Yep, beenere, dunnat. Here's my story; get comfy, it'll put you to sleep...
2 December, 2020: I'm out shopping and my daughter calls me on the cellphone: "Dad, I tested positive for COVID, so did [middle granddaughter]". This concerned me because, at that time, I was babysitting my grandkids daily. "Okay, I'm calling in for a test, right now", I told my daughter and then called the clinic, which had an immediate slot open, so in I went and got my sinuses jabbed. Owwie!!!
What'd happened? After Thanksgiving, my daughter's workplace decided to unwisely have an employee potluck lunch and everyone brought something; one guy brought in shawarma, along with pita bread, plates and plasticware. He didn't know it at the time but he was COVID-positive and he ended up the Typhoid Mary which knocked out almost 90% of the workforce and their families. By Friday, everyone in my daughter's house had the symptoms; I informed my live-in landlord, who graciously allowed me to stay, provided I used my bleached-wipes at every opportunity and stay isolated. I did...gratefully (nobody else in the home got it, thankfully).
Early Saturday afternoon, a text arrived from my clinic: "Your test result is POSITIVE; please self-quarantine and login to Your Portal and review your Messages". Well, I knew it...largely because, earlier that morning, my hour-long fevers started: one hour, you'd be at 101 degrees, the next hour: back to normal, repeat. Overall, I felt fatigued, slight nausea but no vomiting. One unusual thing I noticed: a very heavy, dull, achy pain where my neck & shoulders join...a pain which slowly migrated down my back over 5 days and that was the most painful part. But my biggest worry was my breathing, since this was the time of year I was prone to get severe bronchitis or pneumonia. For that, I kept a vigilant eye on myself...
Sunday: back pain was upper-mid and was agonizing! From wake-up to about 90 minutes, excruciating pain. I sat up in-bed, took three ibuprofens and waited...25 minutes later, during The Brady Bunch, the pain suddenly stopped, like someone just flicked a switch! Just like that. I shook my head, shrugged, went on with my Day in Quarantine...and by 4:30 pm, while coping with the fever-waves, I lost all sense of taste & smell. This isn't like when you get the cold, how you can still detect something you eat or smell...with COVID, those senses totally vanish. Gone. Even with clear sinuses. You can put hot salsa on your tongue and not feel it or sense it at all. Smelling salts, dirty diapers, whathaveyous...zip-PAH. That lasted for five days total and then it all gradually came back over a couple hours' time.
Once the worst had gone by and my delirium-sleep had passed, I was well enough to go visit the rest of my family, who also all had COVID. That alone helped make the quarantine experience so much more bearable because even the most-private of us, including myself, still need some human contact. Not sure where I'd be mentally if I'd never had that going on.
During my quarantine time, when not gabbin' here or watchin' TV, I'd go to the CDC website and read up on protocol: seems the CDC decreased the mandatory quarantine time from 14 to 10 days somewhere along the way, but I still went the full 14 before joyously stepping out and getting groceries. I'll never look at another shopping trip through dull eyes again. Ever. By December 17, I was free. And freedom never felt so good, something the majority of people who haven't yet gotten COVID--especially the COVID-hoaxers or narcissistic, spoiled morons like Ammon Bundy--could ever understand or appreciate.
And Christmas: the best ever! We could all finally enjoy the day, taste & smell the food. We'd all made it through. And all COVID left me was a slight case of bronchitis, which Doc gladly gave me a Z-pack and albuterol to fight. Otherwise, my breathing was never compromised.
A slight aside: at about 2:30 am on Christmas Day, as I slept on my kids' couch, my grandkids all got up and tried to begin their Christmas Day! I got up, saw what was going on, shushed them all quickly, told them Mom & Dad were in bed and it was waaaaaay too early! They saw the clock, miraculously agreed, got their blankets and they all dogpiled on top of me, quickly falling asleep in a mass of very warm, little bodies cutting Zzzzzzs.
I didn't care at all. I fought COVID...and won. I felt like I could take anything on.