The Sneak Attack

Hmm—where do I start? Well, I got sick. Like really sick. It definitely came out of nowhere and snuck up on me. I'm relatively young, healthy and have no underlying conditions that would make me susceptible to illness—other than I'm human and it happens. I'm typically good about taking my vitamins and supplements on the regular. I haven't been sick in 2 years. Lucky me! But I got lazy and let my guard down. A week and a half before I got smacked, I stopped with my daily routine. No particular reason, just pure laziness I suppose. Well, I paid for it. And I'll be honest—COVID put me on my ass! At least that was the start of my train wreck. 

It started on the 15th of December. I woke up and just felt off and little more tired than usual. Nothing to write home about. Nick was already sick and tested negative for COVID. A bunch of my athletes starting dropping off with illness, but I was assured everyone tested negative for COVID. So I wasn't really worried and didn't feel the need to just take a test for the hell of it. I figured I probably had the common cold. But is that even a thing anymore? Anyways, the next day I developed a sore throat. Then came the nasal congestion, the cough, the ear pain, the headache and sinus pressure. All typical symptoms of...well a cold. But then a few days later, my symptoms ramped up. Now it felt more like the flu. I added fatigue, the chills, and a fever to my symptoms. Ok, great. I have the flu. Glad to see that's also back! I felt pretty bad for about 2 days but then perked up. That's pretty standard for me when I get the flu. 

By day 6 I was feeling alright. Did some Christmas shopping. Met Nick for lunch. Did all the things I would normally do, even though I still had the congestion. It was manageable and I continued on with life. I went to work, wore a mask but definitely made an effort to distance from people. Because that's just common courtesy when you don't feel well but still have to work. This was also the day before my family was supposed to travel to Kentucky for Christmas. I had to call and break the news. “Mom, I can't smell or taste bourbon!” Say what? This was 8 days into being sick. No denying COVID at this point. I don't know anything else that would cause this nonsense. Luckily my senses returned within about 48 hours. I took an at home test to confirm. That sucker lit up so fast and was darker than the control line. Damn, that sucks! That's all I needed to know. I still felt overall ok at this point. Had a fever that I didn't realize at the time. The worst of it was the chest and nasal congestion, cough, ear pain and headache. But Christmas was canceled for us. Not taking the chance. 

Then day 9 hit and I was like WTF?! I took a turn down the wrong road. I obviously didn't see the wrong way signs. Yikes! The best way I can put it is that I was fucking steamrolled. Funny because 5 days earlier I thought I felt pretty shitty. Yeah, that was nothing compared to what I was dealing with now. Cue the 100+ fever, fatigue like I've never felt before, complete weakness, eye pain, joint pain, body aches. You name it—I fucking had it. I would alternate between being bundled up in the fetal position with the chills to lying spread eagle, half-naked and sweating under the fan on high—all while not being able to hold my eyes open because I literally was too weak. Nick and I would have conversations and my eyes would never open. I would either lay on the couch or in bed depending on where I ended up. Mostly just in the dark and silence. No TV, no phone. Nothing. I couldn't do anything. I was pathetic. This is so unlike me when I'm sick. I'll be honest, I felt like I was being a little bitch—but I truly couldn't function. Occasionally I would cry because I didn't know what was happening or why I felt this bad. It didn't make sense. Unfortunately, this continued for another 10 days and into the new year. Yep, we missed out on New Years too. Go me! 

It was literally to the point where I had to force myself to get up and move or else I would surely develop a DVT from lack of blood circulating. Yet I still had no energy and was so incredibly weak. I would get to the top of our stairs and have to sit down. Then I would take about 10 more steps and lay in bed for a while. I had to brush my teeth every morning, sitting down because I didn't have the strength to stand that long. I know—it doesn't take that long but I seriously couldn't do it. Taking a shower was also quite the task. The process probably took about 45 minutes every day. I would have to sit after just a few minutes. I felt like I was going to vomit and pass out. It was awful. Every day I soaked in a hot bath with a cup of ice water that I forced myself to finish before I got out. The bath never actually felt hot because my body temperature was so high—but it was the only temporary relief I could get. On the days my temperature would really spike, I developed a rash on my face and neck. Ugh—just add on something else because I wasn't already miserable enough.

I always kind of down played my symptoms when friends would check on me every day because I didn't want to worry anyone, even though I was in total freak out mode myself. I kept telling Nick I didn't think I would ever get better. If I'm being honest, there were 2 days where I thought I was gonna die and was shocked when I woke up the next morning. I was like, "wow, I get another day!" That's just how completely depleted I was. My fever would spike to 102. I would wake up in a pool of sweat in the middle of the night. I was absolutely terrified. My heart rate while lying down doing absolutely nothing was in the upper 90s. When I would stand and start walking, it would climb to about 140. So scary. My body was fighting so hard. 

Finally after talking with friends, I realized that I likely had more going on than just COVID. None of this made sense. I was running a fever for over 2 weeks. That is not normal, especially not for a healthy adult. By this point, I had zero appetite so I also hadn't eaten anything substantial in about 48 hours. I couldn't ingest anything other than water or else I would gag and vomit. I was starting to get dehydrated as a result and was already as weak as could be. Not a good combination. But I kept trucking along, well resting—because that's all I could do. 

I drove myself to get PCR tested on the 27th which was 7 days after my positive test. Looking back I shouldn't have driven because I was not all with it. I was definitely in a haze—almost felt like I had a concussion. To my surprise however, the test came back negative. I was shocked, but that's when I knew something else was going on. COVID just suppressed my immune system and let everyone that wanted, to just come on in. Apparently it didn't realize that I'm an introvert and don't like big parties. Anyways, I did a telehealth visit the next day. Ended up being tested for the flu and strep. Had a chest x-ray, blood work and a urinalysis done. Everything came back clear. What? How? The PA was just a baffled as I was, but I wasn't settling on this being nothing. I already let this run its course. Now it's just trampling me. We just haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet. 

The prolonged fever was the biggest concern along with a horrendous cough that was producing mucus with blood and my abnormally high heart rate. The immediate thought was maybe I had a stubborn case of bacterial pneumonia that wasn't showing up on imaging. So I started on an antibiotic—Augmentin to be exact. I was days into it and still no reduction in my fever. I actually started to feel a little worse, especially with the added side effects from the drug. Didn't think that was possible. Guys I’m embarrassed to even admit this, but I literally shit my pants while I was just sitting on the couch. Seriously? I mean kick me while I'm down already. Damn! I already had no energy and now I had no choice but to deal with that situation. Ugh. That was the very moment I wished I was still a little kid and mom could just handle it. Not so much. 

I called the PA back and explained that this drug was not the answer. There was no improvement. We went back and fourth on what this could be with the slew of symptoms I had. Did I have a pulmonary embolism? Was this a case of endocarditis among other things? Was this still related to COVID? We didn't know. We discussed what symptoms were serious and when I needed to get to the hospital ASAP. I made it a point to tell the PA that I was not going to the emergency room. I don't think she was thrilled with me. She did tell me that my throat culture ended up coming back with staph in it and was the likely culprit, causing a systemic infection. I was not pleased to hear this but it definitely made sense based on how I was feeling. So we threw another antibiotic into the mix—doxycycline this time. Why not? I should mention that I don't ever take drugs of any kind, unless I've exhausted all other options and am purely desperate. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. Here I was ingesting not 1 but 2 serious antibiotics. Fuck me. This is awful. Guess what? After a few doses of doxy and 16 days later, my fever finally broke. Woohoo!! Not sure I was totally in the clear yet, but this was a huge step in the right direction. 

It was such an intense and crazy few weeks. The only for sure thing out of all this was that I tested positive for COVID. So I knew I had that. However, by time I realized I had it—it was already pretty much out of my system. So what in the world wreaked so much havoc on me? I don't know that we'll ever truly know the answer. All I know is that I'm just about back to normal—not quite a 100% but pretty damn close. I thank God for that. The whole situation was terrifying for me. I'm not normally sick and when I am, it's usually not a big deal. I typically let it run its course without meds, without seeing a doc and do just fine. That wasn't the case this time around. This knocked me on my ass for the better part of 3 weeks and took about 15lbs off me. It was truly a sneak attack! 

Although I kept everything on the DL because I didn't feel the need to make a big to do about being sick, I'm thankful for those that checked on me daily and supported me through this whirlwind. Friends with more knowledge than me on all of this were a Godsend. They encouraged me, kept tabs on my symptoms, and pushed me to keep asking questions and get answers. This was huge! Without them I would probably still be struggling. And I'm especially thankful for my hubby who did everything for me because I was weak, helpless and absolutely miserable. I felt so bad—Nick made some amazing meals, hoping I would eat—only for me to say, “I’m not hungry”and not eat any of it. Worst wife ever. But I'm back now. So bring it!