Sideswiped by Covid

My plan this year was to spend May getting our yard into shape so we could begin enjoying it with friends & family as soon as weather permitted. But then the pandemic interrupted. 

I stared at the the test results on my computer screen for several minutes. Positive. Then I asked my husband to come take a look.

After being fully vaccinated in March and being “crazy careful” as my friend Laura would say for the entire pandemic, I tested positive for Covid the second week in May. My doctor told me I was the first of his patients to have a “break through” case. 

Now, how special is that? 

And I don’t know how I got it. I have only been with a handful of people, all of them vaccinated, with the exception of my 7- and 10-year-old grandsons. And it doesn’t really matter except to say that somehow one of those little viruses snuck into my life. 

Happily for me, my symptoms were pretty mild. (Though there were times in those first 4 or  5 days when I would not have described them in that way.) I coughed, had body aches, a sore throat, and a mild fever. But most of all I slept — I simply could not keep my eyes open. 

I had to quarantine, which meant staying in our bedroom for days. My husband moved into the guest room. He brought me tea and toast and soup on a tray. Then he tested positive too. Steve’s symptoms seemed milder than mine, but because we were both positive I no longer had to stay in one room. Less work for Steve, a little more freedom for me.

Was this an improvement? 

So now we are recovering and waiting to get on with our summer. My quarantine ended and Steve’s will in a few days. I’m taking afternoon naps many days, because the fatigue has lingered a bit. Steve’s anxious to get his tomatoes and peppers planted in his community garden plot. We’re figuring this out day by day and getting better along the way.

So why am I telling you all this? It is a cautionary tale. We know that there are a small number of cases — maybe 3 to 5-percent — where the vaccine isn’t perfect. Steve and I were vaccinated by a major Chicagoland health provider at our local hospital. I know they were doing approximately 800 vaccinations at day at our location. Do the math. As many as 40 people could still get sick, but NOT AS SICK as they would have been. And that may be the key — we did not get as sick as we could have. So, yes, I cobtinue to believe the vaccine is everything. And presumably I’ll stop lookiong over my shoulder at some point, checking to see if some nugget of the virus is heading my way.

Early on in the pandemic, I told my daughter that I believed before it was over, we would all be touched by Covid. I had no idea it would get so personal! 

Thans for stopping by. See you again soon.