`Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house. Not a sign of virus...
AAAH CHOO!
Seriously!!!
I am NOT feeling well on Christmas Eve? Well, isn’t that just the icing on the Christmas cookie. I wouldn’t be seeing my sons on Christmas Day because they were quarantining for a Covid exposure and NOW I am not feeling well!!!
Then I thought "All I have to do is make it until New Year’s Eve and then I will take a break for a long weekend, rest & recover from the insaneness of the past few months and all will be good, right??? "
Earlier that day…
I finished work at noon and headed to the spa for a long and desperately needed massage. I knew I was tired and a bit run down. I needed sleep and rest desperately, but somewhere in the back of mind I knew that IF there was anything brewing inside me that getting a massage could certainly bring it out in full force. For a brief moment, I remember considering NOT going for that massage but the desire and need overruled any potential change in my thinking and off I went and with no uncertainty, fell asleep on the table.
Sure enough, Christmas morning I woke up feeling groggy and exhausted. Again, this would be typical for going 90 miles an hour for weeks on end to just stop dead in my tracks so, I took the day slowly as I was home with myself all day anyway. I chose not to see extended family, reducing any added chance of exposure to Covid.
While the day of rest felt good, I still knew something wasn’t right but was hopeful that I was just “Covid Paranoid” - the feeling when ANYTHING you feel must be Covid! When I woke up the next morning, very early, I knew I shouldn’t go to work and risk exposing others so, I stayed home and scheduled myself for a rapid test that afternoon. They swabbed me and the doctor said “if you don’t hear from me within the hour, you are negative” and off I went.
I came home and curled up on the couch trying not to count the minutes. At the 45 minute mark I thought I was in the clear and then...
my phone rang…
It was the doctor confirming my test was POSITIVE…
I felt the wave of emotion that runs through you when you receive results from a test...
BIG SIGH!
I immediately got on the phone with everyone I had come in contact with in the last 48 hours…fortunately, Christmas Day saved me a lot of heartache and my contact with others was minimal for which I was incredibly grateful.
I'm not sure which was worse, knowing I had a positive diagnosis and didn’t know what was in front of me, or knowing that I had, unknowingly, put others at risk but that is the way this virus rolls and I feel as of lately, everyone is a bit more understanding, especially when people are taking the best precautions they can, shy of staying home completely, that exposure just happens!
So, a positive diagnosis, now what? I felt like watching a pot of water boiling waiting and wondering what I was going to feel because other than feeling a little run down, I surprisingly felt okay.
I am not one to share a lot of personal information, but after speaking with a friend today, he encouraged me to write my story to share how a healthy person manages Covid. This is MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. My heart goes out to all those that have lost loved ones to the virus, have suffered themselves or are still managing side effects from the virus. What I hope to share is the importance of getting yourself healthy so that when things happen such as illnesses, accidents or viruses, your system is better equipped to handle them and this can potentially lessen the severity of symptoms and aid in the recovery process potentially shortening the time that you are laid up. I would, also, like to add, I am diagnosed Asthmatic and have managed to not need the use of a rescue inhaler for more than two years - essentially, this would be considered an underlying condition!
So, this is how it unfolded. At the moment I received the positive diagnosis, I knew I had at least 10 days in Quarantine, pending symptoms and needed to take it one day at a time.
I know the following was vital to kicking this thing’s ASS:
Drinking as much water as I possibly could
Sleeping on my belly and getting up to move through the night (if I could)
Taking Vitamin D
Resting but moving when I could to keep the lungs active
So, I wallowed in a little sorrow on Saturday night…probably just the exhaustion and anticipation of finding out. Sometimes I think the fear of wondering if I was going to get it was part of the exhaustion. Well, at least I knew I was now going to get some rest.
MY Personal Journal
Sunday:
I woke up, feeling okay! I began the day with my usual cup of coffee but then started with cups and cups of hot water…so much so that I moved my electric kettle upstairs where I was spending most of my time.
I started cleaning out my closet and getting rid of some clothes I wasn’t wearing anymore. Something many people did during lockdown but I was too busy working virtually that I didn’t have time back then!
Gearing up in a mask and all, I headed off to a secluded spot to walk where I wouldn’t be in contact with any people and if I had the energy, I needed to get some movement in and I managed 6 miles no problem. Hmmm…okay…this thing isn’t so bad I thought to myself!!
Monday:
I got up a little later than usual having not slept so well that night and began my morning ritual of coffee, then hot water and some yoga to move around but everything felt really heavy and a huge effort! I had a morning of virtual teaching (yoga and stretch) but cancelled my yoga class because I just didn’t feel I could make it through. It took so much energy to make it through the morning before climbing back into bed where I spent the rest of the day except to get up to get more water, try to eat some soup and use the bathroom. No other symptoms but wow, was I exhausted!
Tuesday:
Same thing as Monday but fortunately, I didn’t have anything on my schedule for that day so I was able to just stay in bed ALL day. Water, soup and rest…
Wednesday:
I woke up feeling a bit better than Tuesday and still not really any other symptoms. No cough and only a tiny bit of congestion. I could still smell and taste - phew…that was a good thing. Sometimes I’d think I was losing my taste buds but have to remind myself that I burnt my tongue on the darn hot water…
I was determined to move today so, I geared up and walked 3 miles…ok…good girl, don’t push it, listen to your body! More rest.
Thursday:
Was similar to Wednesday and WooHoo, it was New Year’s Eve!!!
Friday:
I increased my walk to 4 miles but I was definitely starting to feel depressed. Here it was New Year’s Day…and I just wasn’t feeling it!
The craziest part of this virus was not knowing what to expect and/if more symptoms were coming. Fortunately, the only other symptom I felt (in a very mild way) was a bit of brain fog for a portion of one day and I know this is another symptom people often complain of.
Saturday:
By Saturday afternoon, I took a positive turn and felt like my old self again…well, maybe even a bit better because I was fully rested. And here I was 10 days since the onset of my symptoms and all my symptoms were gone!
Sunday:
I trekked out for 6 miles and on Monday I got back to working out and another 6 mile walk.
I will take it slowly going back to work knowing that daily routine will make me tired until I build my stamina back up.
I am grateful that my symptoms were mild, but I what I would like to share is that since March when we were ALL in lockdown, I focused a lot of my attention on my health and supplementation. Was I the perfect specimen, absolutely NOT, but some of the things I had done were:
Daily Supplementation in a addition to what I already took:
Increased my Vitamin C to between 7,000-8,000 mg/day
Increased my Vitamin D from 1,000 i.u. to 2,000 i.u./day
Prebiotics and Probiotics daily
NAC (N-Acetylcysteine) - an amino acid that increases glutathione levels, which supports respiratory health and detoxification in the liver and kidneys.
Exercise:
Walking 6 miles every day (since lockdown began)
Running / interval runs or jumping rope (2-3x/week)
Yoga & Meditation (daily but could be as little as 10-15 min)
Working out in my house 3x / week.
My nutrition was clean but not perfect - hey we were in lockdown for months…something had to give…and yes, alcohol was in there as well!
The reality is…
We are responsible for what we put in our bodies and how we take care of our bodies (this includes our minds as well). So often we take for granted the very sacred vessel we were given at birth.
WHY?
Because we think it will never break down?
Because we are above having to take care of ourselves?
Because we want to be a rebel and not eat something because it is green in color?
NO, NO and NO
FINAL THOUGHTS AND ACTION ITEMS
Don’t wait to get sick and then blame someone else because you didn’t take care of yourself. Don’t wait to get sick and demand to be taken care of by someone else because you can’t take care of yourself.
I spent my Covid illness by myself, taking care of myself and I was fortunate to be able to do this because I took care of myself preCovid.
Please don’t get your panties all in a tizzy right now because I am not talking about the minority - those that have illnesses that put them at higher risk or those rare healthy people that just get knocked on their ass with this virus. You know who I am talking to right now…and you know what, maybe some people just don’t know how to do it and that is okay…ask for help. But learn - take the time to learn and get to know yourself. If we listen to what our bodies need, really listen, it will tell us and no, it is NOT telling you more Krispy Kremes or Nachos with extra cheese.
Changing habits can be so challenging and frustrating but for a good cause, like your health, it will be well worth it as you will feel better in so many amazing ways but most of all so that you don’t have to be as fearful as the media tells you to be!
Prevention goes a long way and while it didn’t stop me from getting Covid, it did help me with my healing. We are governed to quarantine once diagnosed so please if you are exposed or diagnosed honor this. If not for yourself, then for others!
If you are ready to improve your quality of living, let go of fears and live a healthier life, or just want to get a head start on those 2021 “get healthy” resolutions then contact me today and lets have a conversation about how you can get you started - one habit at a time! If you are willing to try, I am here to support you in your journey.
Photos courtesy of Unsplah.com
Christmas photo by Rodion Kutsaev
Dog on couch photo by Nathan Dumlao
Woman in mask photo by Katie Rodriquez
Apple photo by Diane Helentjaris
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