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It's no joke.
4 years ago
General
So this past month, despite all my extremely careful and attentive actions to minimize me contact with people and to sanitize myself and my surroundings so I wouldn't catch Covid... I caught it.
I caught it at work. Presumably from someone who was asymptomatic, or who was sick but didn't KNOW they were sick. They probably touched something in my work area, and despite my attempts to keep sanitized, a place where contact was all but unavoidable. I only knew I was sick with something when my throat felt like I'd inhaled a bit of dust and my tonsils looked a little swollen. Company policy is immediate doctor visit, which in turn required a Covid Test, because anything regarding the respiratory system, they don't want doctors to get within pool cue distance of you lest they get sick. An entirely reasonable precaution, to me.
So I got the test. I expected negative. Told my family I'd taken the test, and to be wary just in case.
3:50 AM, I got a text from AHS. Positive for vanilla-strain Corona. Immediate isolation.
So I spent two weeks unable to leave my place. I couldn't even leave my front door because building isolation requirements were 'stay the hell in your place, and call us if you need garbage disposed of'. Again, entirely reasonable, and I'm so glad my building is helpful like that.
I never got very sick. I had a bit of an annoying cough that could get a bit violent. Had a bit of a stuffed head, and the dust-in-throat feeling. I got off very lucky.
My dad and my sister both caught the virus, no doubt from me, because before I went to get the tests, before I knew I was sick, I'd visited family. I'd kept myself separate from them, cuz...well that's who I am. I tend to sit alone, and sit at safe distances these days because you just NEVER know. Even if I hadn't been sick, I would have tried to keep my contact with them down so they wouldn't catch something if I WAS carrying. Which... I was.
Dad stayed in an isolation hotel to protect my mom, because her health hasn't been great since the car accident. Ironically, she's the one who did the best out of all of us; it never touched her.
Dad just had violent coughing and fever. I think they said he had a variant.
My sister got a variant as well, but it hit her like a freight train. She got ALL the symptoms you read about, short of a visit to the hospital. It kicked her ass up and down for 2 weeks. I think it still might be kicking her butt right now, but she's feeling mostly better.
Eventually I was 'safe' enough to come back to work, only to find that in my absence, and because of my infection, the majority of my crew was put on quarantine leave too, either to protect their health, or because they'd tested positive too. We're only now all getting back to work.
A few days after I got back to work, a friend in the Pharmacy tracked me down and had me sign up for the Excess Shots list. It's a list they have when they make appointments for people to get the vaccine; people make appointments and cancel all the time, and the pharmacy does NOT want any doses to be left over to go off. So if they can, they set up with employees who need shots, and get it to them. So, by the next day, three days after I got back from quarantine, I got my first Pfizer vaccine shot.
They warned me that because I'd already had the virus, that the shot might hit me more severely. I figured that because the virus's reaction in me had been so minor, it'd be okay.
OH WOW. Was I wrong. The next day, when I woke up, I had EVERY symptom of the virus. LOL. I actually lay there thinking "Oh, so THIS is what it's supposed to feel like..." and ended up laying there for 24 hours, taking painkillers and other stuff to dull everything. Walking was hard cuz my balance was so shot. But it passed by the next day.
So... Yeah. That's been life lately. 75% of my family got Covid, because some shithead or asymptote placed their unwashed hands somewhere in my workplace, and I accidentally touched there and didn't wash my hands in time. Or something.
It's no joke. I could have easily ended up on a ventilator within the first few days. I could have, at any time, had a 180 degree, full downward spiral that might have ended me. I got TREMENDOUSLY. LUCKY.
I swear to whatever deity or immortal listens... If I hear anyone Covid-denying, Anti-vaxxing, conspiracy-spreading anywhere near me, I will break every single one of their fingers, knuckle by knuckle. I will make their world hurt. I have cut FAMILY MEMBERS off my family tree for their belief in that crap.
It's no goddamned joke.
I caught it at work. Presumably from someone who was asymptomatic, or who was sick but didn't KNOW they were sick. They probably touched something in my work area, and despite my attempts to keep sanitized, a place where contact was all but unavoidable. I only knew I was sick with something when my throat felt like I'd inhaled a bit of dust and my tonsils looked a little swollen. Company policy is immediate doctor visit, which in turn required a Covid Test, because anything regarding the respiratory system, they don't want doctors to get within pool cue distance of you lest they get sick. An entirely reasonable precaution, to me.
So I got the test. I expected negative. Told my family I'd taken the test, and to be wary just in case.
3:50 AM, I got a text from AHS. Positive for vanilla-strain Corona. Immediate isolation.
So I spent two weeks unable to leave my place. I couldn't even leave my front door because building isolation requirements were 'stay the hell in your place, and call us if you need garbage disposed of'. Again, entirely reasonable, and I'm so glad my building is helpful like that.
I never got very sick. I had a bit of an annoying cough that could get a bit violent. Had a bit of a stuffed head, and the dust-in-throat feeling. I got off very lucky.
My dad and my sister both caught the virus, no doubt from me, because before I went to get the tests, before I knew I was sick, I'd visited family. I'd kept myself separate from them, cuz...well that's who I am. I tend to sit alone, and sit at safe distances these days because you just NEVER know. Even if I hadn't been sick, I would have tried to keep my contact with them down so they wouldn't catch something if I WAS carrying. Which... I was.
Dad stayed in an isolation hotel to protect my mom, because her health hasn't been great since the car accident. Ironically, she's the one who did the best out of all of us; it never touched her.
Dad just had violent coughing and fever. I think they said he had a variant.
My sister got a variant as well, but it hit her like a freight train. She got ALL the symptoms you read about, short of a visit to the hospital. It kicked her ass up and down for 2 weeks. I think it still might be kicking her butt right now, but she's feeling mostly better.
Eventually I was 'safe' enough to come back to work, only to find that in my absence, and because of my infection, the majority of my crew was put on quarantine leave too, either to protect their health, or because they'd tested positive too. We're only now all getting back to work.
A few days after I got back to work, a friend in the Pharmacy tracked me down and had me sign up for the Excess Shots list. It's a list they have when they make appointments for people to get the vaccine; people make appointments and cancel all the time, and the pharmacy does NOT want any doses to be left over to go off. So if they can, they set up with employees who need shots, and get it to them. So, by the next day, three days after I got back from quarantine, I got my first Pfizer vaccine shot.
They warned me that because I'd already had the virus, that the shot might hit me more severely. I figured that because the virus's reaction in me had been so minor, it'd be okay.
OH WOW. Was I wrong. The next day, when I woke up, I had EVERY symptom of the virus. LOL. I actually lay there thinking "Oh, so THIS is what it's supposed to feel like..." and ended up laying there for 24 hours, taking painkillers and other stuff to dull everything. Walking was hard cuz my balance was so shot. But it passed by the next day.
So... Yeah. That's been life lately. 75% of my family got Covid, because some shithead or asymptote placed their unwashed hands somewhere in my workplace, and I accidentally touched there and didn't wash my hands in time. Or something.
It's no joke. I could have easily ended up on a ventilator within the first few days. I could have, at any time, had a 180 degree, full downward spiral that might have ended me. I got TREMENDOUSLY. LUCKY.
I swear to whatever deity or immortal listens... If I hear anyone Covid-denying, Anti-vaxxing, conspiracy-spreading anywhere near me, I will break every single one of their fingers, knuckle by knuckle. I will make their world hurt. I have cut FAMILY MEMBERS off my family tree for their belief in that crap.
It's no goddamned joke.
I've been wearing masks when I go out for nearly a year now. They have filter pockets, so I keep PM2.5s in them, (since that's what I could find.) I try to stay home as much as I can. I got Pfizer mid-April. My second dose appointment isn't until August, but I might be able to get it earlier after 80 and 70 year olds get it. I still dread ever meeting a denier.
I wear a cloth mask with an inner lining of medical mask, with a kind of face-shield on the inner most layer just so I have a breathing space where filtered air can circulate a bit. It's worked well so far; I'm pretty sure my infection was a contact infection, and not an airborne.
I've taken deniers to task all year. Me and a few coworkers actually completely shut down one asshole at work when he called isolation hotels 'Concentration camps'. Instantly made our blood boil. We even took one of the managers to task when she agreed with the guy. And the number of times I've shut down two of my aunts who repeatedly post conspiracy/natural health garbage on Facebook.... It put a real strain on Easter, when I was tempted to skip because they were gonna be there and spreading their garbage.
There's no worse feeling than getting that text at 3:50 am, man. Your heart drops and you feel sick to your stomach with fear. Even though I didn't feel bad, I knew that at any point, it could suddenly intensify, and I was terrified I wouldn't be able to call for help.
Ya did good and heres to more luck coming your way and be sure to keep staying safe and being diligent like you are doing!
I would have left him be after he pulled the mask up. But instead, he wanted to escalate. So I put on my nicest tone of voice, and my biggest smile-under-mask, and asked if he wanted to talk to a manager. Being a douche, he was like "YEAH!" so I nodded, replied "Alright!" in my happiest tone (because I was VERY happy now, because he was going to get it), and walked about 15 feet behind him to where I KNEW a manager with a nasty attitude was hanging out. All I said to the manager was "Hey. Got a NON-COMPLIANT out there. Big bald guy, built like a bouncer."
Manager cracks his knuckles and smirks, and just says "Oh, a Non-Compliant, eh? Alright." and heads out to where the guy is. Pretty sure the dude left the store quickly after that, because that manager is not paid enough to be NICE. Wouldn't be the first time we've threatened, or had to, call the Peace Officers to remove someone for this shit.
And I see it every day.... It's depressing.
I don't have enough IRL friends who'd check in on me, honestly. Used to have some, but they're all gone these days.