Maggie's Farm

Not too long ago, I shared my views on Covid-19 and the lockdown.  I still stand by my (often misunderstood) position and I feel that after this is over, I'll still stand as having a well-developed viewpoint.  Meanwhile, as we sit in the midst of all this, I am now officially 3 weeks working-from-home.  The Covid numbers have continued to rise, the deaths have risen as well, and the newsmedia has...ratcheted up the fear factor as high as possible.  Even my sister, down in Florida (where even she admits nothing is happening of any note) is freaking out and running scared.  

Well, today I chatted by phone with her and shared with her something I'll share with all of you.  I am Covid-19 positive.  I found out yesterday.

Let me share some of my own personal thoughts and some of my doctors' comments.

First, I was told "this is a high-powered flu".  By 3 different doctors who checked me or spoke with me.  Second, "No, there's nothing we can do unless you have respiratory distress, so please monitor yourself carefully."  Yup.  I do that anyway.   Third, there were no lines at the station where I got checked.  Called first, drove up, got out, they checked me in a field tent, sent me to another field tent, and did the swab (annoying, but not horrible...a Q-Tip WAY UP into your sinuses).  Doesn't hurt.  You do sneeze a little.

I am in good general health.  I work out regularly, good BP, good pulse rate, not an ox by any standard, but I'll keep up with most people my age, and probably surpass them (55+, in case you're wondering).

My first hints of the virus were on Tuesday 3/24.  A little coughing, lots of mucous, etc.  Not a dry cough.  By Thursday, Mrs. Bulldog was saying "You're coughing too much, I don't want people on our walks to think you have it, so stay home."  Fine...I stopped taking walks.  I had started having headaches (sinus) anyway.  The headaches got worse.  By Friday, my head was pounding, the cough was persistent, and it was dry.  No fever.  No rash.  3 days of (sorry) diarrhea began.

Over the weekend, the headaches intensified, the coughing got worse.  I was more or less stuck on the couch watching movies, in a very annoyed frame of mind.  By Sunday, it was suggested I get tested.

So we arranged it, and yesterday at 3pm the results were back.  Positive. 

Of course, by now the headache is starting to fade.  It's still there, but Tylenol keeps it reduced.  The coughing is still there, but laying down helps it stop (don't lay down too much...no need to promote pneumonia).  I've been sleeping 10 hours a night.  The really weird things, and there are 2 of them, are the general haziness of frame of mind - I can't concentrate very long - and what I'd call "fever dreams without the fever."  I don't know how to describe these, but I have the strangest dreams all night.  Then I wake up in the morning very dehydrated and have to drink a pint or two of water.

My doctor voiced concern over the number of cases, but also pointed out that "it's just a flu that is worse for at-risk people, you're not at risk.  Just stay vigilant, take care of yourself and you should be fine." 

So if this were the normal world - I'd take 2-3 weeks off from work, and get better.  Instead, I've had 3 weeks off, and based on current protocol I will have AT LEAST (if my symptoms play out normally) 3 more weeks off (because my office says 2 weeks after cessation). 

For what it's worth - most people in the US, after 6 weeks off from work, will be broke.  If it goes longer, who knows.  At this point, the "cure" is worse than the disease.  Trump is right to consider opening some counties as soon as possible - like any other pandemic, this has areas of concentration.  We can limit exposure to those regions, and keep the rest of the nation working well.

 Stay healthy.  Stay vigilant.  I do believe there is much more, politically, to play out.  At this point I no longer believe it's mainly a health crisis (if it ever was).  It's a political one.

ps - I had to inform my HR Department - just a public safety thing.  Naturally, I got a call back today...all pre-arranged, and about exactly what I supposed.  They were trying to determine if I could have caught it anywhere else but at the office.  "AVOID LAWSUITS AT ANY COST" must be their view.  Can't blame them, I suppose.  Not that it would stop me if I was litigious.  Thing is, nobody can EVER prove where they got it from.  I commute, via train, every day.  I went to the bank.  I was playing poker one night with 50 people at a bar the week before being sent home (won $650 and the tournament WITH A ROYAL FLUSH - not a joke, totally telling the truth, I have pictures...it's the poker players' Hole-in-One).  So I could have gotten it anywhere...and I admitted that.  Because it doesn't matter where I got it from.  I KNEW I was going to get it.  That was the point of my original article.  If you believe you can avoid it, you're fooling yourself.  I DO NOT believe social distancing works.  But don't worry - they politicians and other liars will convince you it's working.