Three weeks ago today, on Sunday 19 December, I got a notification that an event I was at the previous Tuesday had someone that tested positive. OK, such is life in these modern times. I was planning on taking it easy the next few days anyway, so I’ll make sure to test a few times and generally isolate. I got back to cleaning and figured I would walk over to one of the testing tents the next day.

A few hours later, I started to have some sniffles. I figured that I must have kicked up some dust from cleaning. Soon after, I got a notification that an event I was at the previous Thursday had someone test positive. That night as I lied in bed, I searched for testing sites and figured I would go first thing in the morning.

I woke up and was feeling off, but I let me coworkers know I was going to get a test and would be online a little late. I double masked and walked half a mile to the tent. The line wasn’t too bad, there were maybe 15 people in front of me. Based on what I had been seeing on social media, this definitely felt low. The sign said ”Results in 24 hours”.

By the time I got to the front, the sign had a piece of paper taped over it and it now said 48 hours. I wasn’t planning on seeing folks in that time frame, so I didn’t care too much. Upon arrving home, I mentioned to some friends online that the results would be a while and one offered to overnight a rapid test to me. I figured with my plan to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with friends, this would be a good thing to have (and they were impossible to find in the city), so I took him up on the offer.

By the middle of the afternoon, I was starting to really feel tired and sore. I put out a request for music on instagram and figured I would lie in bed. I laid down at around 2pm on 20 December and until the evening of 22 December, I don’t think I was out of bed for more than 10 minutes. Two additional exposure notifications came in during this time frame. After talking to friends, testing positive had quickly become the norm.

Over the next 48 hours, my fever hit a high of 102.5. I tried not to take stuff and let my fever work for me but if I saw it was over 102, I took Tylenol. It’s a hell of a drug and made me feel so much better for a few hours.

On the 22nd, I took a rapid test and tested positive. A negative test would have been a surprise. 48 hours had passed and I still didn’t have the results of the PCR test I took at around 10am on the 20th.

After my fever broke on the 22nd, I started to feel better, but that’s when I started to feel congested. I continued to feel tired and had a bit of cough. This has largely remained the same except starting around the 26th my ear started feeling clogged. It’s sort of like it needs to pop from a flight but won’t.

One ear with a clogg is an odd feeling. I talked with my doctor and they asked me to come in to get it checked out to ensure I hadn’t perforated my eardrum. Thankfully, it seems like it is just fluid in my middle ear which is apparently a “normal” thing to happen after an infection.

Three weeks later and I have yet to fully regain my strength. I need to lay down every few hours. My ear issues make me feel like I am yelling at people. I don’t yet have the energy to meet up with friends, but yesterday I was able to go out for a walk and hit 5k steps for the first time in 3 weeks.

I am fully vaccinated and have had a ”mild” case, but here I am. Now is a time for risk adverse behavior. Avoid large crowds. Wear your masks. Stay home if you can. Stay safe.