What It’s Like Having COVID: As of today, September 16, I am recovering from a bout of COVID over the last week. I am posting this summary as the newsletter for September 10-12, the days which illness prevented me from corresponding. Today’s newsletter follows.
My Vaccination Status: I received a two-dose Moderna vaccine when it was first available, and have since received three boosters, the last in May, 2023.
How I contracted COVID: Sigh. I babysit my 6-month-old grandson every other Thursday. He caught COVID at daycare about a month ago, and I stayed away from my sitting duties during that time. After he recovered and was cleared by doctors to attend daycare Monday through Wednesday after Labor Day, I sat him the following Thursday, September 7. He likes to be held and is very active with me, so he’s basically nose-to-nose with me for most of the day. After a few hours, he coughed a couple of times, the sound indicating some chest congestion. So he may have been non-contagious for daycare, but had enough remaining virus to infect me.
We all know infants have less ability to clear COVID from their systems than adults. Please take my experience as something that merits additional caution around recovering infants.
The Symptoms and Treatment: I was fine the Friday after sitting, but awoke ill and tired Saturday morning. My key initial symptoms were chest congestion, sore throat, runny nose and significant body aches in my lower back and hips. I spent Saturday lying on the couch, partly watching college football but frequently asleep. I did draft a newsletter which then could not post due to a “planned outage” at the host (which they did not communicate to customers).
On Saturday, I periodically coughed up infected phlegm. I went to bed around 10 pm, arising at 11 am Sunday. I had absolutely no energy. The chest congestion and sore throat had disappeared, replaced by nasal congestion. Body aches continued, but somewhat less pronounced. I lay on the couch watching morning talk and then professional football, but mostly asleep for the entire day. As I am familiar with sinus rinses for allergy issues, I kept up regular rinses, dislodging significant infected mucus. I again went to bed around 10 pm.
On Monday, I again awoke at 11 am. Body aches had significantly decreased, but nasal congestion remained. Despite feeling terrible, I called around for a virtual visit (in search of Paxlovid), and was able to secure an appointment for 12:40 pm. I had tried using one of two COVID at-home tests I had (both expired), but it did not give a result. The physician’s assistant I spoke with required a positive test to prescribe Paxlovid, so I called around and found a pharmacy with tests and was able to confirm the diagnosis.
However, I could not locate a pharmacy in my area of town with Paxlovid, so located some on the west side and had the PA send the prescription to that pharmacy. Interestingly, the pharmacy called me to instruct me to call when I was at the curb and they would bring it out. At my own initiative, I had worn an N95 mask, but followed their instructions.
Paxlovid is a 5 day course of twice-daily oral ingestion, so I took the first pill Monday evening. In addition, I continued the sinus rinses as there was still significant nasal congestion. The body aches essentially disappeared Tuesday, and the nasal congestion and infected mucus resolved Wednesday afternoon. I was told that after two days of no symptoms I would no longer be contagious. However, as of this morning (Saturday) I still tested positive for COVID. I skipped an event this evening and will stay in tomorrow as well, and then resume normal activities Monday assuming there is no “Paxlovid COVID relapse”. The relapse potential was another reason I continued the sinus rinse.
My illness was surprisingly severe even though I was fully vaccinated and boosted. I hope these experiences will be helpful to you should you contract COVID. Also, you may wish to replace your expired at-home test kits.
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COVID now sore throat, congestion: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/covid-symptoms-mild-follow-pattern-doctors-say-rcna105090 . The article describes this symptom pattern as the most common currently, making COVID more difficult to distinguish from the common cold. However, this doctor believes the distinguishing current symptoms are body aches and fever: https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2023/09/16/false-positive-test-covid-19-flu-rsv-difference-vaccine-saju-matthew-nc-vpx.cnn .
EG.5 25% of COVID infections: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2023-09-15/cdc-data-eg-5-or-eris-responsible-for-1-in-4-new-covid-19-infections . This subvariant, nicknamed “eris”, is the predominant US subvariant among many circulating. Almost everything circulating right now is an Omicron subvariant.
WSJ: Neanderthal genes increase risk of severe COVID: https://www.wsj.com/health/wellness/neanderthal-genes-are-linked-to-severe-covid-risk-d992ccad . Europeans “won the war” with Native Americans more through the spread of disease than through fighting. Is that how homo sapiens overcame Neanderthals?
Weight loss drugs supply problems: https://apnews.com/article/wegovy-ozempic-mounjaro-shortage-insurance-64014bc2887a518b33c597b2bf936e37 .
WSJ: Tesla benefits from the UAW strike: https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/uaw-strike-tesla-labor-costs-baf8b897 . While that’s probably true, the bigger problem for the auto industry is that it’s failed to convert to EV’s quickly enough.
US lost 4.1 million work days to strikes last month: WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/business/the-u-s-lost-4-1-million-days-of-work-last-month-to-strikes-92c6a9f7 . Unionization is making a significant comeback. But to sustain that comeback, it must produce results for members. The UAW strike is a significant and very visible test in that regard.
WSJ: The undiplomatic behavior of Rahm Emanuel: https://www.wsj.com/world/china/americas-warrior-diplomat-rahm-emanuel-takes-on-chinas-xi-personally-19edc16e . Emanuel’s behavior is certainly surprising, coming from our ambassador to Japan. As Emanuel was a key figure in the Obama administration, Biden surely knows him well. So one wonders to what extent the Administration encourages the behavior.
WSJ: Ukrainians seek a breakthrough in advance of winter weather: https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/ukraines-next-battlefield-foe-bad-weather-212a5f94 . It seems likely that drones will be a significant part of the winter warfare, and that supply line attacks will continue to grow in importance for both sides.
Lauren Boebert admits public nuisance: https://www.aol.com/colorado-rep-lauren-boebert-apologizes-123451753.html . The video had to be out a few days for Boebert to own up. Presumably enough of the voters of western Colorado will walk away from this embarrassing white trash to hand the seat to Adam Frisch. He lost to her by only 546 votes last time with no outside funding. The downside is, Coloradans will have Boebert back in their community. Ugh.
Meanwhile, a neuroscientist explains the dangers of stupidity: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/a-neuroscientist-explains-why-stupidity-is-an-existential-threat-to-america/ar-AA1gOkF9?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=f178ed3361424f47ac6b82a87fce47c4&ei=23 . The scientist argues that there are a large number of stupid people, and they are attracted to vote for confident, stupid people like Lauren Boebert and Orange Julius. As disgusting as these ideas are, there is a lot of evidence supporting them.
I prefer Socrates’ formulation of this issue. “True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.” Almost everyone can work to understand their own limitations. This understanding is knowledge in itself. We cannot be certain what Socrates would think of Lauren Boebert, but we are certain what she would think of him – “Huh?”.
Orange Julius confused about who’s cognitively impaired: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12525957/Trump-cognitively-impaired-Biden-WORLD-WAR-TWO-gaffe.html . So OJ has forgotten World War II has already occurred, and thinks he’s running against Obama. More: https://www.meidastouch.com/news/trump-were-leading-obama-in-the-polls-by-a-lot .
Texas crooks unify behind a lead crook as Ken Paxton acquitted by Texas Senate: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/16/politics/ken-paxton-impeachment-trial/index.html . The talk that this somehow bolsters Paxton’s political future is pathetic. He still faces federal charges. However, the weird goings-on during the trial suggest there have been back-room deals to get to this result. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-avoids-conviction-in-impeachment-trial-e1c74355 .
World’s largest bee, presumed extinct, found after 38 years: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47311186 .
LATE UPDATE: Colorado beats Colorado State 43-35 in 2 overtimes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt5xDOQ0Y10 . Both teams fought like crazy in this intrastate rivalry. Many commentators think this is the best college game of the year so far. You can judge – the You Tube clip shows you all the major plays.