Covid Day 6: Negative for now!

I woke with a headache at three or so and was awake for an hour or so, brushed my teeth to try to rid my mouth of the foul taste that has been the most obvious side effect of the drug cocktail, but got back to sleep till seven thirty. I took my last dose of Paxlovid (Yay!) then went back to sleep again till Sheila called at nearly ten, I think. She suggested I go ahead and take another Covid test:

Negative!

So we breakfasted on our egg frittatas, salsa, greek yogurt, toast, and coffee.  I showered. Traded my pajamas for real pants for the first time since last Saturday. Masked up (N-95) and walked across the street to the moving sale of our dear neighbor Joan Ledbetter. And interacted in-person with two or three folks besides Sheila for a few minutes. Lordy, it's hot out there folks!

Let's review:

Thanks to a real American president who puts country first and who put professionals in charge of health policy, I am twice vaccinated, twice boosted, and had available to me the exact antiviral medication that the President is now taking. Also I have a primary physician (Dr. Anandita Arora) who was willing to return my call on a Sunday, advise me,  and prescribe that medicine immediately to get right after the virus. As a result I was feeling better by the next morning. And five days of quarantine later I am back in the real world. The illness that has killed millions was (so far) a very distasteful (literally and figuratively) minor inconvenience for me.

Of course, at seventy-five, I've got to remain vigilant. There is a small possibility (2 to 9%) of a "rebound" infection.  And even more rarely a serious reinfection. But how fortunate I have been to escape infection for two and a half years till these things were available to me. 

Not all have been so lucky. One among those close to me is the talented 23 year-old who died early in the pandemic (July 3, 2020). A young man just beginning adulthood who had been my student when he was a fourth grader. How unfair that this old geezer lives and he doesn't. Shayne, I pledge to you that I will speak out as long as I breathe to see that our republic is never again in the hands of an ego-maniac who would put his own vanity above the common good.

Covid Day 5: Tomorrow I test - Fingers Crossed!

Sheila and I allow ourselves the indulgence of one Healthy Choice Fudge Bar daily. 
They come in a box of a dozen or so from Sam's. They count as three Weight Watchers points.  
Since my quarantine began, some days, if I'm good, Sheila lets me have a second. 
For a few minutes scrumptious chocolatey delirium overwhelms the disgusting Covid-meds metallic yuckyiness while it soothes my throat and tickles my fancy. 

I slept longer than I have slept all week! Yay! I woke right at six, just in time to replenish my body with 300 mg of nirmatrelvir and 100 mg of ritonavir, whose combined efforts are fighting the Covid-virus for me and simultaneously producing a vile 24/7 metallic taste in my mouth that can only temporarily be banished by Sheila's wonderful cooking or the magic of Healthy Choice Fudge Bars. That dose of meds this morning leaves only two more -- tonight and tomorrow morning. Hallelujah! I hope the yuck disappears soon after. I plan to take a Covid test tomorrow sometime. I think the standard is to test negative (once with regular test or twice with the home test) before leaving quarantine. 

Could I actually sing in the choir on Sunday -- only one week after my diagnosis? Considering all the hospitalizations, intubations, and deaths this virus has brought to the world the last three years that seems almost miraculous. 

My new MacBook, that I purchased from the Apple Store weeks ago, should finally arrive today. The machine I am tapping this out on is seven years old, seriously overloaded with data, and crashing on me often. I will be very relieved to have the new one with all my pictures and programs and writings and recordings and videos safely ensconced in new equipment.

Breaking news: President Biden has been diagnosed with Covid this morning and he has been prescribed the very same treatment as mine. That reassures me for both of us: that I really do have the best treatment available and that our president may recover as well as I have. This president came into office determined to get America vaccinated and to help everyone be better protected against the pandemic. A disease that previously was killing septuagenarians like us right and left is (so far) a fairly minor aggravation to Joe Biden and Terrell Shaw because of those nationally available vaccines and boosters.  

Best wishes for a quick and uneventful recovery, Mr. President! (And I hope you don't have the yucky taste side effect!) We need you. Thank you for your stubborn refusal to put politics over the good of the republic and the planet. Thank you for restoring honor and principle to our executive branch and to our foreign relations. If the American republic survives you will be one of the key reasons.

More Breaking News: The macBook arrived about 1 p.m. Yay!

I have a lot of work waiting to do to get the new 'puter loaded up with all my programs and important files from the old one. I am gonna try not to crowd it with unnecessary stuff. 

Covid Day 4: Covid Ain't Nothin'*

Covid ain't nothin'.*

Well, the range finally came today, and Covid-Boy here, all masked and sanitized and distanced was tasked with installing it. That would have been a five minute task, except. That's right, the folks who were late delivering the stove that was defective were even later delivering its replacement, and failed to include the little flange called a "UL Strain Relief" Right! There was definitely NO STRAIN RELIEF with that stove!!!! 

After several hours including a Sheila trip to Lowes to try and find something that would work and my very frustrating phone calls to Whirlpool's No-Helpline, I just did it my way. Lord help us.

I guess it did take my mind off Covid for a while. 

Things are about the same today. Bad taste in mouth. General aches and pain. Minor congestion. Occasional cough. But, overall, still counting my blessings. Only three more doses of that awful/wonderful medicine to take.

Y'all keep my siblings in your prayers, especially my youngest sister Beth. 

When I think of Beth this is close to the image that comes to mind. She is my littlest sister. This picture was taken at our parsonage in Ellijay, GA (1958-1962)

This one from 1958 might be even closer. L-R: David, Carol, "Terry", Hercules (in my lap), Beth, & Debi. In front of Mama Shaw's aluminum Christmas tree.

My Covid is a walk in the park compared to Beth's travails of late. She has had several small strokes, still fights Crohns, and now has clots in her heart that must be dealt with. Today she endured a torturous two hour MRI. We await results of that to know what next steps will be.

The stove saga did get me -- carefully-- out of the bedroom for a while. Sheila tested negative again today. I hope our efforts with the stove didn't expose her. We tried to be careful. I'm back in my cell now. Sheila used that new stove to fix up some delicious baked salmon with broccoli and corn-on-the-cob which she brought upstairs with a side tangy lemon/yogurt dressing and a big bowl of fresh cantaloupe and left for me on the table outside my door. Yum!

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* For this ol' boy who is double-vaxxed and double-boosted and has had good luck and good doctors and an amazing wife.

Covid Day 3

Day three started at 5:30 a.m. That means that I had slept for more than five and a half hours; I'm not sure how mach more. I awoke for the usual reason and after a trip to the little room I worked on the NYT Spelling Bee for a while and wrote some on my blog and Facebook breaking at six to take my morning Covid drugs. The anniversaries of the next few weeks have Mother on my mind, of course, so I spent some time thinking and writing about that, but still managed to go back to sleep for a couple of hours till Sheila woke me at about 10:30 to say she'd have breakfast in a few minutes.

I’m doing great and definitely being spoiled rotten by Sheila. Still I AM under house arrest in my bedroom. 

Last night Sheila gave me a one hour reprieve!

Good behavior, I reckon.

She covered every thing in the kitchen with plastic.

She sprayed/wiped every thing with sanitizer.

She made me sanitize myself and mask up tightly. 

Then I was actually allowed to come downstairs! 

I was instructed from far across the room to sit at the end nearest the stairs at the plastic-covered kitchen table on a sanitizable stool. She sat on the far end of the couch at the far end of the den. 

And we watched the latest episode of Better Call Saul “together”.  

Other than that, I see Sheila only when she sticks her masked face into the bedroom to announce that my meal is on the table by the door. Or occasionally when I stick my head out and she is at the head of the stairs twenty feet away. 

Last night we compared our daily NYT Spelling Bee results via telephone from our separate bedrooms — our most intimate moment since Sunday morning. Between us we got all the words. 

Lowes has complicated things a bit. We bought a new range from them in June. They delivered it and I unpacked it to attach the power supply line and put it into place when we reallized it had been damaged. Evidently it had been dropped hard on the right rear corner/foot, which was badly bent, and making the stove-top cattywhompered (and also chipping the enamel). So we reboxed it and took it back. Lowes was very accomodating but did not have another in stock. SO I reattached the power supply to the old stove so we could use the stove top (the oven doesn't work, hence the need for a new range). The old stove has served us well. We bought it used from Bambi Waters who was getting a new one over twenty years ago. It had a design flaw that we came to dislike. The heating element in the oven attached at the back and had no support at the front, so over time it tended to sag at the front. You had to be careful taking pans from a hot oven not to touch the hot element.

Well we kept calling to see if the new range had come, and finally last week we were told it was here in Rome but could not be delivered till Sunday (church day!) between eight and eight! Then we assured it would be at the house between noon and eight Sunday. Sunday morning about three was when I realized I had a "cold" and later that morning took the Covid test and began my quarantine. But before I talked to my doctor I did manage, masked, to disconnect the old stove again and remove the power supply so it could be used with the new one. They did not come on Sunday. They did not come on Monday. It is still not here at noon on Tuesday. 

That paragraph will explain the inventive "egg muffins" on my plate in the attached picture. 

I love my breakfast, which is the same ninety percent of the time or more: egg frittatas (about half regular egg and half egg white with chopped whatever-veggies-are-available and a chopped piece of Canadian bacon) with salsa and plain Greek yogurt and coffee to drink. 

Since Sheila had no way to cook our usual breakfast of egg frittatas, she mixed the eggs and veggies as usual but poured them into a muffin pan and cooked them in the toaster oven the last two mornings. They are still a treat. 

I feel pretty good and very lucky. The drug cocktail leaves a bad taste in my mouth constantly now but it has surely improved things in every other way. And, as the yucky drug and the delicious breakfast illustrate, I can still taste!

Covid Day 2

This blog really serves two purposes for me. It is, as the name may imply, a safety valve where I can express my heartfelt and sometimes vehement opinions without directly confronting folks I love. But it has also become something of a public journal of my day-to-day life.  This entry is mainly to help myself remember the course of this virus:

After my morning diagnosis yesterday the symptoms worsened during the day and night. I slept very little last night. I was really miserable. I felt very congested. My temperature was normal every time I checked it, but I felt HOT. I was headachy and a little woozy when I stood up. If I managed to to sleep at all I was soon awakened for another trip to the restroom. Dr. Arora had told me to drink lots of liquids and I have obeyed. 

The medicine prescribed is a five-day, two-drug cocktail of two nirma trelvir and one ritonavir tablets twice a day. I took the first dose as soon as I got 'em yesterday afternoon. I noticed no improvement in symptoms, as a matter of fact I continued to feel worse during the night.  I addition I have had an unpleasant metallic taste in my mouth during the night (a side-effect of the medicine Dr. Arora had told me about). I took my morning dose at six this morning and saw marked improvement in symptoms all day. I just took another dose at six p.m. 

I even managed to get a little work done today: I notified the folks at Chickamauga library that I would have to reschedule, and got out an e-mail to my co-workers about my illness. I was pleased that The folks at Chickamauga got right back to me with a rescheduled date, and thank heavens it fits in my calendar. I have never performed at that library before and I hated to lose that opportunity.

Despite the unpleasant extra taste that I think is a side effect of the medicine, I have been pleasantly surprised that I have so-far kept my beloved sense of taste. Sheila brings me delicious meals. I ate them and mildly enjoyed them but was too miserable yesterday and at breakfast this morning to really appreciate them properly. But the hamburger she fixed me tonight was delicious! I can still taste!

Sheila suggested I bring a comfortable armchair and ottoman into the bedroom, so I write this on  a MacBook atop a lap-desk ensconced in a soft upholstered chair. I have slept a little during the day today. And told Sheila I would sleep now (after supper) but now am wide awake. Maybe I can sleep an hour or so before "Better Call Saul" comes on tonight; Can't miss that.

I feel almost guilty writing about these things since several of my six siblings are dealing with worse health issues right now. And just think: this monstrous virus has killed millions, including one beloved former student of mine, and several relatives or friends of my friends. As I have mentioned more than once the last two days, I have many blessings to count.

Rude Awakening

I woke about three this morning and realized that I felt rotten. Stuffed up nose, headachy, kinda hot. I haven't had a cold since sometime before March 11, 2020, but best I could remember, that's what this felt like. I woke again a couple of times before Sheila did, still feeling bad. We decided, just to be on the safe side I should take a Covid Test -- even though I'd just taken one last Tuesday.

I have had uncounted Covid tests during the last two years. Since I visited my Mother almost daily for the first year and a half of the pandemic, and since I still visit senior centers for storytelling frequently, I try to be very careful. 

Sheila helped me set up the test. I showered while we waited the fifteen minutes for results. I was confident this would be another negative result. 

Sheila informed me, even before I finished showering that our next week (hopefully only that) will be very different than we had expected. Tomorrow the Matthews cousins were to begin arriving at our house for a three-day family reunion. Our reunion last year was interrupted when Mother had a her stroke, so we were really looking forward to being with some of our favorite folks for a few days. Thursday, I would be visiting a new audience, the folks at Chickamauga's public library. 

Not now. All because of that second line in the little plastic window below:

From what I have read my period of maximum contagion probably began Friday and will continue through Tuesday or Wednesday. My wonderful medical doctor, Anandita Arora at Harbin Family Practice, took time from her family -- I could hear a child in the background -- on a Sunday to call me, advise me, and prescribe the latest combo of medical magic to help my already fully vaccinated and boosted immune system fight off the virus. I will quarantine in one part of the house while Sheila stays in another. Sheila and I mask up when she (Bless her!) brings me food, meds, and occasional goodies and places them on a small table set up for that purpose at my bedroom door. Y'all pray that she avoids the infection.

So far so good: I feel a little hot. When I stand I feel a little woozy and headachy. My dose is stuffed up. My eyes burn a little. I'm drinking lots of liquids as directed, so I'm keeping a well-worn path to that little room. I'm back to washing my hands over and over. 

At seventy-five I know I have to take this very seriously and I am. But I am in pretty good shape for such an old geezer. I am confident that the vaccines and boosters have me as ready as possible, and I have excellent medical care. 

Meanwhile if you were with me in the last few days, especially on Friday or Saturday, get yourself tested if you have any symptoms at all. 

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Here are the places I remember going the last few days:

• I think it is highly unlikely that I was contagious on Wednesday. That was the day I told stories at the Rockmart and Cedartown libraries. (Thank goodness this is July and we have no Wednesday night choir practice this month.)
• Thursday I told stories at the Rome Library
• Thursday  I stopped by an estate sale in Armuchee (I was masked).
• Friday I told stories at Foundation Camp at Georgia Highlands. 
• Friday I stopped by the estate sale in Armuchee again (I did NOT mask this time! Ugh.)
• Saturday I walked through Home Depot -- mostly the outdoor plant area.
• Saturday I walked quickly through TJ Maxx
• I was in and out of Arrowhead several times, but I dealt only with animals; I do not think I came in contact with any other humans while I was there.

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Later note: about 9 p.m. --a pretty miserable day. Still mainly clogged, hot, and headachy. I slept for a couple of hours. Laid around half-listening to podcasts most of the day. Worthless.

Sheila tested negative, but she'll need to test again -- may not have gotten far enough along. She ran through the Walgreen's drive-thru to pick up my medicine and called in a good supper from Jerusalem Grill and drove through to pick that up. I ate it all, but wasn't much interested in food to be truthful. 

Hope I can sleep tonight.

I know I have waxed eloquent on the beauty, kind heart, and brilliance of Sheila Ann Matthews Shaw, but may I reiterate: I am a fortunate man.

Love, Bravery, Determination

A week ago today Lily, the cute seven-year-old little girl, apple of (her grandmother) my sister's eye, was diagnosed with leukemia. Out of the blue a suspected bladder or kidney infection - worrisome but not unusual or all that scary in a healthy, active, bright, cheerful girl - became something very scary, cancer. And the world of that little girl, her sister, her mother my much-loved niece, her father, her grandparents, her classmates, her extended family was upended.

Great strides have been taken in the treatment and care of leukemia patients in the last few decades. My family has learned a lot about this disease in the last few days. And we have learned a few things about ourselves and each other. My sister has written today about what she has learned this week. I think her words are valuable reading. Here's one sentence that I have found true several times in my life, but never made more plain than in watching the loving and brave and determined responses of my great niece, and her parents and grandparents to this terrible trial:

I’ve learned that you can drive yourself crazy asking “what if?” and “why?” And after agonizing over all the questions, nothing is changed. The only thing you can control in a situation like this is your own responses to it.

-The Median Sib