#plague diary

so, me and Brian have covid for the first time ever. our years-long no covid streak is finally over. here is the timeline.

sometime last week: one of his coworkers comes in sick to work with what he thinks- and maintains- is just a cold, although we have had NO other contact with ANYONE sick, so you do the math.

Sunday, Oct 29th: Brian has a very slight sore throat, which he attributes to snoring harder than usual (which he was). this isn't out of the ordinary. has no other symptoms at first.

Halloween: i have a pretty fucking good day carving pumpkins and then hanging out on a voice call watching movies with a friend who lives in another state. late at night, i start feeling sinusy. pass out all at once. also, Brian has realized he might be coming down with something.

Wednesday, Nov 1st: wake up with the worst fucking sinus headache i can remember having, like ever. note that this is very distinctly a sinus headache. the day wears on and the headache does not go away. nose becomes slightly stuffy/runny. i start feeling Off. Brian, who now feels like he has a cold, takes a covid test just to be sure, which for the first time comes back positive. i do not bother testing because there's no way in hell that he has it and i don't. fever hits me like a train, i spend the night freezing or boiling or both. head still hurts. body aches set in, but almost exclusively lower back and down. my hips, knees, and leg muscles all hurt. spend the night sleeping fitfully.

Since I’ve seen others post their Covid diaries, I thought I would post mine from last year (May 2022). My partner and I both caught it after mask mandates were dropped. Partner works in a factory, I work in a public library. After I started feeling weak while walking my dog, I had Mom pick up the pup and keep her until I felt better. I didn’t want my dog cooped up inside and pooping on the floor but I didn’t want to risk infecting others while walking her. My mom lived in a place with a backyard, so it was the perfect arrangement.

-5/14: D tests positive. I have scratchy throat mild headache. I test negative.

-5/15: Mild headache, no scratchy throat. I test negative. Later at night, throat seems a bit scratchy again, like it feels like it’s getting sore. Headache came back at night, but it’s probably the headache I get from staring at a screen. Nose is a little tickley. Stomach’s turning a bit. I think I’m developing symptoms.

-5/16: Stomach felt a bit funny. No headache but throat definitely doesn’t feel right. Not quite sore but definitely weird. Back felt sore when I woke up, like I slept wrong. Soreness wore off and now just feels like a knot in my right shoulder. Feeling very mildly weak. Negative test result. Will re-test tonight. While walking Peanut, legs started to feel weak. Mildly out of breath after walking peanut.

• Woke up from a nap at a quarter to 7(PM). Something like dizziness. Felt some kind of post-nasal drip at around 9:34 pm.

-5/17/22: Sore throat went away somewhat. Feels like I’m either having an allergic reaction or coming down with a cold, with my mildly stuffy nose. No nap. No post-nasal drip. Felt a bit like it was time for a nap earlier but because I was up to 4am, I stayed awake so I wouldn’t fuck up my sleep schedule. Got in close contact with D when I helped him lay a decorative mat under his computer stuff and also when he grabbed a plate out of my hand. No headache. Tested negative this morning. I’m trusting the tests less and less due to being mildly symptomatic, but if I haven’t gotten worse and am still testing negative by the time D goes back to work, then I may go back to work as well.

-5/18: Stuffy nose, throat feels weird again. Feels like allergies or being effected by the weather. Annoyance at how slowly I’m getting sick.

• Called in sick, slept. Full-on stuffy nose and sore throat. Legs feel weird. D pointed out that if I’m going to assume from here on out that any negative on an at home test is a false negative, then I should go to a testing site instead of wasting my time on false negatives. I conceded. He is taking me to a testing site. When I get home I’m taking DayQuil.

• Test scheduled for tomorrow, results in 48 hrs. Same day results site didn’t have an appointment available until the 23rd. Took some dayquil. Starting to feel fatigued. Accidentally told mom—didn’t want to tell her since I didn’t want her to worry.

•Around 8:40, possible beginning of a headache

5/19/22

D says he’s feeling much better today aside from congestion and body aches. Says body aches may be from sleeping on the floor

• I took an at home test and it came back positive for Covid. Sore throat, stuffy nose, stomach cramps, tired

5/20/22

Back feels stiff. Chest hurt so I used some Vicks. Now I feel a little warm. Testing positive yesterday feels fucking surreal honestly. Yesterday was weird because I tried taking a nap after I got home from being tested but I couldn’t fall asleep even though I felt tired

5/21/22

Nauseated and easily getting warm. I’m annoyed. It’s 7am and I want to be a blanket burrito dammit. Headache forming. Backache, joint ache. Will email my prof later and see if I can get some extra time for assignments cuz of this nonsense.

I WILL kick COVID’s ass. There’s a walking tour of Edinburgh’s medieval district with my name on it. I want to see peanut again. I need to outlive Donald Trump. (*Johnny cash voice* Spite, is a burning thing)

My state of ultimate perfection is blanket burrito. I am at one with the universe.

It’s now almost 6pm. I have no energy. I got hot and took off my shirt this morning. Just now after putting a shirt back on I took it off a few seconds later. I opened a window. D opened the other when I mentioned how stuffy it felt in here.

5/22/22

One in the morning. Joint pain in my elbow and knee. This shit sucks but I’m not as tired as I was earlier. I’m watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Netflix version) and noticed a couple nods to the original that made me happy. TCM (original) is one of my favorite movies. This is my second time watching Netflix’s TCM and just like the first time, I cussed at the movie when Sally died. She was the original version’s final girl and she deserved better.

It’s 7:20. A roughly 15 minute workout on RingCon Adventure (a fitness game) was all I could manage before I was out of breath. I was playing at my usual difficulty instead of taking D’s advice and lowering the difficulty. I thought that I was well enough to manage but I’m not. I’m exhausted and out of breath. It sucks. Fuck Covid.

I don’t remember the exact I returned to work but I was at home for about two weeks before testing negative. My work had only five days of Covid time available, so five days after developing symptoms I had to start calling in to work and using my regular sick time. Another coworker and I agreed that five days wasn’t enough.

After my partner tested positive, I let my coworkers know via a post in our private Facebook group, because I knew it was very likely I had it since we were living in a studio apartment at the time and was asymptomatic. I let them know again once I tested positive. Both times I let them know that if they had been around me in the week or so leading up to my partner testing positive, that they should keep track of how they might be feeling.

My partner had it worse than I did even though we both had it at the same time. He vomited, slept all day for the first few days he had it, ran hot and cold, and had such bad body aches that he said he felt like he was dying.