On the monday of Memorial day (May 25), my family and I decided to have an impromptu memorial day bbq. My family included my mom, 3 brothers, their wives and children and my sister and her family as well. My husband had a project in San Francisco so he wasn't around during the bbq. We haven't seen each other since the shelter in place took place in California and we as a family have been very cautious about our interactions with the outside world. I personally made it a point not to touch or hug anyone I came in contact with during our get together especially my mom who is in her late 60's. Nobody was ill or had any symptoms during this time and it was just us without any other people that we weren't familiar with.On May 26, my brothers wife and kids all came down with fevers. The next day (May 27)my mom who is in the high risk group for covid-19 had begun coughing but no fever. She has pretty severe seasonal allergies so she wasn't worried too much about it. At this point my stress level was at 100. On Thursday (May 28) my other brothers daughter came down with a fever as well. At this point alarm bells were going off in my head that this is potentially covid-19. Since I work from home, Ive decided to quarantine myself right away in case this was Covid-19. My brother, whose daughter came down with a fever was taken to see the doctors cause they were thinking she had an ear infection from our swim party on Friday (May 29). As a precaution the doctors office tested her for Covid-19 but the results weren't available until Jun 3rd. During this time my other sister in law had started to feel a sore throat coming. This sore throat later on progressed into a full blown fever with chills and dry cough that same weekend.
On June 3rd my nieces test result came back positive. My moms cough at this point had been pretty severe to the point that it kept her up overnight. She had already scheduled an appointment to see her doctor on Thursday (June 4). She was advised to wait for her appointment earlier in the week and my siblings and I had been in communication to keep track of her symptoms. At this point my 2 brothers had started to become ill and everyone had gone to get tested on Monday June 1st but their results weren't due for the next 3 days. That same day we got my nieces positive covid test, my brother picked up my mom from her house and had taken her to the hospital. She was hospitalized for 3 days to monitor her oxygen levels and has been released and is on her way to recovery.
So in keeping track with covid-19 incubation period (2-14 days), it was an average of 4-5 days until everyone started to become symptomatic. During the time the rest of my family had been sick, my sister and I had been feeling fine and were keeping track of how we were feeling. On Day 9 (June 3) from exposure (May 25) my sister lost her sense of smell with no other symptoms other than mild sniffles and a headache. She had gotten herself tested earlier in the week as well and got her positive result the friday of the same week. This is where my story comes in.
Since everyone else had gotten tested, I was required to get tested as well on Jun 4th. During this time I had been feeling completely fine but was feeling quite ill emotionally from all the stress about worrying about everyones fate in handling this disease. My stress level probably was at 100000 lol. I was feeling pretty hopeful that I escaped everyones fate since I was approaching the tail end of the incubation period with no known covid symptoms. On Day 12 from exposure, I started getting the sniffles. I normally don't get allergies sniffles so I knew I was beginning to get sick.
For about 3 days before I got respiratory symptoms, I had severe pains in my right ovary area that resembled ovulation pain. I am pretty sensitive to my cycle and I knew it wasn't ovulation pain since I just ended my cycle 4 days before. I started researching appendicitis symptoms because the constant throb by my right ovaries was not letting up. This symptom is significant because it'll affect me later on as my body battled the virus.
On Monday June 8th I got my test result and tada! its positive :( . The same weekend my sniffles progressed to really deep headaches. I can understand how this virus spreads so fast. If I didn't know covid existed, I would've gone to work or did normal things out and about since I felt physically fine. I was bracing myself for the chills, fever and cough and I'm a bit of a hypochondriac so I was just imagining the worst. During this time I never had a fever but my body just felt a few degrees warm. I also lost my sense of smell the same day (June 8th). I kept checking my temperature but everything was still normal even though I had begun to start feeling "sick sick".
On Day 4 of becoming symptomatic I started feeling shortness of breath without cough. I would cough maybe once or twice but no phlegm and I just felt out of breath. I have a pulse oximeter I purchased before the lockdown to keep track of my oxygen and everything was fine.
On Day 5 I started to get severe involuntary leg muscle contraction on my left leg that was causing painful cramps. I had read about blood clots in younger covid patients that I started to panic so I wore my compression knee support to help keep my blood moving. Also did yoga to stretch out my muscles and help alleviate the cramp. My right leg followed the next and the shortness of breath lasted for about 3 days.
On Day 6&7 I started having dry cough but nothing severe. I just felt like my lungs felt itchy and I need to clear it by coughing it out. Whats interesting is that it started with my left lung and then my right lung followed after my left lung felt fine. The severity of the progression of this disease wouldn't come until much later.As far as what I've read the coronavirus attaches to ACE2 receptors in organs within the body and not just the lungs. Remember about my ovary pain? I read an article that talked about complications covid could pose to potential fertility patients who are using hormones to deal with fertility. I am not trying to get pregnant but I am very sensitive to hormonal fluctuations within the month, sensitive to the point where it triggers my autoimmune psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. I have pretty much gotten a routine down that has been very effective in managing hormonal fluctuations. You're probably wondering why I'm talking about my ovaries and my cycle lol. Call me crazy but here is my theory.
The week of my ovulation period, I started getting severe panic attacks. Again this isn't new to me since it happens once in a while, this time around though the panic attacks lasted for about 4 days to the point where I felt faint and severe short of breath. During this time my resting heart rate was elevated for days and could not sleep because of my racing heart. I tried everything from yoga, to meditation to walking around our yard and nothing worked. I monitored my resting heart rate and it was on the high 80's 90's to low 100s when my normal heart rate rested around the 60s. I slept maybe 1 hour at a time and kept waking up with my heart beating out of my chest. On Sunday June 14 I had barely slept and finally went to the emergency room (expensive mistake by the way so read on) to get checked out.
My panic attacks and my elevated heart rate was not normal and it had me quite a bit worried. My theory is that when the coronavirus first entered my system, it attached to my ovaries and when my ovulation period started, whatever it did to my ovaries caused a severe hormonal imbalance that my system couldn't handle. That and combined with the stress of the infection caused my hormones to go haywire. Or maybe I'm just crazy who knows lol.
The day after I got my positive test result, I got a call from the county nurse to trace my steps during the exposure. Since I am good citizen it was an easy "I have not left my house since May 25" and she praised me for being a responsible adult lol. Since I tested positive, my husband who has been "in close contact" even though Ive quarantined myself from him was required to get tested as well. He got tested on Tuesday June 9th and his test result came back negative. As a reference depending on how strict your county is, even though he tested negative he was still required to quarantine for 14 days. My quarantine ended on June 16 but I don't plan on leaving my house quite yet.
As far as recovery, my sister who is taking immuno suppressants for our auto immune condition fared the best. She never developed any severe respiratory symptoms like the rest of my family. She was able to recover her sense of smell within about a week and half from losing it. My sisters in law who had chills, cough and fever recovered within a week. My mom developed pneumonia but is on her way to recovery at home. My brothers probably had the worst respiratory symptoms but on their way to recovery as well.
Today is June 24, 31 days from exposure, 20 days from testing positive and I still have a remnant shortness of breath and a minor cough. The panic attacks are very minor and it appeases my mind that my test results came back normal after my hospital visit. I can smell remnants of fragrance but I really have to shove my nose into it to get a whiff of the fragrance. Its a very odd handicap to not be able to smell anything for about 2 weeks now. The main thing I hate about this is the isolation. I have had to fend for myself and Ive had no real contact with anyone for over a month now since I started isolation right when everything started even though I was asymptomatic. My husband I sleep on different bedrooms and we don't really know when it is safe to be sleeping in the same room since I still have a very minor cough.
Here is the other kicker though, I just received my emergency bill and its a whopping $5k!!!! I have no insurance so I'm quite depressed about it and kicking myself for not going to urgent care instead. I wasnt sure if urgent care was accepting covid positive patients so I just went ahead and have gone to the emergency dept. Because I have covid, Sutter emergency classified my visit as Level 5! which is like super expensive. I spent most of the day in the waiting room and got seen by the doctor for not even minute and that alone was worth $5000!! I want to ugly cry right now I'm so sad about that.
Anyways if you made it to the end, thank you for taking the time to read my story! Below are links for free coronavirus testing places here in California. It was a very simple and easy process so I encourage you to get tested if you're having symptoms or has been exposed to a positive case just to be safe. Also wear a mask people and slow down the spread, it might be uncomfortable but think of it as your super hero cape saving an at risk strangers or a loved ones life.
Project Baseline: Click to visit site
Optum Serve: Click to visit site
 |
| AAAAAAH my super expensive bill I cryyyyyyyyyyyy |
 |
| Immunity tea I kept drinking throughout: orange peel, lemon, garlic and onion |
 |
| I got 1 covid rash |
 |
| Steam therapy I tried to alleviate my congestion |
