During the pandemic in the past two and half years, I had many trips within the States and overseas.
I had been fully vaccinated since early 2021 and had two buster shots accordingly.
But returning to the States was a pain in the neck. I had to be at the airport six hours ahead of the scheduled departure time because a PCR test had to be performed at the airport.
By the time I visited Norway in early July PCR test requirement returning to the States was lifted. It was less stressful.
I didn't stop traveling. I won't allow my life to be hijacked by the Covid.
I felt that as long as I took all the cautions, it was unlikely I could get sick.
Reality proved to be the case until now.
Late afternoon of Sunday 8/7, I had a mysterious sickness, a sore throat, cold sweat, and couldn't even stand up much. Throughout the night, I was sleepless with my heart pounding. I thought I got Covid. But the test I took was negative. I felt weak and lay in bed helplessly. Thinking if it was ever going to be all right. My mind didn’t rest.
My fever went over 101, and my heart rate jumped over normal by more than 60%. I felt it was like the end of the world.
It was eight days after I returned home from the Northwest tour with my brother Jim and his wife.
I did the second test the next afternoon. It was positive.
Ha, I have Covid.
High-dose vitamin C, water, and soymilk.
Helplessly lying down, sitting up became difficult, and I was disabled.
Thank modern technology, I could communicate.
Later afternoon, with so much effort, I called my doctor’s office to ask for a Zoom meeting scheduled at 8 am the next day.
My son, doctor Lei Chen, suggested that I take paxlovid, which required starting within five days after the symptoms appeared. If the situation stays like Monday, I need medication.
Somehow I slept, slept, and slept, hydrating with any fluid available - mainly water, soymilk, and yogurt.
Thank goodness I slept well through the night with a couple of times for the bathroom.
Tuesday morning, I felt much better, with no fever. But ache and fatigue were still present.
In the Zoom meeting, the doctor suggested I wait for one more day to see whether my situation improved or worsened and then decide if the medication is necessary. I thought it was a reasonable arrangement.
Tuesday turned out to get me improved - the fever lowered to 100. Less nauseated. But my throat was still scratchy, and my cough got worse.
I assessed that I was in a typical passage toward recovery.
I cooked lunch for myself. And lay down most of the time on Tuesday. I felt almost normal. My fever was 99.4, and I worked on my taxes and so on. Hopefully, despite the symptoms that looked lingering for a while, my nightmare will be over soon.
The fifth day of 8/11 in the afternoon, I felt everything was normal and had more energy than the previous day, although still not as well as before my sickness. I resumed normal activities - taking care of my yard, and trash, and cleaning my rooms.
It wasn’t over yet. I need to wait to turn negative.
But the question puzzling me is how, when, and where possibly I could have gotten this illness.
I came home from the northwest tour on 7/30 Saturday night with an Uber driver who didn’t have a mask on and talked during the whole journey.
The following few days, I participated in Zumba and the line dance indoors without a mask.
Soon I got bad news.
My niece Ling in the Bay Area had planned to visit me - they wanted to have fun in those amusement parks here - for her family's summer brick. My home was a natural choice they had. About two weeks ago, they had a situation.
First, their two 10-year old got positive with various symptoms from vomiting to high fevers. The father took good care of them and joined the positive group a few days after their kids’ illness. When I learned about this, I was thinking, all right they can’t come.
The following information I received made their trip even less promising. The younger girl of 6 years became positive on Thursday 8/4th. The only person in the family who had not gotten sick was my niece Ling. Omicron was really contagious.
Leaving my worry about their visit behind, I carried on with my usual activities.
On Friday, I went for Zumba, Saturday morning Tai Chi class and the late afternoon writing class party at Susan’s home, and finally, a Sunday Tai chi class.
Except at the party, I hardly exchanged words with anyone and only focused on doing whatever I was supposed to do.
The party lasted more than four hours. Around 8:30 with everyone, I left for home.
Then the mysterious sickness hit me like a big blow.
It was Sunday afternoon on 8/7, a week and one day after I returned from the trip.
I had no personal contact with anyone. Who knows how I got sick? From whom and where?
I have been in Zumba and line dancing for a few months. I wonder what I should do after this episode. Unusually 3-5 days of incubation period before the symptoms manifest themselves. Am I right? Unlikely it was from the Uber driver. Or the worst - I have close contacts to the writing class? That could be bad. Most participants were seniors.
The good thing was I didn’t need medication, but I suffered from aches, fevers, and other usual stuff. Four days after a bit of cough and fever were still lingering. My doctor told me my case was mild, and after five days I could take a test.
I am going to wait since my niece told me about her experience and the information she got from Google. Her family members didn’t return to negative in less than 10 days. Eleven days after the little one was still positive, Her husband refused to take a test before 12 days, and then it was negative.
Don’t know when the test will be negative. I don’t care. Everything will take its natural course.
I am blessed to have my life back, and I swear I will not stop living, especially traveling.
