serinde

Gee, I should get back to posting stuff that isn't my experience with viruses.

Anyways, for comparative data purposes and great justice:

Day 0: Thursday, 6/27
Felt very sinusy when I woke up, but that's a not infrequent occurrence. I went into campus and was working, but feeling increasingly bleh throughout the morning - when you can literally feel the post-nasal drip a-drippin', that is a bad thing -; took a rapid test at 11:30 and was negative. Assumed I was coming down with a sinus infection and came home at midday, thankfully (I was setting a good example for my staff!). Felt increasingly head-crushy throughout the afternoon and evening, just watched movies, couldn't even sew. But, again, this is how sinus infections exhibit for me... At bedtime, temperature was 98.7.

Day 1: Friday, 6/28
Woke up at 3am feeing terrible; oh, it's because I have a temperature of 100.3. Sinuses were a complete solid block. Immediately decamped to the spare room, taking a smorgasbord of meds. Upon actual waking up time, I tested and it was extremely positive, to no one's surprise (well, I guess it could have been flu or RSV or something). Spent most of the day bingeing Bridgerton Season 3 and drinking herbal tea; went out to the garden and lounged in my egg chair for a few hours in the late afternoon - the weather was perfect, but it was tiring to read for more than a bit of a time. After dinner, went back to the isolation chamber and kept on with my rewatch of The Last Avatar before retiring.

General Symptom Notes
So far, I don't have the lassitude of my first experience; I am not full of energy because I am sick, but no terrible negative levels. Otherwise the symptoms in full swing are pretty much the same as last time, though it's interesting that this time it started with sinus foo instead of cough/sore throat.

I went to Pennsic for ten days, and had a good if subdued time (in spite of my tent flooding the first afternoon). As anticipated, I didn't do a fraction of what I normally would have, a thing that was encouraged by extreme humidity for the first five days. (At least it wasn't also extremely hot, being chiefly in the mid-80s or so; we've seen far worse. But it encouraged sluggishness.) It was hard to identify the exact reasons, and more relevantly the proportions of each, for why my ass was dragging: weather? lack of sleep? being out of shape? COVID residual? general confusion and forgetting How To Pennsic? but I tried not to frell about it too much, and just meet myself where I was. One effect of the general situation was that I couldn't help with camp breakdown as much as I usually would have, and I felt bad about this, but it is inspiring me to do what I can to be in a better physical place for next year.

Today I am on my way into campus, and this has provided me with a much clearer A/B comparison: it may have been three years since I was at Pennsic, but it's only been, what, four weeks since I last commuted. And the conclusion is that I am definitely still dragging some COVID-induced negative levels. My walk to the train station is a little under a mile, and even with a loaded backpack avec laptop this is ordinarily just a pleasant ramble for me; but this morning it was actual work. So, yeah. I'm not going to be an idiot (for once) and try and push myself unduly; but I will try and make walking part of my day whether I'm going in or not, and see if I can start building this back up.

Today is the day I'm theoretically clear to interact with others? or maybe it's really tomorrow? On day 10 or after 10 days? Anyways.

Still sinusy - I only have just realized that I hadn't taken sudafed yet today, and only now am I feeling like I really need to - and still a bit of coughing and still a bit dumb and spacey. Actual physical energy levels are a bit improved. I pothered around yesterday evening doing pre-packing, at a slow pace, and this seemed fine; even managed to sew a little in the evening. I will not have a new dress, but I am on track to have a new under-tunic.

Next test of capacity: taking sweh grocery shopping tonight.

I am reasonably confident in my current plan, which is: work tomorrow morning[1], then load the car, roll out, and get 1/3 to 1/2 of the way to Pennsic. The choice there is between:
A) Go 1/3 of the way, stay at a very comfortable inn that I like with a brewpub on site, but have a longer drive in the morning
B) Go 1/2 of the way and stay at a chain motel with indifferent (at best) dinner & breakfast options, but have a shorter drive in the morning

I'm inclined towards A) at the moment, because I am spoiled and want my comforts, and also maybe it's prudent to have the first leg be a bit shorter & easier. Though it means getting up shittily early on Thursday.

[1] there are two morning meetings I really need to be at, especially if I'm fucking off for another ten days

Yesterday my headache slowly receded, but the lassitude was strong all day; there were points where I was just laying and staring off into space. A little improved after dinner, possibly helped by the joy of my first handful of cherry tomatoes being ripe (and they are delicious) (I have eaten them all), enough that I did a bit of hand sewing while watching TV. Went to bed around 10, I think; thank goodness for another cool night that allowed windows to be open. Still woke up about 4 or 5 times coughing.

This morning is much the same: lassitude, sinus pressure, occasional coughing. I feel like I'm dragging about four negative levels: I'm largely not uncomfortable (at least, not with sudafed), but everything up to and including thinking just seems so laborious, and my brain is in a fluffy cloud of cotton. I can think, but there's a barrier between it and any action.

I did go out before the sun was high and, moving very slowly, watered the garden patch; which needed doing and also made me feel fulfilled.

Pennsic is still an open question. I'm not as concerned about "while I'm there", because you can be as chill as you like; you don't have to do the Bataan Death March of Fun that has been my standard of living - there are those who basically read and nap all day with occasional brief forays out into the larger world for shopping or amusement. And indeed, by and large I tend to be in better health when I'm there[1]; it is often a cure for whatever ails me, much like going to the shore. But, setup and takedown and, oh, the six hour drive are very real and very large spoon consumers. Some of these can be ameliorated; I can break the drive into two parts, and Beth has kindly offered to let me shack up with her until Josh arrives, and so on; but a) is that enough, and b) will it retard my further recovery.

My current thinking is to see how I weather tomorrow, when I am Back On The Job, and possibly do some packing tomorrow evening. If I can't cope with a day of sitting on the computer dealing out judgments, and I can't cope with aimlessly wandering around the house putting things in piles, then I need to either bag Pennsic entirely or at the very least push back my departure further.

[1] yes, aside from serial foot injuries and sunburn, shut up

Last Paxlovid dose this morning; now is waiting 2-4 days to see if there is a rebound. I'm expecting not? but who knows?

Also took a LFT (negative), and figure I should test at least daily for the next five days. S remains negative as well. This is going to wipe out our strategic reserve of rapid tests.

Physically about the same: sinus of doom, fatigue, occasional coughing bouts. Happily(?) the headache is only sinus headache, lacking the additional skull cap of woe I had yesterday. Since I seem to be expressing the disease in the same way I do colds nowadays, I'm adding neti pot into the morning rituals; can't hurt, might help.

I felt very whiny and sorry for myself last night; today, I seem to be more resigned. I wish the weather wasn't so heavy; I think I'd do better if I could sit out in the garden, but it's just not very pleasant. (At least it's not quite as hot at the moment, so I'm airing out my isolation chamber again - it was starting to get that funk.)

ETA: Actually I think my bronchial tubes are a bit improved. Although as noted above I am still having some coughing fits, that lurking feeling of You Might Be Horking Your Lungs Out At Any Moment has faded.

I realized I'd mis-labeled the days at some point so had to go back and change the title on most of these entries. Bah. Today is, in fact, Thursday. I am on day 5 of my infection (as day 0 is Saturday, when I first had a symptom), and tomorrow morning will be my last dose of Paxlovid.

I slept til nearly 8am and it was glorious.

In the words of the philosophers Harvey Danger, "I'm not sick, but I'm not well". No sore throat this morning; cough isn't that severe, and is mostly triggered by extended speaking (I can feel it lurking in my bronchial tubes though); still painful sinus pressure, but is manageable with OTC meds. ...Okay yes that does qualify as being sick, I need to recalibrate, but you know what I mean: it doesn't seem like [spooky voice] COOOOVIIIIIID sick.

The one thing I can't sensibly measure is fatigue, without doing something that triggers fatigue and then probably sets you back. I was twitchy from inactivity yesterday, so walked slowly around the yard pulling up a few lightly rooted weeds, and that was tiring. So I expect that hasn't markedly changed overnight.

Interestingly, being on my laptop doesn't seem to be as tiring in the way it is when I'm classically sick, so I might be able to salve my conscience and do some "work" tomorrow. Possibly that is dumb. But if I do go to Pennsic, I want to make sure that all of my people have what they need to carry on. Unlike some parts of this college, I have a sense of responsibility.

I judge the sore throat to indeed have been from post-nasal drip, as it pretty much dissipated after hot beverages and being upright for awhile. Cough also seems to be in abeyance for the moment. On the other hand, my lower guts have been extremely unhappy today, to a "ope better bleach the toilet"[1] extent. I suspect this might be more the Paxlovid than the disease itself - possibly triggered by my one (1) morning coffee -, but whatever the cause I'm feeling rather more debilitated again. Currently sipping ginger beer and trying to keep out of work email/Slack. If only I could nap.


[1] I was disconcerted to find that using the Clorox cleaning spray on the toilet seat seems to be removing its paint or finish or something.

Not much to report. Still no fever, hurray, but still best described as Really Bad Cold With Extra Fatigue. (And my ears are blocked up, too.) I perceive I am moving into the "restless, irritable, and frustrated with pace of recovery / incapacity to do anything" phase.

That's the real question, isn't it - does Paxlovid also shorten your recuperation time? I may be "over Covid" by the time this weekend is out, but will I be up to ten days of medieval camping yet?

- Fever's down a bit but still much lassitude; mending a sheet was like a 90 minute procedure with lots of stops and starts
- Was on a social zoom call and learned that if I try to talk much the coughing starts
- Metallic taste seems to be increasing a bit after the evening dose
- There's now a 27" monitor and an old Apple TV in here, hooray
- I, uh, may have broken a toe on the spare bed. At least it's one I've broken before?

- Metallic taste present occasionally, but faint. (Coffee tasted mostly OK, yay.)
- Acetaminophen reduced my fever to 99.x so I have been feeling a bit better, though as the day gets more oppressive my head is getting less functional.
- Just had an Everything Out toilet moment, which I'm not sure whether to blame the Paxlovid or the virus itself for. Isn't this fun?
- S remains negative so far, yay.

I wish I'd picked up peanut butter when I went shopping this weekend.