I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS/ME), and that for many years. In fact, it has now been roughly 34 years that I have had CFS. That's a long time and it has at times been a challenging and difficult road to travel. I'm always ill, it's just the degree that changes. Sometimes it is severe, while at other times other people would have no idea that I am ill. I always know, with barely a day that goes by without some level of nausea, tiredness, etc. So when COVID came along (when was it, like 2019?) I was somewhat fearful of what catching it might mean for me, with an immune deficiency syndrome that often played havoc with my health. What would happen if I caught COVID in the middle of a particularly bad CFS outbreak?
I sought from very early on in the pandemic to take as many precautions as I could. It frustrated me when people cared so little about what catching COVID could mean to people like me, or those in far worse situations. They basically didn't care (generally speaking - some did of course) and acted with selfish abandon. I wore my mask when out and about, I made sure I got the vaccinations when they were available, along with all other precautions that it was wise to follow. And so for four to five years, I was able to live life without catching COVID.
I followed the daily updates on the number of cases, particularly around where I lived and took precautions accordingly. Then the stats were no longer given out and it became increasingly difficult to know what was happening in the local scene regarding COVID. Of course, in a smallish town there is always talk and you get to hear when there is a spike in numbers, but generally, these spikes happen prior to obtaining the required knowledge about the spikes. As it became more difficult to monitor the local scene I inevitably became more lax in my daily approach. I did still try to be safe, though I foolishly stopped wearing the mask, particularly in the workplace.
Then I caught the flu in April 2024, again in May 2024, and several more times during May and June 2024. This really should have been a warning about my compromised autoimmune system. I was certainly aware that my health was in bad shape and that I was obviously in a very run-down state. So when I became sick again on the Sunday night just gone, I decided it was time to try and rectify the situation with the limited tools that I had available. It was time to take some long service leave, have a break, rest and try to recover and gain 'strength.' But it was too late!
After being quite ill on Monday and staying home, I thought I needed to attend the First Aid training course that I was booked into on Tuesday via my workplace. I did feel a lot better when I got up, even though I was obviously still ill. I 'knew' I didn't have COVID because I had been carrying out tests throughout, with the latest on Tuesday Morning showing negative. I did deteriorate throughout the day, with intensifying fevers, sore throat, general feelings of unwellness, etc. I was done by the end of the course and went home.
This brings me to Wednesday, with yet another test showing negative I went to work. I was feeling dire by this stage and knew I couldn't continue. I held on until I was able to get approval for the immediate taking of some long service leave and was told 'I don't want to see you for a couple of weeks.' Everyone knew I needed the break and the approval was instant. I needed to get well. I had a tele-appointment with the GP set up for the next day, so I thought I had my bases covered. So off I went home, with hardly any voice left - such was the state of my throat by this stage. I continued to deteriorate.
When I woke this morning my throat was on fire. I was finding it difficult to breathe and my voice was almost gone. There was a persistent cough now, which I hadn't had throughout the entirety of my recent flu experience. Whatever this was, it wasn't the flu that I had been managing to catch on almost a weekly basis. 'This has to be COVID,' was my thinking and I immediately took another test. And there it was - a very clear and distinct positive result in my RAT. COVID had finally caught me. And was I sick!!!
Comments