So I've been a bit sick of late. It started on the 27th October, the first symptoms being a constant nagging backache on the
kidney area and a weird reaction where my eyes puffed out and became super bloodshot. These were accompanied by an
absolutely non stop headache. I tried to go to work on the 27th but that was the day my eyes were really bad and my boss sent
me home immediately upon arrival at work. I'm still not sure how I drove there and back as I could barely see, I was particularly
sensitive to light then and for the next few days. I got home from work (4pm) and crashed onto the sofa where I slept like a log
until about 1.30am. When I awoke I was hugely dehydrated, mouth like an arabs sandal with dry cracked lips so I went into my kitchen to
make up a big glass of squash. I put some squash syrup into a pint glass, put the lid back on the bottle and placed it on the counter
then turned towards the tap to fill the glass up. I awoke about 20 minutes later on my kitchen floor surrounded by broken glass where I
lay for another 15 minutes or so. I was burning up and the cold tiles felt nice. I was laying on my back, had a small cut to the hand and
another to the elbow. It took me a while to get up as I was physically exhausted and I wasn't sure how I was going to turn over onto all
fours without putting my hands or knees down onto broken glass, I hooked the oven glove with my foot and used that as a pad so I
could get to my feet. I cleared up the glass and made another drink, took off my sweat and squash syrup soaked clothes and went up
to bed.
For the next four days I pretty much slept non stop, maybe 20 hours a day, zero appetite. Boiling hot one minute and freezing cold
the next, sense of smell had gone, couldn't even taste coffee. The following day I passed out again without warning, this time falling off of
one of my kitchen chairs while I was using my laptop. All I was doing was consuming liquids, I had a hell of a thirst. The aching had spread
to my whole body except my arms and legs, especially my ribs, armpits, kidney area and groin. I was drinking loads but hardly peeing, and
when I did it was literally orange in colour and with not nearly as much coming out as was going in, as a result of this I begun to bloat, my
torso and butt morphed into a single rectangular blob and I felt like I had been kicked all over (I have had that dubious pleasure in my past
so know exactly how that feels....) so reluctantly I went to a NHS walk in centre nearby and took a Covid test. 20 hours later they confirmed
that I did indeed have CV19, I wasn't that surprised but wanted to rule it out in any case. At about day 5 the runny nose, sneezing and coughing
begun but most disconcerting was the shortness of breath, I just couldn't breathe in fully at all. All of the time I felt absolutely exhausted, I
only managed to eat for the first time on day 5, even then I threw half of it away. Over the next few days the aching started to disappear leaving
my groin and ribs until last, the shortness of breath only lasted a couple of days. Fast forward to now, each day the symptoms have lessened and
I was able to eat a little more each day. My boss has been great, calling me regularly and even offering to bring me shopping, but I always keep
a good months worth of food in and for the bulk of the time when I was debilitatingly ill I was hardly eating anyway.
The company I work for have paid me in full and I return to work on Friday for 1 day then I have the weekend off anyway so a nice phased return to work. The NHS have phoned me most days during my self isolation (which to me is a pretty normal state of affairs anyway since I have no social circle as such and live a work/home/sleep cycle) to check on my symptoms and to offer assistance with finances and day to day chores. Neither of which I needed to take them up on but it was nice to have the offer. I have facetimed my mother every day I have been ill as she has been very worried and unable to help me in any way, not least because she lives on the other side of the country. It was nice having someone to talk to. I have felt very lonely during this illness. I remain unvaccinated, but honestly feel having a good dose of the Covid and beating it back using nothing more than paracetamol, bed rest and the good old immune system I've relied on for my 48 years has been good for me and I've emerged from this feeling stronger, even if I have lost about a stone during my sickness. I just felt like writing down my experience. I am back to about 85% efficiency and my self isolation ban is now officially lifted so I'm off outside to give the car a wash today and get some fresh air.
