Saturday I officially became one of the 1.43 million people in Massachusetts to become infected with Covid. Well, I didn’t get infected on Saturday. I actually hadn’t been feeling well since Monday. But Saturday was when I was tested and they told me I was positive. I was lucky enough to have symptoms which allowed me to be tested at an urgent care. Because if you don’t have symptoms, they won’t test you there. And to find an at-home test right now is like trying to win the lottery.
Anyway, my biggest complaint? The sneezing. I don’t think I’ve ever sneezed so much in my life! Friday was the worst. I don’t think there was an hour that passed without me sneezing. So of course the sneezing has led to a very runny nose which I’m constantly blowing and have now developed a very sore nose. I do have a slight cough, but I’ve had worse coughs with an ordinary cold. In fact, I’ve had worse ordinary colds. And I have a hoarse throat so I now sound like Brenda Vaccaro. But I’ll take it.
I know many have questioned the term “mild symptoms” and everybody’s different. One person’s mild symptoms aren’t going to be as mild as another’s. To me, what I’m experiencing are very mild symptoms. Like I said, I’ve had regular colds worse than this.
The pseudo-doc at the urgent care told me that I should quarantine for five days from onset of symptoms. I told him that the visit to the urgent care was the first place I’d been in the past ten days. Then he told me that after that I should wear a facemask for five days. I told him I wear a facemask all the time when I go out in public.
Then the next day someone from the Public Health Dept. in my town called me and told me that any family members in my home could go about their merry way unless they had symptoms also. Which made me think “really”? Because they have been exposed for the past week to someone with Covid! What kind of irrational thinking is that? Thanks CDC! But not to worry because really nobody in my household has gone anywhere for at least a week.
This whole thing does have me thinking, however. How do I know when the Covid is gone? I can’t get my hands on an at-home test. And if I did and I still tested positive, what do I do? Keep testing myself with tests I don’t have? If I don’t feel well enough to go out to a store, even with a facemask, which I wear anyway, why would I even think about going out?
So I’m going to base it on my sneezing. When I stop sneezing, or when a day passes without any sneezing, then I’ll know I’ve overcome Covid. Then again, prior to Covid I did sneeze at least once a day. So maybe that won’t work either.
michellemchatton.com 