4-24-2021 – As a Safety & Health/Environmental Professional, I took precautionary measures to ensure I was not exposed to the COVID Virus. In fact, after a year of providing advice regarding COVID I felt pretty confident and healthy that I would not get the COVID virus. Unfortunately, I let my guard down and COVID attacked me.
A family member introduced COVID to me, I never saw it coming. The day after our visit I began experiencing symptoms, a sore throat; however, I shook it off as something minor, a change in the weather. A couple days later the symptoms appeared again, then I received the daunting phone call that my family member tested positive for COVID. I instantly knew I had the COVID virus, so to verify I had a test and it came back positive. I went into isolation, within hours my body was on the downhill, sore throat, fever that varied between 101 to 104, severe headache, aching joints/muscles and extremely exhausted. Over the course of three-weeks, I had no appetite and had to force myself to drink chicken broth. Sleep was difficult to obtain, even though my body needed sleep it just wouldn’t shut down into a restful sleep. The most I received at any given time period was about 3 hours, then I just laid there thinking and waiting, but not for anything in particular.
To do a simple task was a major chore. For example, I had water bottles around me to remain hydrated; the challenge was I had to drink. But to reach over and pick up a bottle of water was a huge task, I was drained of energy and my body hurt every time I moved. So, before every physical action, I laid there thinking about it for several minutes, sometimes hours, to muster the energy to complete the task.
After a week the headache and sore throat went away; however, the fatigue and fever remained. I was constantly checking my temperature; I had a thermometer next to my pillow. It was the only device that seemed to give me an idea if I was getting better, it became a close friend. Over the next 5 days, the fever and fatigue continued, a total of 12 days. Then the fever began to drop below 100, I knew then that I was moving out of this horrific battle zone. Yes, it was a battle, between my white blood cells and the COVID that invaded my body.
Finally, after three-weeks I emerged from this ordeal, I developed an appetite, the fatigue was gone; however, now I was dealing with “brain-fog”. Brain-fog is a weird sensation, it’s hard to focus, and I felt I was impaired. I attempted to drive a vehicle but quickly learned that I was not functioning to my full ability; therefore, I refrained from driving. After another week the brain-fog began to dissipate, I could think clearer and I did not feel impaired. Essentially, it was a month-long ordeal with COVID. Yet, now COVID is on my mind more than ever. I have no desire to catch this virus again.
In review, I realized I had let my guard down. Just like a cold, the flu or other contagious diseases, it’s important to implement precautionary measures. One of the most important measures is to refrain from entering the contagious zone; however, that can be a challenge as you may not know another person is carrying a contagious disease or virus. A very important element is to ensure the area is well ventilated. This is often over-looked. Many viruses, particularly COVID, cannot sustain itself in an open fresh air environment. If you don’t have a hepa air filtration system in your home, you may want to consider having one. Click Here to review an option, this is one that we have and recommend. Additionally, wearing a mask can give you a sense of false security. A virus is extremely small and can easily pass through masks. If you want to wear a mask, your best option is to wear a half face respirator with a hepa cartridge. However, ensure to follow the manufacturer guidelines for fit testing.