I had every intention of getting my COVID booster. Really, I did.
But I couldn't seem to find space in my schedule for a day-long recovery period - as I needed after my previous inoculations. Plus, COVID now is just a mild cold, right? And so I never scheduled the appointment.
Ahhh, hindsight.
I felt some very minor cold symptoms Jan. 15 and thought I should take a home test just to be on the safe side. Within three minutes, I could see a clearly defined positive line. An official PCR test confirmed the news.
How could this happen? My husband had a cold the week before and his COVID tests were negative. I had very similar symptoms. What was going on?
I soon found out. As the day progressed, my symptoms changed. My slight sore throat gave way to a fever, a throbbing headache and body aches.
We immediately implemented the COVID quarantine system when used in November 2020 when my husband contracted the virus. I locked myself in the bedroom, and we set up a TV tray table outside the door. My husband would drop off food and other items on the tray, to which I would return my dirty dishes.
I think my husband was a bit jealous that my COVID quarters were much nicer than his. In the summer of 2021, we built a new bedroom suite with a bathroom over our family room, so I didn't need to wear a mask and go out in the hall - spraying healthy doses of Lysol in my wake - every time I needed to go to the bathroom. I also was able to binge watch "Call the Midwife" (my current Netflix fave) on a 54-inch TV. I told my husband it was too big for a bedroom when he bought it, but have long since acknowledged the error of my ways. I love that TV.
I stayed in my room half of Sunday and all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, doing just enough work between naps (fortunately my desk is just feet from my bed) to make sure the paper came out last week.
I had seen several commercials in previous weeks encouraging you to call your doctor if you contract COVID and are over 50, so I did. Monday night I started taking Paxlovid and could feel the improvement after just a couple of doses.
My husband left for a work trip early Thursday morning and thus my quarantine ended (possibly early, possibly not, depending on when you mark the onset of symptoms).
I had no idea that, sprung from my quarantine prison, all I would want to do was return there so I could take off my "well fitting" KN95 mask, which made it nearly impossible to breathe.
Of course you can't eat wearing a mask, either, which cut down on any snacking I might have been tempted to do while passing through the kitchen. It also meant I ate every meal in my bedroom - and while Dan was gone, Ainsley ate every meal in the family room by herself. What a beautiful morning Wednesday when I could finally take it off.
What has this experience taught me? One, I'm really good at following rules - but I already knew that. Two, always let my husband decide how large of a TV to purchase. Three, get my booster. I think I see an opening Feb. 24 ...
- Pamela Lannom is editor of The Hinsdalean. Readers can email her at [email protected].
