–No Politics, just a detailed series of events
We had a great week at our annual MN Family camp hosted at Lake Geneva Christian Center in Alexandria, MN. If I had known however what was about to hit us I might have chosen to skip this particular camping trip. We had gone into this camping trip pretty exhausted emotionally and physically. We had a traumatic experience just a couple weeks prior that ended with the death of our beloved family dog Ida. David, Theo and I were all still feeling emotionally distraught. It was the perfect set up for a virus to take hold (likely our immune systems were not functioning at 100%).
We drove home from Alexandria on a Sunday. That Saturday evening I had a slight cough as I went to bed. The next day the cough became more pronounced and I was feeling a headache. I figured it was honestly just exhaustion from all of the camping we had just done but that evening (Sunday evening) I knew something was not right. Sunday and Monday I thought it was livable. Just a cold. Tuesday I had a fever, aches and my nostrils were on fire. I have to admit I still didn’t think this was COVID. Mostly because in the past year David and I had been in meetings, at church, and in car’s with people who later had tested positive for COVID. We had taken so many tests that came back negative. We started to believe we just had great immune systems. David had a guy who he took to the food bank. This guy waited in his car for 45 minutes before getting out and going into the food bank one morning. Later that day the guy called him and said that his COVID test was positive. We freaked out! Why would he not have disclosed the fact that he took a COVID test before getting in Davids car with him?! Still none of us got sick and Davids tests all came back negative. On another occasion I had been in a 3 hour meeting at work where the following day several people started having symptoms and ultimately tested positive for COVID just days later. My 3 tests all came back negative!
So I believed with all my heart that this was a cold or quite possibly the flu. I had had both A and B Flu simultaneously when I was pregnant with Lily. It was absolutely miserable. So I had myself convinced maybe this is what I had. Then Thursday David woke up with a fever. His fever broke in just a few hours and by the next day he was feeling pretty okay. I was feeling completely miserable for about 3 days with body aches, nostrils inflamed (the amount of snot being produced was insane- I went through 2 LARGE boxes of tissue in 3 days) and headaches. By day 4 I was feeling much better. I was completely better within 5 days and David was better within just 2. David also claims his symptoms were not that bad. He also felt it was just a cold or the flu. The following week Wednesday David was supposed to take Theo to Kids camp in Devils Lake. David was going to be a counselor there for the 3 night stay. I decided that David should “take one for the team” and go get a rapid COVID test done before he leaves- just to be safe. When we got the POSITIVE test we were both floored. Theo was sad to miss out on this camp experience but the fact that he had been around us- it just wasn’t going to happen this year.
Nearly a week after my symptoms passed a new one began. I couldn’t taste anything for 2 days. I also couldn’t smell. The smell lasted far longer then the taste. I couldn’t smell ANYTHING for like a month and I still can’t smell everything. I can’t smell certain things like the stinky bathroom (which I’m grateful for) but other things to like some of my oils are very subtle smells that used to be much stronger. I never realized how much as a mom I used my sense of smell. Laundry, dishes, kids hygiene, refrigerator spoils, cooking, etc. I feel lucky in that this is really the only remaining side effect that I have experienced. Some people complain of not ever receiving their full taste back. That would be awful because I love food.
Many people have asked if the kids got sick. The kids both got tested and those tests came back negative. Neither of them exhibited any symptoms of COVID either. Theo did get sick about 6 weeks later with a stomach bug but the doctor said this would not be considered a “close contact” since it was such a long time ago that COVID was in our house. We still had him tested (because school was going to start soon) and that test came back negative. I’d like to say that the kids will “never get COVID” because they haven’t thus far but I know better then to assume. Never say never. BE prepared. I honestly wish that I had taken a little better care of my physical, mental, and emotional self. I let everything go because of grief. The other thing I feel that could have helped me avoid this was if I had noticed my decline in self and how tired I was- and just decided to stay home for a while – not go on another trip surrounded by so many people. Sometimes these things are actually what we need to feel stronger- surround ourself with people. BUT I had this feeling of dread going into this trip. Mostly because I was so exhausted from the last camping trip we had been on (that trip actually did feel like a healing for my soul since the loss of our dog had JUST occurred). We had only a week off between the two camping trips. In that week I had to wash all the bedding in the camper, clean the camper, get groceries, plan meals, etc. all while I was under a cloud of exhaustion and grief. I wish I had payed more attention to what my body was saying. I also wish I had taken and been more consistent with vitamins – c, Zinc, elderberry. We started taking these vitamins when we got sick and now have just made it part of our daily routine. I knew that we were bound to get sick sooner or later and now my body has a layer of protection that I’ll enjoy for some time. I really can’t complain when others have it so much worse. I learned a valuable lesson in “listening to your body”. I also feel like it is SO SO important to eat right, get adequate sleep, exercise, take vitamins and be ready for when any virus attacks our home.
Have you had COVID? What tipped you off that it was COVID and not the Flu? Eager to hear about your experiences as well!