Ah yes, the current 2023 pandemic mentality. How very zen and calm we all seem to be with so little information on the latest variant. If you care for story time then buckle in for a cautionary tale, and if not then just scroll on by, stranger.

I did all the right things for almost three years and finally got sick with COVID.*

Why am I sharing my experience? Because I felt a fair amount of shame in talking about it at first. It’s like I failed somehow in getting infected. People will chalk up symptoms to allergies, and the flu, but not so readily when it’s COVID. I’ve done that before, but having COVID and not talking to anyone is really isolating. So I decided to share. For starters, there is no shame. I do believe this virus is coming for us all because that’s the way we’ve chosen to handle it globally. And for seconds, I’m sharing my two cents because a) it’s my website and b) I’m really just kindly asking folks to take care of themselves.

Even though I am healthy, young-ish, up to date on vaccinations and boosters, and have no comorbidities I still had a rough time with COVID. I’m grateful for every single step I’ve taken because I shudder to think what this would have been like without all these precautions. Even though I would describe my infection as rough and lengthy I was blessed with “mild” symptoms, which means that by definition I was just lucky that I didn’t go hypoxic or have any other significant complications landed me at the hospital. So having fought to breathe through a mild case for the past almost-month I can say with certainty we need a new definition of “mild” in the spectrum of discussing this virus. Either that or people just need to be more specific when they speak about what that even means. I didn’t know that depending what variant you get you may get different symptoms, which made it very hard to know what to expect and to track progress. And there’s no real way to test which one you get either. I kept a diary, and still do, to track my symptoms. I would suggest it to anyone because it helps show the progress (or lack of) and is helpful to doctors in case you need to be seen.

I understand that specificity is hard to deliver in a snappy media sound bite and make it palatable to an audience that over time has little patience for anything anymore, but my worry is that most people are cool living life taking the odds of just getting a “mild case” do so with a false sense of security that it’s going to be a breeze for everyone. Just another cold or kinda like the flu feels like a pretty irresponsible claim to me because it just wasn’t either of those things. I would suggest people empower themselves and stay up to date on the latest reliable information so they can know what to look for. My COVID had a lot more gastrointestinal issues than lung or coughing symptoms, fatigue like no other, and a ton of sinus pressures. If I wasn’t encouraged by Nick to test when I was feeling generally unwell I wouldn’t have known I had it, and could have infected others.

So in addition to more nuanced info, while we’re asking for things from the universe, I would like more information on the nuances of actually having COVID, and more clarity for the folks dealing with long COVID. I was surprised that once I knew I was sick there is little information about the vast array of symptoms one can have when testing positive, and less clarity on what do or take (or not) to feel better, or when you know it’s time to call for help. The reality is that the information out there is a bit generic for such an infectious virus with so many variants, and there’s even less information for what to do if you’re still having issues weeks, months, years later. Variants, viral loads at infection, immune systems and so many other factors make it hard to have specific information for everyone, and without funding or continual research at the scale we need the information available only seems to be helpful up to a certain point. It’s a pretty dismal sounding picture, but I will repeat common sense advice what I found helpful while sick: the name of the game now is the less infections the better. Strive to stay as healthy as possible, for as long as possible.

Because everyone reacts differently and it’s hard to know what to expect, I will say it took a lot of resources and time for me to recover from this mild virus. I was the only one to test positive in my household, so I didn’t want to spread it to anyone. This means I indexed on the conservative side of everything in my recovery, but also feels appropriate. Spoiler alert: it is a lot. And I know it’s a lot because my family members said they’d be hard pressed to get any time off to recover if they got sick.

Here are the resources I took to feel better; upon feeling sick testing to see if it is COVID (I have a Cue machine with COVID-19 tests so I am able to test at anytime I feel sick to know if I have it or not); once positive, following the isolating and testing guidance in the CDC website (which meant time off work and isolating in my own room with a bathroom just for me, and acquiring about 6 boxes of BINAX antigen tests to be able to know when I finally began to test negative so I could stop isolating); notifying my primary care doctor that I was sick immediately (and getting medication); the ability to call urgent care doctors and advice nurse hotlines for video calls 24/7 to talk through concerning developments (covered by insurance); an employer that has been very supportive through my health recovery; so much support from family, friends, and kind folks over at r/covid19positive for when I was dealing with the high anxiety of being sick with the famous pathogen; and lastly, a dedicated husband that thankfully tested negative throughout the entire experience of us isolating in our house, who brought me healthy fresh cooked meals, water, snacks, tea (so much hot tea), did my laundry, picked up my medication, and sent their love 24/7 via FaceTime and through the door.

Seeing this all this written out seems like a lot, but it shouldn’t be. I believe it’s what everyone deserves at minimum and it’s unfair that is not the case. So when it comes to this resources part and the overall disparity at play, I will admit my advice is shit here, but here goes: be proactive and prepared as much as possible and make a plan like you would for any other emergency. Do what you can to get your support systems lined up. If you do get sick or are sick, and it is the more recent-ish variant, then my advice is real here: do everything you can to rest. Like rock solid boredom rest for as long as it takes. Rest like it’s your new hobby for as long as you’re able to. And drink lots and lots of water — that seemed to help me a lot.

Three weeks later I’m happy to say that I’m feeling better — I’d say ~85% because I do still have lingering symptoms that are slowly resolving, and I’m still not able to work out or walk much because its too exhausting on my body still. I keep hearing this multiple weeks time frame is in fact normal for mild cases, which is wild to me because that is very much unlike the common cold it gets compared to constantly.

So look, long story short, I don’t wish this upon anyone. I do wish we would talk about it more openly in the spirit of helping one another. My takeaway from all of this is to keep living my life with precautions, especially knowing that this virus and its new variants are contagious as fuck.

Take care, people.

*masking, distance, testing, vaccination, boosters, avoiding big crowds, eating outside… listening to science.