Part One: Chronicles of a Coronavirus Survivor
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The fever was brutal. Periods of uncontrollable shaking and teeth chattering abruptly morphing to stages of perfuse sweating and quite literally, dripping with perspiration. After finally breaking the temperature debacle, I thought I was out of the woods. Then came the cough.
It wasn’t an ordinary cough. This was the cough from hell. There was no relief from it because it was triggered by breathing. Every time I took a regular breath, I immediately started this uncontrollable cough. It was cyclical; breathing would lead to the cough and the coughing would lead to air intake which would initiate more coughing. Remember, the coronavirus is a respiratory problem that effects the victim’s lungs.
Breathing is the fuel that energizes the human body. Without air introduced to that machine, it dies. So, you see my dilemma, and similar issues for many others with the virus, breathe and initiate a spout of uncontrollable coughing, or refuse to breath and end your time on earth. I chose discomfort, but, with a vengeance. I coughed as hard as I could to try and move that layer of phlegm. It was impossible. Continued coughing as hard as possible was useless and tiring. Trying not to cough was laughable, like trying to hold that fart in during church services. Not going to happen! I final surrendered and went to bed. After hours of continuous coughing, apparently the cough got tired and withdrew, or maybe I was just too damned tired. I gained a few hours of shut-eye.
Half way through the night, I was awakened by a dripping forehead. My pillow was wet and I was lying in a puddle of the recycled water my wife forced me to drink prior to turning in. Knowing the drill, I toweled off, covered the wet sheet with a dry towel and after changing the pillow case, laid back down and surprisingly fell back asleep.
As morning broke, I was pleased to be alive. After washing the night from my face. I was able to enjoy the taste of coffee. Although not as bitter as I remembered, this brown water did taste like the real thing. My taste was improving.
The killer cough had subsided to a semi persistent cough allowing me to breath. It decreases during the day and right around that time I decide to go to bed, it awakened. My wife also had this cough, but nothing compared to mine. Interesting, I spoke to other COVID-19 positive people and they too had this cough, all to varying degrees. I do believe mine was the worst. Maybe age?
I took a cough medicine, but I saw no significant improvement compared to the wife and her cough.
Three days have past and I still have that persistent cough. Not as violent as the previous two days, still a mountain to climb.
The wife keeps filling up that 16-ounce plastic tumbler with liquid ‘pain in the ass’. Did I tell you how much I disliked water? Without exaggeration, I must be up at least every 30 minutes throughout the night to empty my bladder. I do believe I store enough yellow liquid to service an entire Bedouin tribe in the deserts of South Africa.
One more thing: Lest I forget to inform you of the tingling sensation I was not enjoying very much every time I urinated. And, the burning eyes.
Something unique to my COVID-19, I was later to find out that I alone enjoyed a couple of side effects that were non-existent in others. The first was the slight burning or tingling when I urinated. The second was when I blew my nose, I would feel the sensation of effervescents in my nose. Both of these items were singularly mine for the bragging rights.
After almost three weeks, I am starting to feel somewhat normal again, albeit for the tiredness and weakness.
In recapping my COVID 19 experience:
My symptoms from day 1 to 7 days:
- Cough
- Light headache
- Slight sore throat
- Slight pain while blowing nose
- Painful eyes
- Everything tasted bad
- Bathroom every 2 hours
- Loss of sleep
7 to 10 days:
- Light headache
- Bad fever of 103 for three days
- Chills and Sweats
- Major loss of sleep
10 to 15 days:
- Sever cough
- Slight fever
15 days and on:
- Slight cough
- Lethargic and weak
Symptoms I did not have:
- No loss of taste or smell
- No fever until a 3-day period
- No major body aches
How I fought the virus:
- Water and hydration are essential in fighting COVID-19.
- Rest is vital.
- Be prepared to sit and do nothing.
- The more nothing you do, it appears, the quicker you bounce back.
I hope this information helps people out there. Remember, it’s a virus, it can be beat.
To all my brothers and sisters in blue, lock and load and protect one another. And as always, stay safe.
– Larry Casey
View Larry Casey’s website at www.StoriesofaChicagoPoliceOfficer.com and review his book by the same name. Makes a great inexpensive Christmas gift.
