to be a good citizen.
Update- Several of you have asked about testing. At this point testing is readily available, but antibody tests are not, and those that are have not been proven highly accurate. Pneumonia is bacterial, not viral, so by the time I was diagnosed with pneumonia, I could theoretically have tested negative for Covid 19. Pneumonia is an opportunistic infection, but although the symptoms are similar to the respiratory issues that can be caused by Covid 19, they are distinctly different even though they can be simultaneous. There is a lot we still do not know. Only large data sets taken over a period of time while isolating variables as we begin to understand them will begin to get us there. Also, there will be more. We in the US got lucky with prior outbreaks like SARS. Overpopulation, misuse of antibiotics, factory farming, lack of preparedness, etc. make future outbreaks of novel diseases crossing over to humans a statistical certainty.
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