I caught the Rona

I recently tested positive for COVID-19; at first I didn’t really know how to feel because somehow I thought I was immune to it (lol). I mean I had traveled a few times, and been at gatherings and did a countless amount of testing and was negative. Now I rarely get sick, maybe like once a year, I think I have gone two years without being sick. I knew I was getting sick but didn’t think I was catching Rona. It started with what felt like an earache, and my body was feeling a bit warm. So, I took some cough drops to soothe my symptoms, which seemed to help. I thought that would solve the problem but the next day it felt like my condition had gotten worse, so I decided to go get tested (listening to my gut feeling). Once I was at the testing site they completed the rapid test (antigen) and the PCR (polymerase chain reaction). When I did the swab, I followed the instructions: cough three times, and swab the whole mouth. Once I took out the swab I could see some green mucus, at that very moment my heart sank and that’s when I knew that my test would most likely come back positive. As I drove off, my phone went off with a text message of the results of the rapid test. That took all but one minute in the lab to produce the positive results.

As I drove home, thoughts started running through my head; “how did I get it? When did I get exposed? When should I tell my job? My mom is going to kill me! Oh great, now I need to tell everyone I was around so they can also get tested.” I mean the thoughts went on and on in my head. I didn’t fully trust the results of the rapid test, so I waited until I received the results of the PCR, which also came back positive. I was so sad, and knew I needed to isolate myself immediately. First thing my mom said when I told her is “now you can stay your butt home, no more traveling”. I notified my job the day after, and started my quarantine journey. In a sense I was happy to catch a break from work because I am tired of that place anyway. My thoughts were: they would do just fine without me. My symptoms were as if I had a cold, I was coughing but not often. In the next upcoming days, I began to lose my sense of smell and lost my taste buds. At first I wasn't bothered by it but it became very depressing to the point I wasn’t eating because I had no appetite.

I began doing research on how long it would take to get the smell and taste bud back, I read that it could take up to four weeks or longer. I wanted to cry because I love eating. I’ve even heard people say that it took more than two months before they could taste again. My energy was low, I spent most of my days sleeping and I usually don’t like to sleep during the day but that’s all I did. Through this journey with Covid, I can say that I’m very thankful that my case wasn’t critical and I’m thankful to be alive. The positive side of this was that I enjoyed being home. I could wake up whenever, no alarm clock waiting to be snoozed because Lord knows I snooze at least three times before I roll out of bed.

While my case wasn’t bad and I was recovering well, my job had the audacity to ask me if I could work remotely. I kindly declined, but deep down inside I really wanted to send the rudest reply. As I started to feel better I wouldn’t sleep as much even when my body wanted to rest, I pushed myself to stay active and get creative by doing some arts & crafts. One day (maybe on day 12), I honestly wasn’t keeping track of the days, but I ordered some sushi thinking that I probably wouldn’t be able to enjoy it. Once I started to eat it, surprisingly I was able to taste the sauce on the sushi. I was in food heaven because my taste buds were making their way back. It’s crazy because a few days prior I had eaten chips from chipotle and it was so bland but I could taste the salt on the chips.

My takeaway from this is to be more careful and not to go out into public places with large crowds . Sure I miss going out, especially traveling but my health is more important. Since being exposed to Covid I am less interested in going out and being in crowded places. I rather just hang out at home and get crafty. We’ll see how long that lasts.

My heart goes out to all the families affected by the pandemic, especially to those who have lost loved ones. Wishing for brighter days soon.