Despite all precautions, my close friend Paul was recently hospitalized with COVID-19. He's now recovering & working from home, but the experience has left him with lingering symptoms for the time being. What follows is the first installment of an interview we conducted via email when he could find the time & energy to spare:
♦ intro:
Just had a check up with doc Thursday. Had a chest X-ray and confirmed upper right lobe still shows some pneumonia (and various spots around my lungs); so that is why I still feel not super great and have symptoms. Told me to keep O2 machine and use when needed.
Also will come back in a month for another check up and test blood to see if my elevated glucose was due to the meds and being sedentary or if Type 2 kicked in for real. I take Metformin twice a day for it.
♦ when were you vaccinated? what brand?
2nd Pfizer shot was April 30th
♦ what reactions, if any, did you have to the vaccine?
Sore arm for a day, that was it for both shots.
♦ what was the date roughly when you think you made contact with the virus?
Last week of August, I am assuming. I actually met friends for lunch (covid paranoids) on 8/28, sitting outdoors and having to show vax card and wear masks to table, etc.. After I tested positive on 9/1 I told them. They all got tested and all negative.
♦ ...and you feel contact was actually at a grocery store? what location?
Metropolitan Market, Queen Anne. It could have been my [office] building, although I stay in my private office as much as I can, and my staff are all vaxxed, and I would think most residents in the building are.
♦ do you think it was by touching an infected surface or just breathing the air?
Doubtful it was via touch, but who knows? Once mask mandate started again, I followed that. Maybe I scratched my eye, or whatever. I try to sanitize my hands as often as possible.
♦ you otherwise kept to yourself, so it's a safe bet that this was the contact point, yes?
Before that Saturday lunch, I came home after work each night and stayed home. The Sunday after lunch, I worked on chores at home with no interaction. I did not go anywhere else that week to interact with public. I felt fine this day.
♦ when did the very first symptoms appear afterward and what were they?
8/30 got home from work and felt more tired than normal. Had an "allergy tickle" in my throat which I get often.....but not this one...
8/31 woke up and my legs from the waist down were aching and painful which is odd. Took a couple Canadian 222s and went to work.
That afternoon, felt progressively worse: tight chest, fatigue and body aches. Left work around 2 and got tested on way home.
9/1 Woke up with fever and got progressively worse as each day passed. Bad cough set in, trouble breathing, pain everywhere. Lost sense of taste and smell 100%.
♦ when afterward did you realize that it had to be covid?
Called in sick on 9/1, but attended a morning Zoom meeting which was important. I was breaking out in sweats and felt like crap. Around 9pm that night I got an email saying I was positive. Kaiser called me the next day to get information, contact tracing, etc.
♦ what did you do / where did you go?
I stayed at home getting worse, hoping I would be better by the end of my 10 day quarantine period to return to work.
♦ when were you tested, if so; and how long did it take to get results?
Kaiser Permanente 8/31. I received email results 30 hours later on 9/1. I got a phone call from Covid counsellor there to check on me, offer free grocery delivery, contact tracing, and medical planning, etc.♦ what viral strain was it, there are so many...?
Delta, as it was a bad breakthrough.
♦ then at what date were you hospitalized?
Tuesday, 9/7.Please stay tuned for further installments of this interview in the days ahead.
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