“Mrs. ‘Play it safe’, was afraid to fly. She packed her suitcase and kissed her cats goodbye. She waited the whole pandemic to take that flight, and when she got Covid she thought…” Oh Sh!t! 

There are probably so many stories like mine of people being so careful during this pandemic, and the second they let their guard down, take a vacation and travel farther away than just a car ride…they get Covid.

I had this sinking feeling that it was going to happen to me, and I just couldn’t shake it…but I went on my trip anyway! 

We got down to Florida (from CT) to visit my in-laws and I felt great. Two days later I received my booster and felt even calmer about the trip home. As someone with fibromyalgia I deal with fatigue and widespread body pain on a daily basis and being in a warmer climate makes it so much better! We were so active on our trip, my body felt great and I felt so rested and rejuvenated…until the evening before we left. 

On New Year’s Eve I noticed I was really struggling to bike ride and walk on the beach. Now I’d normally struggle a little with these things depending on my pain, but not this much. We had an early morning wake up to catch our flight home and I felt tired (obviously) but otherwise okay until we were in the air. I noticed a little tickle in my throat and thought it was just allergies. When we got in our Lyft…it was getting worse. My concern was high by the time we got home that afternoon. I took a test and it was negative so I relaxed a little and waited. The next day I felt much worse but waited to test again to see how things played out. By Sunday night I had a mild fever and by Monday morning I was positive for Covid. 

I almost had a little chuckle to myself because I had that nagging feeling about going away, but I pushed it away and after an amazing week…I had Covid. After the chuckle, I started to panic! This virus that I’ve spent all this time trying to avoid has made its way into my body. I thought “Oh Sh!t…I have covid”. I had to try to erase the word from my mind and try to just think about how I was feeling and how to help myself heal.

The next crummy part for me in that moment was that as an entrepreneur, I had no plan for what to do if I got Covid. I have an impeccably written policy for my clients and nowhere in there is “What happens if I get Covid”. So, I couldn’t just be sick and get better, I had to figure out what I was going to do, but not yet. 

On top of all of that, the moment that second line showed up on the test my husband immediately put on an N95 mask and asked me to do the same. At first I was kind of angry…”I don’t want to be masked all day in my own home”. After my telehealth appointment with my doctor, she reiterated that we should be distancing and masking at home. That day I began my 10 day isolation. For reference, we live in a 600 square foot apartment (approximately) above our landlord’s home and I was isolated in our bedroom for those 10 days! 

At first the isolation felt fine seeing as I had a fever (the highest was 102.6), cough, congestion, sore throat, no voice (or painful frog-like voice), was sneezing, had a slight headache and was exhausted! Being in bed all day, watching Harry Potter movies and catching up on much needed rest was fine. Eating in my bedroom and being ALONE 24 hours a day for 10 days was NOT fine! Honestly unless you’ve had to isolate or you’ve quarantined alone, you can never know how lonely and sad it is. I deal with seasonal affective disorder as it is and being this way just made it worse. 

On another note, I have to say that I have amazing clients and they were all very understanding about me not being able to teach. Normally if I or a student is unwell, we would just do virtual lessons. However, due to my inability to speak for 4 days, I couldn’t even do that. A few of the families also got hit with covid days before and days after me, so it was an interesting time for us all. Once my voice was back (enough), teaching gave me a tiny sense of normalcy which was nice, but WOW was it exhausting. 

Overall when I think of my symptoms I know I’ve been sicker before. With Covid it is not just how unwell you feel physically, but the mental and emotional toll it takes on you. As my physical health was improving…my mental health was declining and getting worse at a pretty rapid pace. After I got my second positive Covid test the following week I felt even more defeated! I even tested the day I left isolation and I was still positive. It was really messing with my head and again, I had to erase covid from my brain so that I could move forward with my life. 

At this point I am 25 days post my initial symptoms and I’m still on the struggle bus! The fatigue is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I will do one task or one chore and need to sit or lay down for a bit to recover. I’m still dealing with some sadness, anger and some resentment as well as fatigue and asthma. Covid may not have been as bad as I feared (seeing as I have 2 comorbidities) and I do take care of myself by eating well, being as physical as I can be, prioritizing sleep etc, but nobody prepares you for what it will actually be like for YOU as an individual! 

I’m grateful to my family, my husband and anyone that reached out to me during that time. I shared my experience on social media (IG stories) so that others dealing with it wouldn’t feel so alone like I did. I’m immune for a little while now and while I feel very safe in this moment, my experience will make me be that much more on top of my health than before…just in case I ever get it again! 

If you know someone who is sick with covid or isolated for any other reason…check on them! They may not be okay! Stay well everyone!!!

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