1/12: I’m on day 17 of COVID-19. Still on oxygen and fluid infusions. Still running a high fever, coughing nonstop, & working to breathe. Thought I’d give a summary of the experience thus far.

2/12: This is the weirdest virus - it’s like you’re sick with a completely different virus every 24 hours and it has the most bizarre and random symptoms that come and go and change sporadically.

3/12: Except the high fever, nonstop intense coughing, and shortness of breath are always there. Always. And absolutely miserable.

4/12: I’ve kept track of symptoms each day - it looks like a 4-year-old created a disease and added bizarre things no one has ever heard of before. And then kept adding more.

5/12: 4-year-old: “Make her right eye throb if she moves it. But make only the other eye red and bloodshot.”

6/12: “Take away her sense of smell. But make everything taste rotten. Now switch it so she can’t taste, but everything smells like spoiled milk.”

7/12: “Now add chest pain, but only on the left side. No, switch it to the right side and her back. Make it stab her when she inhales.”

8/12: “Oh, and severe diarrhea but make her left eye hurt today instead of the right. No, both eyes. No, just make them both red. Make her too weak to walk to the bathroom so she has to rest on the floor by the toilet.”

9/12: “Now, no taste or smell at all, but make her throw up if she drinks anything. Make every bone hurt. No, I changed my mind, make her head hurt so much she can’t move, but not her bones. Wait, make her jaw hurt severely, too, whenever her head doesn’t hurt.”

10/12: “Make sure she coughs nonstop the whole time and can’t breathe well enough to talk or walk across the room. It has been a few days since severe diarrhea. Give that back but add on horrific cramping so she cries.”

11/12: “Now give her really severe chills like she’s freezing, but make her sweat and feel like she’s burning up at the same time. Don’t forget to make her cough nonstop while shivering. And she still can’t breathe.”

12/12: “On Sundays, she should throw-up from coughing so much. On Mondays, give her all the things at the same time. Perfect! I just invented COVID-19!”
~ 4-year-old virus inventor

Day 45 update: Still running a high fever, ended up with pneumonia, vascular complications, still on oxygen to keep SpO2 in the upper 80s, still have horrible headaches, constant coughing that broke ribs, still have eye pain, no taste/smell, & ended up w/shingles. 1/2

Day 45: I’ve had two rounds of IV steroids, IV antibiotics, IV acyclovir for shingles (which helped covid for couple hours after each infusion, but finished Saturday & worse again), extra zinc added to TPN, & med changes when blood pressure went over 200 from vascular stuff. 2/2

The worst part of this virus is the “maybe I’m finally getting better” and then “oh.” Day 44 was better. Today has been similar to week 2 again - fever back to 103-104, severe diarrhea again, headache, eye pain, chills & sweating, rashes, indescribable fatigue.

My dog shredded a bag on the carpet tonight. I physically could not push the vacuum sweeper across the carpet. It’s not heavy. I’m too weak and fatigued today to push a vacuum sweeper 6 inches. Then the 45-days-sick mental fatigue where that makes me cry & then I can’t breathe.

Day 46 - Learned I have 44 days of coping skills, then start bursting into tears at everything. Today, I cried because a freckle moved from R arm to L arm after 40 yrs on R arm. Then cried upon realizing mirrors are complicated. More vascular complications started today.