doing my time with covid-19
It feels surreal that I've only just caught COVID-19, almost three years after it swept across the globe and shut everyone in their houses. Naturally, I can't pinpoint exactly where I got it, but if I had to guess I'd say I probably got infected traveling home from my New Year's travel.
I flew home on Wednesday afternoon and woke up Friday morning feeling like something was off. My mind felt foggy and my throat was sore from congestion. I tried to brush it off, but in the afternoon when I couldn't ignore it any longer I took a test, and sure enough, for the first time I saw dark black lines under both the C & the T.
Because I am immunocompromised, my family went into panic mode. I've been quarantining in my bedroom since Friday (it's now Monday) and have only left the house once in the past three days for a walk. But other than the headaches, sore throat, congestion, and fatigue, I've had a lot to be grateful for.
For starters, I feel incredibly blessed that I was able to avoid COVID for so long. I attribute this partly to habitual mask-wearing, but as I've seen so many cautious friends succumb to COVID, I can't overstate how much luck was involved. This borrowed time has made all the difference. Now, while the variants going around might be more contagious, they're far less severe than the original ones. I've also been vaccinated multiple times, most recently the updated bivalent booster three weeks ago. And to cap it all off, I'm taking Paxlovid, an antiviral used to treat COVID-19 in people with high risk. If I do get severely sick, I know there will be a space for me at my local hospital. These are all privileges that I wouldn't have had if I had caught COVID back in 2020, when there was no vaccine, no treatment, and no hospital beds.
Finally catching COVID comes as a bit of a relief, since it's felt like an inevitability for ages now. I can't tell you how much I've wondered when I would get it and how bad it would be when I did, but I'm very fortunate the symptoms haven't been too severe thus far. And I'm thrilled that the fortuitous timing meant that I haven't had to cancel any vacations.
Being bedridden for three days straight (going on four) reminds me just how long the weekend is. You can get so much done! I watched three movies (In The Heights, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Secret World of Arrietty), planned for a trip coming up at the end of the month, learned about Manhattan's grid system & metro, and broke my ignominious streak of not blogging. And I'm hoping by the end of today I can get to inbox zero and get ahead on reading. Granted, a lot of this extra time comes from not being able to go out at all or do chores, but it's still a good reminder of how much I can squeeze into forty eight hours if you really try.
Happy New Year, everyone! Don't forget to get your booster shots!