Good Bye Covid, Hello Lingering Cough

 

I don't know ANYONE who LOVES to be SICK.  It is just not much fun.  About the most fun I have ever had being sick was in 1964 when the Olympics were being played in France.  I had the flu, and as I recovered I watched the Olympics on a small TV (like a 5" by 3.4" screen) right there at my bedside.  THAT I enjoyed, even though I was sick as a dog.  This COVID crap, nope, no fun at all!

It has been four days since my last blog.  I have been well for the past two days, and feeling very good today...if you define 'very good' as being tired, exhausted, having a persistent cough, and feeling like you're in a brain fog.  Today is Marcia's first day of feeling well.  She is constantly a couple days behind me with this.

We both had a temperature while being sick with COVID.  Mine was a bit higher and lasted longer than Marcia's did.  I hit 101.5 at one point, but Theraflu and Advil brought it right down.  Our sore throats were about even, but her ears hurt much more than mine did, and is her biggest pest right now.  Thank goodness, neither of us found anything sneaking into our lungs.  Even the cough we both have comes from our throat, and not our lungs.

Indy the champ through all of this.  She KNEW we were sick, and as I recovered, she spent her attention on Marcia.  She is such a good little girl, until my brother Jim, sister-in-law Carol, or Niece Kathryn goes by, or she sees them in the kitchen window...then she turns into a little devil girl.  On the other hand, when her cousin Parker or her 'new to her' cousin Cocoa is out in the yard, she is just a happy little girl playing with her little doggie cousins.

Tomorrow we celebrate Mom's 93rd birthday, which technically is a few days away still.  I will sit in my camping chair near the door, Marcia will sit in the Motorhome and come up to the door now and then.  I doubt either of us are contagious anymore, but why risk it.  Of course I am especially looking forward to Arny's BBQ of Tri-Tips...I am so TIRED of soup and broth!!! 

As for this cough...I am afraid it will be with us for a few weeks.  I have it under control at times, then it hits like a female dog in heat...nothing seems to stop it.

Covid Attacks Us

 

Three years and a few months after the Virus hits America, it has finally hit me, and now Marcia.  With the brain fog that I have had with this, and yes, I am still reeling from the effects of the virus, I wonder why I am even trying to write this.  If parts don't make sense, I am sure you will understand.

Since our arrival nine days ago I have spent a lot of time with mom, getting her to socialize again by doing lunch and dinner at the dinning room instead of her room.  She has had, and continues to have, moments of confusion, even seeing things that are not there when she is alone.  I think the socialization helped because she was not talking about people who were not there.  Then this past Saturday I went over to try and gather a urine sample that the doctor on Friday could not get...I had no luck too since she did her business before I got there.  I left around 10:30 and headed back to the motorhome.  By noon I started to feel very exhausted, with a unusual for me headache.  Three hours later of sleeping in my chair, having chills, head feeling like a T-Ball stand at a kids Baseball Game, I knew I was in trouble.

We tossed out our COVID tests because they were out-of-date just before we left Florida.  We did not bring a thermometer.  I went to Walgreens and went to the drive-up and asked for some COVID tests and a thermometer.  Despite the thermometers being ten steps from the drive through window, I was told I had to come into the store to get them.  I informed her how sick I was feeling...but nope, she would not get them.  So I went into Walgreens with a mask on, found the thermometers, got the tests, and left.  Back at the motorhome I test, and BINGO, Dave became the winner of the next person getting Covid.

Saturday night I got about 4 hours of sleep, with the last hour between 9 am and 10 am.  My head hurt so bad, and every bone and muscle in my entire body seemed to scream out in pain.

By Sunday night my sinus were blowing up in pain, yet I wasn't totally stuffed up.  By Monday my throat was on fire.  Started taking Theraflu Cold and Cough Medicine, the Green Tea and Honey Lemon Flavor.  It provided relief to the throat, which still hurts now (Tuesday 5 pm) but it is definitely showing signs of improvement.  

The headache was for the most part gone this morning, sinuses are fine.  No sickness or pressure in my lungs.  I am VERY tired, but Monday night I did get three episodes of sleeping for up to 90 minutes straight, but at least 60 minutes.  I get a number of cat naps.

Marcia started showing signs on Monday, and by Monday night she had the headache like I had, and cough which is like mine, but more frequent than I have had.  

So far Mom is not sick...but she was seeing imaginary people again.  Jim (oldest brother) and wife Carol arrived late Sunday and his daughter (Kathryn) arrived today.  Mom's 93rd birthday is a week from today, and I am confident we will be feeling better by then, but will still have to mask up around people once we end our isolation.

Last time either of us has been sick was late November / early December when we both caught a cold which Sandy caught from Dad just before he passed.  Where and How I got COVID will never be known.  Outside of going to lunch and dinner with mom at the Assisted Living Facility, I have been to the grocery store twice, Walmart, and got food from Jimboy's and Extreme Hummas, the latter on the day we arrived so it couldn't have been from there. 

Can We Go Back To NORMAL Now??? Mom is under 'lock-down' again.

 

It is nearly 11 pm, fireworks have been going off since 7 pm, with more and more going off as it gets closer to midnight.  Indy is sleeping in her bed, not giving a darn about the fireworks going off.  This is much like the behavior Bubba had.  Skruffy, on the other hand, would be cowering in one of our laps or under the bed or chair...anywhere she would feel safe at.  She had the same behavior with Thunder.

       

Our celebration of the year's passing was having lamb for dinner.  I get boneless leg of lamb from Sam's Club.  This was a six pounder.  Marcia does all the seasoning preparation, I am in charge of the Crock Pot where we cook it.  On high for the first hour, then added the mushrooms and the green beans, put it back on high for 30 minutes, then it was on warm for the next 4 hours or so.  When it reaches 130, turn it off and let is sit for another 15 minutes still covered, then uncover until you are ready to cut it.  The white stuff is Cauliflower blended with an emulsion blender with butter, minced garlic, Cheddar Cheese, Pepperjack Cheese, and a few other spices to taste.  As you can see, we like our meat Medium Rare....just add more time if you want it cooked more, such as leaving it on high for an extra 30-60 minutes at the start.  Once it gets up to 100 degrees, it does not take long to get to 130...today it took 45 minutes to go from just over 100 to 129 degrees.  Now we have two big chunks of lamb in the freezer and one large (over 2 pounds) in the fridge for future meals.

Well, are you as tired seeing images like this one above depicting the Coronavirus that causes Covid?  Here in Florida we had around 230,000 new cases in the last five days (over 75,000 today), yet Covid hospitalizations in the state increased by only 484 on Friday, reaching 4,485, according to the Florida Hospital Association. That total is nowhere near the peak of more than 17,100 hospitalizations during the summer delta wave.  There have been reports where medical staff said that many of the Covid hospitalizations now are not nearly as serious as they were back in the summer.  The death rate still remains low compared to the summer outbreak.  Some have described this outbreak as like having a bad cold.  No doubt this is hard on people with other health issues.  A little over two years ago dad caught a cold, and it was too much for his weaken body to handle and lead to a total system shutdown just days later.  This was in November, by February we had our first cases in the U.S.  So when mom called today and said that the Independent Living Facility she is in has had a few cases of COVID according to tests given today, I did not panic.  They have locked down the facility again, isolating everyone to their rooms for at least five days.  If others don't come down with it, they will let up their restrictions...if not, I am sure the restrictions will stay in place.  Mom and most of the people at the facility have been vaccinated and have been given their booster...but this does not stop one from getting Covid, but it does, for the most part, make it easier on anyone who does.

So, WHEN can we get back to normal again????  Soon, I hope.  I hope no one dies in the facility, and I hope they open the dinning room up again real soon.  It is not easy being confined to a room for a long period of time...but it does help control a breakout from spreading uncontrollably.