Damn Covid, finally found us…

When Covid first made the news and began affecting our lives it was during the winter of 2019. The first impacts were figuring out how to get groceries, how to do our laundry and how to find parks not closing down to newer people.

We managed our way through that winter and again the winter 2020 which was a continuation of 2019. However,the world had gained a bit more information about what precautions we could take to make our lives safer.

Sharon and I, after much reading and research on our own, elected to get vaccinated right away. As a result we got all the follow-up vaccinations since then and the booster recommended for the Omicron variant of Covid just this year.

While we were fully vaccinated we were also aware this didn’t mean we couldn’t catch Covid. However if we did get Covid we were also aware by being vaccinated it was less likely for us to develop severe symptoms which may have required hospitalization.

We are also understanding of others who chose not to get vaccinated because, after all, it is your choice. Up until now we have been evading catching Covid by staying out of crowded enclosed venues preferring to be outside anytime we went out for fun.

Well our time without Covid finally ended this past week. We suspect we caught it at a Mardi Gras party but could also have contracted it somewhere else. Fortunately we realized we were sick early and stayed home not wanting to give even a cold to somebody else.

I felt like I was catching a cold since my nose was running on day 1. The next day I got a deep cough and thought it would be wise to test for Covid. I did, and it was negative. That same day Sharon had a sore throat and the next day she had a bad cough. To be safe we tested her for Covid and hers was positive. So I retested on day three of symptoms and I too tested positive. Sigh… we were both down with Covid.

We went to an urgent care to see what the current advice of doctors was because of our age. Let’s just say we got more politics than medical advice. This is not a political post so whatever your political beliefs are just know we respect them. This of course happened on Sharon’s doctor’s day off.  She messaged him knowing it could take up to three working days for a response.. After much thought and internet research we decided on our own that since we are over 65 we should take Paxlovid.

I was hesitant to do so since there is a lot of unpleasant side effects possible and it is said to be only 51% effective against the latest variants. We quickly embarked on our first day dose and both experienced an immediate lingering bitter after taste. Sharon also developed a rash the next morning. As a result we decided to stop taking Paxlovid. Sharon’s doctor has since been in touch and is supportive of our decisions.

For some comfort food during our sickness I made some red chili pozole.Sharon was especially thankful because her sense of taste (and appetite) had diminished. While we escaped Covid for 3 years, COVID finally caught our asses. We are fortunate so far as we both have what they refer to as "mild" COVID. We will just lay low and stay home until we both test negative…