Average Jane Was Wrong

When I last posted, I had talked myself into believing that I was dealing with some fall allergies or perhaps a mild cold. So logic. Many delusion. 

That night – the night before I was supposed to work the election – I barely slept at all because I felt like absolute ass. Horrible headache, sore throat, cough, the whole works. I took another COVID test, went back to bed while I waited for my phone to announce that 15 minutes were up, and there they were: two lines.

I'd made it almost three years without succumbing to the 'rona, but I'd finally flown too close to the sun during some activity or other.

First, I had to call and leave a message for the election board that I wouldn't be able to work after all. I was supposed to be the assistant supervising judge for my polling location, but fortunately they had a spare ready to send in. If I'd tested negative, I might have been stupid enough to mask up and try to tough it out, but the test result saved me from myself. It would have been the most ill-advised decision I'd ever made if I'd really tried to go through with being on my feet all day.

I had already taken the day off from my job for the election, so at least I didn't have to worry about that. The day was largely a blur because I felt awful. But after a ton of run-around trying to get a Paxlovid prescription, my doctor called one in and a friend not only picked it up for me, but also brought me cookies, lemon drops, NyQuil, aspirin and Gatorade, all of which I am still enjoying at the end of the week. Getchu some friends like that.

The next day I felt considerably better. The headache has never returned, although I'm obviously still sick. I turned my bed into a complete squirrel's nest of cables with my work laptop and headset and my personal laptop and headset. Complete with snuggly dog, of course.

I ended up working a full day on Wednesday from my bed office and most of the day on Thursday before I got really tired and needed to stop.

Today I had some new symptoms that might be medication side-effects, and since I didn't have any meetings on the calendar it seemed like the ideal time to take a three-day weekend.

All this week I've mostly been consuming toast, oatmeal, soup and Sprite, all of which I got early on via an Instacart order. Yesterday I ordered a hearty and delicious comfort food lunch, but it may have overwhelmed my delicate system. I do truly appreciate all the offers from various friends to bring me stuff, though.

I sent the spouse to the library last night because my hold on N.K. Jemisin's "The World We Make" had come in and I was very invested to see how the story ended after having read the first book early this year while I was on vacation in Costa Rica. It can go back to the library tonight and I'll be moving on to my pile of other books between naps.

What have I learned from all this?

1. Keep wearing your masks! I'd recently upgraded to some nice 3M Aura N95s but guess what? They can't help you if you aren't wearing them.
2. Get Paxlovid if you can. It made an immediate, noticeable difference in how I felt. Yes, it makes your mouth taste horrible, but as long as you keep eating and drinking neutral things, you can make it dissipate. I know there's a risk of COVID bounceback after the treatment course ends, but apparently that's a risk with or without the medication.
3. Rest, rest, rest. Centralizing my existence on my bed was a great choice, not only to stay away from the uninfected member of the household, but also to force myself to take it easy. If I lived alone, I'm pretty sure I would have been overdoing things by now.

Finally, it's been terribly sad to have a first-row seat to the rapid breakdown of Twitter this week. If you're still there (I am, mostly to keep my account mine), turn on two-factor authentication, delete your DMs, don't provide any financial information, and consider restricting your account to your current followers. 

That's enough for now. I think I feel another nap coming on. See you here whenever you stop by!