My Case Of COVID

 

I hope I waited long enough to write this.  I have already had one bad turn since I was infected with the COVID virus.  But here I go, wanting to start getting this down while I am still feeling the effects.

It all started on a Sunday morning.  I woke up with two things on my mind.  And only two.  I had to get up in front of my church and say a few words about why we give thanks to God.  I also had to get on a plane the next morning and spend the week away from home for work.  Everything started normally.  I went up on stage and said a few words, I talked to friends, and I helped pray for a friend who was moving out of town.  This friend had helped us start the church and been through a lot in life.  I put my hand on his shoulder as I prayed.  Like normal.

What wasn't normal was how I started to feel sitting at What-A-Burger for lunch after getting my drink.  My lower back and hips ached and my energy level was obviously low.  At that point I knew I had COVID.  That's usually how I feel when I get the flu.  I figured I didn't have the flu since we were in the middle of a seasonal COVID peak in Texas.

It took me about 3 hours to confirm that intuition.  Everybody in Texas is getting tested, literally a million people a week.  My wife and I called at least 10 places.  Everybody was already booked up, and I was still supposed to get on a plane the next day.  I finally found a private care office.  Because I had symptoms they gave me a quick test and 20 minutes later the doctor walked in the door and told me, "you're COVID guy."  I immediately called by manager at work and told him the bad news.  Then I sent out an email to work explaining my situation.  I wasn't going anywhere.

The first week was a blur.  I had a slight fever but it grew over time.  I didn't have enough energy to even work from home.  I kept up with email.  Then I would go take a nap.  My body ached and ached.  I had slight chills.  My stomach felt unsettled making it hard to eat.  Tylenol gave me my only relief.

I went back to the doctors office four days later after I developed a cough that burned my lungs every time I coughed.  The doctor prescribed antibiotics, a steroid, and Ivermectin.  He also gave me a phone number to schedule an monoclonal antibody infusion.  My energy level got a little better but my fever edged up into the weekend.  The infusion couldn't have come soon enough.  It came Saturday afternoon.  I had heard nothing but good things about the infusion.  It made my mother a bit sick when she got one in January, but it sounded like a real solution.

Well, about two hours after my infusion I started shivering.  I put on a pull over.  Still shivering.  Put on a blanket.  Still shivering.  My wife put about five more blankets on me.  I finally stopped shivering as I went to bed.  I think the infusion was working at the time, but I was paying a price.  Because after I warmed up I started feeling way, way overheated.  I shed blankets over the night but I woke up in agony due to the heat.  I wasn't sweating but my body felt like it was radiating heat.  It took about a day to feel a normal temperature again.

The next two nights I felt fine and would sweat in bed over night.  I knew the infusion was working now.  My fever went away.  I perked up a bit.  I was on the path to recovery; Monday, Tuesday, Wed...  Wednesday afternoon my stomach started to hurt, the aches came back some and my energy level dipped again.  I checked my temperature and the fever had come back.  I became very concerned.  I wasn't sure what was going on.  My cough hadn't gone away completely but I didn't feel it in my chest anymore.  Everything was in my throat and head.

I went back to the doctor on Thursday morning to see what was going on.  The doctor had my chest x-rayed.  Pneumonia.  I don't think it was a particularly bad case, but there it was.  I got another antibiotic.  The next day my fever went away or maybe it was Saturday, yesterday.  None today either.  My energy level is creeping back up.  I think I am on the path of recovery now.

I chose not to get the vaccine.  My calculus was if I got COVID and didn't have to go to the hospital then I made the right choice.  My decision was two-fold.  First, the vaccine isn't like any other that has ever been given to the public.  The mRNA manipulating shot could be great or it could cause more problems long term than not.  I heard news early on about people getting sick from the shots and some having to go to the hospital.  I'm sure that was rare, but it was a fact I weighed.  Second, a month before the summer COVID season hit Texas I read a Cambridge University medical paper from April 2020.  It warned that several attempts years earlier to create an mRNA vaccine for SARS-COV-1 had to be canceled due to evidence that it would produce Antibody Dependent Enhancement (ADE).  It warned that this had to be monitored for any mRNA vaccine to be used for SARS-COV-2 or there could be dire consequences for people.  The vaccine could cause a serious infection instead of preventing one.  The antibodies produced by the mRNA gene manipulation would actually invite the virus in and provide a path for infection.  I haven't heard any reports that the current vaccines checked for ADE or ruled it out through research that this could happen.  Scary stuff.

Of course, it may never happen.  But who knows.  The efficacy has already decreased.  It was promised as a protection against transmission.  But by the Spring we started hearing of break out cases involving the vaccination.  But then the media told us the vaccine was really to decrease symptoms in case you got infected.  Well, who knows.  Let's wait and see.  My conclusion was if the vaccine is just to prevent hospitalization then as long as an infection didn't lead to hospitalization then I didn't need the vaccine.

I could take another turn for the worse tomorrow.  Yet, God willing I am on the path to restored health.  Say a prayer for me.  I need it.  Say a prayer for anyone else you know who has it.  They need it.

After that please give people the space they need to assess the risk for themselves and their families.  Practice grace to those who choose to respond in the opposite way that you do.  Stand against forced behavior of any kind.  I think that is the only way forward as a society.