And down

I tested positive for COVID this morning.

I feel okay, as if I have a mild cold. In the before times I would never have dreamed of missing work for something like this. I should have known something was up yesterday, when after a lot of staring and thinking I got tangled up in a Killer Sudoku that should have been straightforward. (I look forward to the Saturday Killer Sudoku starting on about Thursday. It is my favorite puzzle of all. Perhaps I will write a journal article: A Novel Method For Diagnosing COVID-19 Infection. It could be very useful for the -- oh, 12 or so people in the US who share my obsession.)

On Friday night just before bed I said to myself, "Hm, is that a sore throat?" But I have asked myself that question so many times over the past two years that I don't give it much weight these days. I woke up yesterday morning and thought, "Hm, that seems like it might be a sore throat; should I take a COVID test?" But I have taken so many negative COVID tests in the wake of hypochondriacal thoughts about possible symptoms that I didn't.

And lo, those possible symptoms were actual symptoms.

I am very curious about where I picked it up. There were a ton of people at the concert on Wednesday night, but it was all outdoors on a breezy night and neither one of my roommates is sick despite identical exposure. And the test turned positive double-quick, which makes me wonder if I was exposed earlier. Could have been at Mass last Sunday despite the KN-95 mask, but Stella was right next to me and she is not sick. Could have been in the adoration chapel last Sunday afternoon, courtesy of the person who spent some time in the opposite corner, but we were a fair distance apart in a high-ceilinged space. Nine days ago I ate at a restaurant with two other people; they don't seem to have COVID.

Elwood and Pete traveled for a board-game convention last weekend. Although they wore masks at the convention, it also seems possible that Elwood brought home an asymptomatic case which he shared with me while sleeping next to me.

No one else is sick so far. Stella has a drippy nose and a negative test. I breathed all over her yesterday, though, while thinking, "Isn't it strange how often I wonder whether I have a sore throat?"

Anyway, say a prayer or wish me luck, according to your preferences. Feel free to speculate about which route of transmission seems most likely and/or dispense advice about getting through it.

Comments

[Tracy]

Sorry to read this! I hope you feel better soon. (and which killer sudoku do you play?)

[Maria]

Feel better soon and I hope none of your roommates comes down with it!

I vote for the concert with tons of people, despite being outside and breezy, but I share your wonderings about the quick positive test and nobody else with the same exposure being sick so far. It’s all v. confusing, and seems to continue to get more so. Hooray for vaccines for kids under 5 though! I hope that will make a dent in the sort of chronic pandemic situation we seem to have entered now.

In all seriousness, do take care, and I hope your symptoms remain mild and curious and the rest of your household remain healthy and at least asymptomatic.

[Nicole MacPherson]

I hope you feel better soon. My son was asymptomatic when he brought it home, and he remained asymptomatic throughout. So maybe that was the case for you. We wouldn't have known he was sick without a test - his friend had tested positive.

[Penelope]

Oh no. I'm sorry. I hope and pray that your case is simple, with no long covid 🙏🏽 My son and I (both immunocompromised) have managed these two and a half years without catching it, but more and more I am hearing of others who have also, like yourself, finally gotten it. *sigh* Good luck!

[mandamum]

I'd vote for a grocery or other store, if there was one in your history - I'm almost positive I caught the non-COVID cold that put a halt on our only family trip last summer after I was coughed near/"on" (definitely less than 6ft, despite no one else being in the big box store aisle, thanks for being so thoughtful dude) in a hardware store while trying to find a necessary sprinkler head replacement. Even with an N-95 and glasses, there's only so much one can do against being the involuntary target of an inconsiderate cough.

Our family have been fully masked when indoors once we were even willing to venture out fully vaccinated.... and while we haven't caught COVID yet - I'm sure it's only a matter of time - we've gotten multiple colds and recently at least 1 stomach bug. Makes me want to just say *%@$ it.

I hope your time down is short and not too bad.

[Alexandra B.]

Ugh, I'm so sorry. I hope you recover soon and completely; you are in my thoughts.

My family and I had it, thankfully after all our vaccines. Again thankfully, it was brief and mild for everyone except for me. I was knocked flat, sleeping 15-16 hours in 24 for almost a week. Rest, rest, rest -- from work stress, email, serious intellectual exertion -- was the best medicine. And absolute gallons of soup.

Take care!

[giddy]

I feel your pain...I tested pos on Jun 7 and had to miss my daughter's college graduation! Pretty sure I got it from relatives who traveled to town for a Jun 3 family wedding. The wedding itself probably wasn't the issue (it was outside and breezy and I sat in the path of a fan for most of the reception!) but the leisurely indoor dinner on Jun 1. But the relatives, my mom, my bro and SIL and I all got sick. (My daughter was with us at all the same events, though, and she never tested positive.) My wife assumed she was having a mild case when she had allergy symptoms next to my sore throat...and therefore didn't quarantine from me....only to turn up with real symptoms and a positive test about 5 days after mine.

I talked to the local public health office and was lamenting not having eaten that one meal outside, and she told me even that might not have done the trick because these omicron variants spread pretty easily even outside. So who knows? I think your guess that an asymptomatic family member brought it to you is the most likely....

In any event, I felt lucky that the worst of it was a low-grade fever along with bad head cold symptoms for about a day and a half...and then it moved into my chest where it remains. I just feel "gunky" and I cough occasionally, but I am generally FEEL fine and am sleeping well. So many have had it so much worse!

(The other worst of it was not getting to travel to the graduation...but to be perfectly honest I'm 100% sure that the livestream gave me a much better view than the one I would have had in person! so it was really more about missing the festivities around the event. We'll fete her more when she's home again.)

You are definitely not alone; SO MANY people are just now coming down with it. I'm not sure it's really avoidable at this point unless you go back into personal lockdown.

I hope you have a minor case and recover lightning fast....and may the rest of the family be spared. Take care!

[Zagorka]

praying for a swift and complete recovery!
and rest, rest, rest!
my 81 year old papa had it in february (after his 3rd vacc) and came through unscathed (at least until now).
Please take care and do not start back to soon.

[mary d]

My husband tested positive yesterday. We are pretty sure we know where he got it (we just got back from vacation and know where we were indoors).

I mentioned it to my boss, the pathologist, about how some people get it and others don't, or don't show symptoms and he just shrugged and said "we all have different immune systems" so it's possible you got it at one of your events and your contacts didn't because you were just more susceptible to this particular variant. It's all such a mess and confusing.

I hope you're feeling better.

[Jody]

I meant to write sooner: I tested positive for Covid in May. It was the all-school Field Day that took me out (I took off my mask but only outdoors! and there was a breeze! these new variants are vicious!) And then I spent ten days in isolation, because spouse still hasn't caught it yet, to the point where he brought my food into the bathroom while the door was closed between it and the guest bedroom, and after he was gone, I collected it. The school rules said I could come back masked after five days, and a dozen teachers were out sick at the same time, so back I went. But I came home and went right back into that room.

And I played a lot of Best Fiends, but I didn't manage to finish a single book.

I'm glad you're better now.