Day 1
Probably typical to most. Got a call that I was possibly exposed and a test was scheduled for that afternoon. I arrived at UTMB at 5:15. The staff? Wonderful. The test? Sucked. I recall reading that they no longer have to put the "Q-Tip" so far up the nose. OK, it's not a Q-Tip. It's like a long, plastic stick and I'm pretty sure it went up my nose and stopped when it hit a ceiling tile. Also, they go up both sides. I've broken my nose a few times and have a crazy deviated septum. The right side took some work. Oh well, it's over soon enough. I was told when it's over, it feels like chlorinated water went up your nose. Pretty spot on. Anyway, I went straight home and planned to be on lockdown until I received the clean bill of health that was on the other end of that harpoon they threw up my nose. I got up the next morning and ordered groceries to be dropped off my door. That's about as close to camping as I care to get. UTMB had me download an app and that's how I found out my test was positive. I'd actually like all bad news to be delivered in the form of an app notification from now on. It's cleaner that way. So...it is what it is. I don't feel bad, but it was pointed out that I was clearing my throat on the phone quite a bit last night and now I have a complex about it. I don't feel tired, but I slept almost 8 hours and I haven't done that in years.
Day 2
Overwhelmed by the kindness and concern of great friends. First thing in the morning, I was brought a taquito from Whataburger and a Meisinger from Java Owl. By the time it got dark, my front porch saw cards, more Meisingers, homemade cookies, soup, crackers, coffee creamer, herbal tea, organic honey, cough drops, vitamins, lip balm, balloons, a digital thermometer, water, Gatorade, melatonin and more.
Physically, I cough when I speak on the phone, so I tried to keep that to a minimum. Don't feel tired. In fact, I have a ton of energy, which makes staying in a total drag. While I did sleep A LOT on night one, I had a devil of a time going to sleep last night. No fever, loss of taste or smell. There is a bit of pressure on my chest when I lay on my back. So far, nothing to really complain about and fully aware how much worse this could be.
Day 3
The tired thing caught up to me. In fact, I'm going to just call this Nap Day. I took 2 naps, totaling 5 hours. Unreal. Still no fever. In fact, my temperature has maintained just below 98 this whole time. Not sure if the balloons are helping, but I keep blowing them up. Cough is all but gone, but I'm making every effort to avoid talking. Listening to a ton of music. Ironic that I pre-ordered an album by Brad Mehldau called Suite: April 2020. A solo piano Suite, inspired by being locked down and unable to leave home. It's pretty dour, but beautiful. Listening to a lot of Sibelius too. Something about this situation just lends itself to Classical and Jazz. To be honest, if this thing wasn't so damn contagious, this has been nothing I would miss work or cancel an appointment for. At least, so far. I'm blaming the naps on naps being an option. I'm tired, but there's nothing interesting to counteract it. Hated missing the Christmas Boat Lane Parade this year. Was looking forward to co-hosting the i45NOW livestream, but TJ did an amazing job solo.
Day 4
The tired thing is getting old. Not complaining, I'm just not accustomed to it. 4 hour nap today. I can't lie. I actually Googled if it was OK to have a cigar, while you have COVID. Google doesn't recommend it. With no cigar, I went upstairs to watch the recut of Godfather 3. As usual, I disagree with everyone and prefer the original beginning and ending. After that, I decided to "rest my eyes" a bit. Apparently, there was a massive storm that came through in the afternoon. Couldn't tell you a thing about it. Slept through the whole thing. The wheezing is still a thing and is more annoying than anything. Just a ridiculous sound, every time I exhale. I think my biggest issue is knowing that I was around a small number of people, before I found out I had been exposed and I'm really worried that I may have passed this to someone that won't have as easy a time with it. My brother told my mom that I have COVID. Perfectly fine, but I wasn't going to say anything to her about it. She has her own shit to deal with and she may not even remember it the next day. She called all worried and I think I did a pretty good job of putting her worries to rest. Brought up the cigar thing and she handed my ass to me. Alzheimer's hasn't taken that yet. Lots of people have asked if I've lost my sense of smell or taste. Not lost, but it's different. Best way to describe it, the candles smell different and what I'm eating and drinking tastes odd. Fortunately, my taste in music is still stellar.
Day 5
It's the 5th day since my test result, but 8th day since getting exposed. This felt like a turn the corner day. No nap and didn't feel tired at all. Boredom was the enemy. I'm on a 7-10 quarantine and plan to get swabbed again on Saturday. That will be more than 10 days since exposure. If the result is negative, I'll go back to normal life. If not, I'll try again in another 5 days. I keep reminding myself that just because I'm feeling fine today, that doesn't mean I can't easily get someone else very sick. The small number of people I was around between the time I was exposed and the time I found out I was exposed, are all good. That was my biggest concern.
Day 6
Spoke too soon. Took a 2 hour nap on Day 6. I had some amazing people show amazing kindness yesterday. Angel brought over some Chicken and Dumplings (my favorite thing ever) and Darren and Charla brought me a 7' pre-lit Christmas tree and ornaments. I never do a Christmas tree, but it truly has cheered the place up. I'm very thankful. If you attended my City Council swearing in, you may have noticed a lot of people bringing me gifts. They were all ornaments for a Christmas tree. They are no longer sitting on my shelf. Did get some work done and I'm excited that we will be bringing back the Chamber Notes podcast on Clear Lake Today. Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce President and C.E.O. Cindy DeWease and I will be hosting again. As far as how I feel? Fine. I would say I am asymptomatic at this point.
Day 7
At this point, I feel 100% fine. The real struggle is not leaving. I'm getting things done, but I'm finding it hard to focus on one thing. There are too many things I want to be doing. I have a 6 hour Zoom workshop scheduled tomorrow. We'll see how I do with that. Thus far, great friends, HEB Home Delivery and a solid record collection have gotten me through this. I downloaded and app to catalog my entire vinyl collection. Took forever. Never would have done that had I not been stuck at home. Based on condition and pressings, they value it around $12K. I need more records.
Day 8
Still feeling great. The Zoom call was interesting. I won a door prize. My own copy of Robert's Rule of Order (paperback). Jealous? Got a call from the Galveston County Health Department. They asked me a ton of questions. They believe I was likely exposed before everyone thought. They felt that being exposed on a Monday and testing positive on Wednesday was unlikely. With no symptoms, the new guideline is a self quarantine of 7-10 days. I will err on the side of caution and stay locked up until Saturday. I told them I planned to get retested on Saturday. Here's the odd thing. They said I shouldn't get retested. At that point, there is no way I could be contagious and even once you no longer have COVID, he said you can continue to test positive for up to 3 months.
