In the beginning of September, one day I begin cooking and by the time I am done cooking lunch, I can barely stand. I go to lie down and rest. I got an extreme wave of fatigue. For the next week, I am nauseated, and so dizzy that I do fall to the ground on two separate occasions. I am concerned but not enough to go to the doctor. I do however, decide that driving is too dangerous while I feel this way. It gets worse.
All during this time I am up with my youngest for his virtual schooling. Well, I am getting out of my bed to get him set up then I would lie down close enough to hear and help him if need be. So this one particular day, I am throwing up the night before and I feel infinitely worse but then the symptom that sends me to the er.
I get finished with the virtual schooling and I am exhausted. I drag myself upstairs and climb in to bed. My chest is hurting badly and my breathing is choppy. I get my friend to drive me to the er because I know when your chest hurts you don't pay with that. Now, I am scared and alone in the emergency room. They triage me quickly and get me to a room. I have a temperature but my blood oxygen levels looked good and so did my other vitals. They are almost sure it's not Covid 19. I had no idea any other diseases still existed.
In walks the radiologists and she says, they did a pregnancy test and your not pregnant. I said oh, I could have told them that. She then proceeds to tell me a terrifying story of a patient that came in with stomach trouble and said oh I am menopausal, I haven't had a period in 8 months, spoiler alert she was 8 months pregnant, while she is detaching me from the ekg monitor. So I decline a wheelchair and slowly make my way to the radiology department.
Spoiler alert, I had pneumonia in my right lung. What? I am frightened at this point. I cry a little. The doctor tells me because my vitals are good they won't keep me. That eases a bit of my anxiety but pneumonia. Two years earlier my dear dear Emma went to the hospital and was diagnosed with pneumonia and never recovered. Rest on my Angel. Then about 2 months later my Aunt also passed away due to respiratory issues. Rest on Auntie. Just in case they give me the covid test. Well I am still scared. I call an uber and shed a few more tears. Home I go.
My breathing is getting worse but the pain isn't bad... yet. I go to draw a warm bath and get s call from the er. Ok this doesn't help my anxiety at all. The nurse says you tested positive for covid so time for isolation. My body begins to ache, my joints begin to ache, my ears and throat also begin to hurt badly, my head continues to hurt and I can not keep my eyes open for the next few days. This is a nightmare.
All of these things happened about a month ago but there are lingering symptoms. My breathing is still labored. I still have bouts of fatigue every day. I have to rest several times during the day and I carry an inhaler now on case my chest stays to feel too constricted. I am sharing my story because I want you to know the symptoms can be different than the person next to you. We are all different so symptoms show up differently. I also want those who haven't had the virus to realize that everything doesn't dissipate at the same time.
I knew from other family and friends that having the virus was a bad feeling but I couldn't imagine how truly bad it felt. Then add pneumonia to that equation and...I feel a little better every day. I do as much as I can every day but I listen to my body. If it's telling me to rest I do. I never took good health for granted but now I take my vitamins and drink plenty of water and eat plenty of fruit and veggies. I am still struggling with my breathing and fatigue but I know it's better than it was a month ago.
Please be safe and be considerate of those recovering.
Comments
Post a Comment