#piecesoftape

Look at our birds and say they're cute.

certainly am 

This is the first time either of us have ever tested positive for covid, and we have tested whenever we've felt sick. And this is definitely the sickest I've felt since I last had the flu, which was incidentally just before the pandemic began.

The scariest part for me was when she had a high fever for several days, and I didn't know how high it would get or how long it would last. We've both been vaccinated and received every available booster, but when it's all happening you just can't take anything for granted. Fevers are terrifying.

But the most physically miserable part for me is the sore throat. I've actually lost track a few times of how long we've been sick, partly because of not ever leaving the house, but partly because my throat has kept me from sleeping much of the last two (three?) nights. Part of the reason I'm even writing this is because I'm anxious about trying to go to bed now. The fatigue, the coughing, the congestion, the chills and aches; those are all just kind of icing on this sore throat cake.

Like I said, we're both vaccinated, and neither of us have needed to be hospitalized. She's taking paxlovid because of concerns about her chronic conditions: I was given the option, but the doctor said that my case appeared so mild that the side effects might not be worth it, so I passed. But mild or not, it's really been kicking my ass.

At this stage it seems like we'll probably come out fine in the end. But I looked up the statistics and it remains a fact that people are still dying of this disease. Nearly seven million people in the world are known to have died of it. There's probably more. Sobering thought when you can't sleep.

If you haven't gotten vaccinated yet, I can now recommend from immediate personal experience that you do. Take the appropriate measures to blunt the impact of this thing, because even when the blow is blunted, it still hits hard. This virus doesn't fuck around.