I always figured I’d get the virus at some point. I mean, I got all the vaccines and masked up and socialized outdoors, but I was never the overly-cautious sort and once vaccines were available, I frequently fudged the rules because I couldn’t bring myself to get my panties in a wad over preventing something that everyone seemed to get anyway. But still, I kept not getting it and not getting it and not getting it which was truly wonderful but also made me feel sort of left out, like, what was wrong with me that I couldn’t get what everyone else was getting? And then I started wondering if I was invincible, my blood cells ironclad-protected against the coronavirus, but —
Oops, guess not!
I had sniffles for a couple days, and then suddenly a fever. I didn’t think anything of it — colds are going around — until 24 hours later when I took my grassy-tasting cannabis drops to help my fever-seized body relax enough to sleep and realized I couldn’t taste them. At all. Two tests later — one expired and one not — and it’s confirmed: I am not invincible. Well DARN.
It’s actually not been that bad, really. More like a bad cold with fevers, thank you, vaccines! The worst part is the intense boredom that comes with feeling sick enough not to do anything but not sick enough to not care.
My mom brought me cough drops and COVID tests and a pint of incredible soup packed with veggies and a wonderfully seasoned broth that I couldn’t taste but scarfed down nonetheless. My daughter picked up citrus and saltines from the store. I’ve continued to drink my morning coffee (something I don’t do when deeply ill) and turn eight gallons of milk into cheese two days running, started a couple pints of fermented lemon honey, parbaked some pie crusts, made chili, painted my nails, made crack, and watched so many Netflix I nearly melted my eyeballs.
Speaking of Netflix, have you seen Million Dollar Decorators?
It’s such a marvelously smutty show — Schitt’s Creek come to life, I kid you not — and the absolute best thing to watch when sick. Here are five takeaways:
- Just because something is expensive doesn’t mean it’s not tacky.
- Rich people get PLAYED.
- Interior design is a gift.
- It’s delicious fun to call everyone “Dah-ling.”
- I lovelovelove my house.
I binged almost the whole show in one day and then I made my older daughter watch the first episode with me when she came out to visit.
Speaking of my older daughter…
I gave her a concussion.
Before y’all report me: IT WAS AN ACCIDENT. And actually, it was half her fault. We ran into each other when playing Ultimate: her head and my shoulder, SMACK. The collision sounded quite impressive, but I felt fine and she just laughed, shook it off, and continued to play. But afterward she took a nap and then called to say she was still alive, and I was like, Wait, something’s wrong? By that evening, her head was hurting pretty bad.
light reduction techniques
photo credit: my older daughter
Monday, she didn’t work with my husband or drive, and she slept all day. That evening my younger daughter fixed her up a supper basket and hung out with her for a few hours.
Lil Red, minus the wolf and cape
She didn’t work on Tuesday, and she only made it several hours in the dishpit on Wednesday before the pain was too much: dizzy, sore teeth, and sharp headachy pain behind the right eye even though I’d hit her on the left side.
photo credit: my older daughter
By that point I was beginning to wonder if I should be concerned, so my husband asked our son to swing by her house after work. Just look at her eyes, we said. Make sure there’s no brain bleed. (The kid lives by herself so how were we to know if she was slurring and staggering?) Our son gave her a thorough neurological assessment and pronounced her sound, BUT he benched her for the rest of the month, much to her enormous dismay. (That we’re already halfway through the month has not appeased her one bit, silly girl.)
Anyway, COVID.
paying me a visit, i.e. interrupting my workflow
The loss of taste only lasted about 36 hours, thank goodness, and I only had periodic fevers for two days, again, thanks to the vaccines.
even without taste, the texture of crack is delicious
Which brings me to my next question: do I still need to get my COVID booster this year? I haven’t yet gotten my vaccine (it’d be my fourth) or my flu shot for this year. After that long month of dental woes, I haven’t found it within myself to set aside a few days to feel (potentially) unwell from vaccines. But now that I’ve gotten COVID, does that mean I’ve been naturally inoculated for the season? At this point, wouldn’t another vaccine be kinda redundant?
Either way, I guess I still need to muster up the courage to get the flu vaccine. Two full days of Netflix is about all this woman can handle for one winter.
This same time, years previous: rosemary asiago cheese, wedding whirl, how we homeschool: Terra, croissants, sour candied orange rinds, science lessons, the quotidian (12.15.14), bits of goodness, soft cinnamon sugar butter bars, cracked wheat pancakes.
10 Comments
Dillspitzen
I managed to not get Covid for almost four years and in the beginning of Dec it got me and my parents. We‘re all high risk, so fully vaccinated. I got my parents paxlovid, which helped them a lot. I just had to ride it out without.
I wasn‘t able to taste/smell anything for a week, I‘m still really out of breath and since my body likes to bless me with secondary infections when I have something viral, which is why I got a massive ear infection. Still can‘t hear much on the left side.
Hope you‘ll feel 100% better soon!
DB Stewart
Yes, THANK YOU vaccines. Also, in all my experiences with Covid, the sickness was not awful, but it lingers and lingers and lingers. Let’s hope you fare better.
Marie J
Is it true that COVID makes your immune system weaker for a little while? If so, that flu shot is probably a priority.
suburbancorrespondent
My friend’s husband had COVID in October and has COVID again now. Just sayin’…
KC
Vaccines provide slightly wider-strain immunity than natural immunity does, but the CDC says you can wait 3 months (which makes sense, since both natural immunity and vaccine immunity substantially wear off, for covid, so spacing out your immunity boosters maximizes protection).
(also, the flu is less lethal this year than it was last year, by about 3x so far; I got both covid and flu vaccines, but my immune system doesn’t do a *great* job at fighting things off, and also my mom is now 80 and has been through some health stuff recently, and I do *not* want to be the transmission vector to give her the flu!)(covid is still killing 10x the people per week vs. the flu at present, so it’s not “just like the flu” yet, although pneumonia is outdistancing both; see https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm)
(sorry if this double-posts; I got an error previously)
ccrinma
I’m sorry that it (finally) got you, but glad it isn’t being too bad. I hope you feel great soon!
Jennifer
To Pauline in upstate NY, commenter Zenriddles quoted the CDC accurately. You can’t tell how much immunity a person has and for how long, just by the fact that they contracted covid. The newest boosters target current prevalent strains, which may or may not be the strain the caused the recent illness. (Previous ICU nurse)
It won’t hurt. It might help. Proudly get vaccinated.
zenriddler51gmailcom
Straight from the CDC’s website:
You should get a COVID-19 vaccine even if you already had COVID-19.
Getting a COVID-19 vaccine after you recover from COVID-19 infection provides added protection against COVID-19. You may consider delaying your vaccine by 3 months. However, certain factors could be reasons to get a vaccine sooner rather than later, such as: personal risk of severe disease, risk of disease in a loved one or close contact,
local COVID-19 hospital admission level, and the most common COVID-19 variant currently causing illness. People who already had COVID-19 and do not get vaccinated after their recovery are more likely to get COVID-19 again than those who get vaccinated after their recovery.
Pauline in Upstate NY
Your logic is correct, Jennifer. Right now a Covid vacccine would be redundant, as your body has produced its own antibodies from actually having the virus. That should protect you from re-infection for 3-4 months (but NO guarantees, so don’t give up your usual hand sanitizing and masking as appropriate). And, yes, you DO still need to get the flu vacccine, but maybe wait until you’re feeling like yourself again. So sorry the evil bug finally got you… Having Covid definitely sucks. (Retired RN)
Melissa
I wouldn’t get the vaccine. Your natural immunity is so much better.