So that last "weird" symptom of a chicken-pox-ish rash on my torso that I had back when I was deathly sick for 6 weeks in Dec/Jan...? Skin manifestations are emerging in the coronavirus pandemic https://www.the-hospitalist.org/hospitalist/article/220183/coronavirus-updates/skin-manifestations-are-emerging-coronavirus-pandemic

(Eek! That picture! Not the rash I had! Yikes! Mine was like chicken pox, but not very itchy. Still, a variety of skin rashes are coming up in the "COVID-19 Symptoms = Yes" column.)

So I'm closing in on 100% certain that I had COVID-19, with my fever starting on 12/12/19 in Sarasota FL. I've been pushing for an antibody test so I can donate plasma (found a place in SRQ that will be doing testing, but doesn't have tests, call again in 2-3weeks).

But I wanted to share info about the virus (likely COVID-19) that I experienced. The recovery, for me, took weeks. It was 2 weeks after I stopped having a fever (my fever popped several times a day for 6 solid weeks) before I could even consider getting off the sofa to clean up.

I also experienced, in the months since my end-of-January recovery, what I've thought of as viral surges. Like hello, I'm coughing again today. Just for 4-6 hours. Or hmm, that headache is back again today. Just for 6-8 hours.

It felt very similar (but with a shorter duration) to having some kind of viral outbreak on my gums or my lips. For years, before I started taking lysine regularly, I'd have cold sores, icepick headaches, parts of my face or body that got super-sensitive to the touch. Very viral.

I always assumed the virus that caused those things (the one that gave me chicken pox as a kid?) would occasionally raise its ugly head bcuz of stress or other cold viruses running me down. I assumed it was in my system, & lysine helped me stay healthy to keep it battened down.

The virus that I had in Dec/Jan feels oddly similar to that. Like it's back there, lurking. And every now and then it goes "Hey, remember me?" (Oh, yeah, I remember you.) But its emergence feels very mild, like toward the VERY end of the 6 weeks of my illness.

But I've been thinking, because I know for a fact that in the past, when the virus that gave me cold sores popped up? I was CRAZY contagious at those times. I would wash the crap out of our towels & wash my hands & not kiss anyone & even be careful when petting the dogs.

So yeah, there's so much about this virus that we don't yet know. Including was it really what I had? Two more weeks before we can call that SRQ place that's taking plasma donations to see if they have the tests yet...