Monday, October 26, 2020

Cold, Or Something Else?

On Saturday I woke up an hour later than my usual time and felt 'off'. I had a drippy nose, a slight cough, a tinge of a headache, not much energy, and a mildly scratchy throat. After breakfast I took allergy medicine and waited for it to take my symptoms away.  That didn't work.

If it had been October of 2019 I would have figured I had a cold, been annoyed, and shouldered on. However, what if this was more than a cold? I knew that 80% of people with COVID-19 have mild symptoms. Could I be one of them? Later in the day Hubby Tony and I were going to get together with some friends for a socially-distanced Halloween event. I would feel awful if someone got really sick because of me. After talking it over with Tony, we decided we would both go to the urgent care and get tested. Not the most exciting date we've ever had, but at least I wasn't in it alone.

At the urgent care we got signed in and escorted to a room. It took less than five minutes for a tech to come to take our vitals, ask about our symptoms, and administer the COVID test. Following her directions, I removed my mask and blew my nose to clear out my nasal passages, then tilted my head back while she stuck a long Q-Tip looking swab up my nose until it wouldn't go anymore, rotated it around, then removed it and placed the swab into a container. She performed the same procedure on Tony. When she was done she told us to hang tight until the doctor came in.

We had to wait another ten minutes for the doctor to show up. He looked down my throat and in my ears and listened to my lungs, then gave Tony his turn.  Based on my mild symptoms he stated that he was pretty sure I didn't have the virus, but just to be safe both Tony and I needed to quarantine ourselves until we received the results of the test on Monday.

I laid around the house for the rest of the day. My symptoms never got worse, but they also didn't improve. After dinner we watched TV until it was time to go to bed. Sunday I felt better (and would have gone out if there was anywhere I could have gone), but other than watching a video Mass and piddling around on the internet did little of substance. 

This morning when I came into the living room Tony greeted me with a big smile. He said he had already received his test result, which was negative. I quickly logged into the laboratory portal and found out I was also COVID free. That was the best news I've heard in a long time!

We needed both fruit and vegetable produce, so after breakfast I was thrilled that I could run to the grocery store to stock the refrigerator. It felt great to know that I could mask up and not worry about giving anyone germs.

Five years ago today: Nooch Me

16 comments:

  1. Glad you are feeling better. That must have been a somewhat scary experience for you. Wishing you healing mercies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was pretty scary, especially the not knowing part.

      Delete
  2. Well, thank goodness things turned out okay but I gotta tell you. The description of the test had me cringing. I don't think I can handle it. They'd have to put me to sleep first.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Remember those Lamaze breathing techniques they taught you when you were pregnant? What they don't tell you is that they work in all kinds of medical situations :-)

      Delete
  3. With all of your travels, I can understand you thinking you might have picked up the virus along the way, plus I have read the midwest is a hotbed of COVID right now. Glad you just had a cold. I have heard that you know it's a cold when it lasts only three days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Missouri is setting records for COVID, and not in a good way. On the way home from Dallas we stopped for dinner in outstate Missouri, and were one of the few people who DID have a mask on.

      Delete
  4. So happy for you both and so responsible you both are! The test sounds awful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The best thing I can say about the test is that it didn't take very long.

      Delete
  5. If that happened to me, I would be just as worried. Glad everything resolved for the best.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm so glad that you are both OK. Although I have a friend who ended up in ICU on a ventilator who when she first started feeling symptoms, originally tested negative. Hope you continue to feel well but if not, be sure to get tested again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yikes! Fortunately my symptoms were gone yesterday, but you can bet I’ll be monitoring things closely.

      Delete
  7. I bet you were happy about that!

    ReplyDelete