My Covid Journey, Part 2

Since the first part was almost a year removed from the event, I think it would be a good idea to post an update as well.  So far, all four of my immediate family have received both shots of the vaccine.

I still advocate getting the vaccine, since it is obviously the smart thing to do at this point in time.  I preface my next part with this because my experience with the vaccine will likely make it sound quite the opposite.

The vaccine was offered to employees at my company sooner than most people, thanks to the nature of our industry.  I quickly jumped on the list.  Apparently, we were allowed to sign up our family members. Since my company is absolutely abysmal at communications, none of the people in my department even knew we could bring anyone else. It would have been great to get my wife a shot, seeing as how she was still an "essential" worker at the time. Also to help protect our two young kids at home... but nope. I guess no reason to tell us since we aren't the big wigs.

I was near furious about it, if you couldn't tell.

Anyway, the first dose was at the end of the day.  Our department was the last to actually get it.  It was pretty fitting, considering that's how they like to treat us.  Anyway, after a few false starts and changes, we were finally allowed to go over and get our first shot.  Everything was fine for a time.

After being at work for two hours the next day, the side effects started to kick in.  I got hit hard.  I think I had the whole list.  It started with chills that had me shivering in my seat.  For better or worse, no one noticed because our seating was staggered for safety.  I then got very tired, and even had some nausea throughout the rest of the day.  I got home, told my wife what was going on, laid down and went to sleep.

I got up the next day, and only felt a little better.  I called out so I could rest, and slept some more.  I honestly didn't anticipate the vaccine running me over with a truck, but there I was.  Supposedly, if you get covid, it gives you resistance to it for three months afterwards.  My vaccine dose was at the tail end of that, so it may have acted like the second shot.  Either way, I was pretty miserable.  Still far less scary than when I actually had covid, and far less coughing.  I could actually sleep lying down.

I was better enough towards the end of that day, and went back to work the next.  Almost a month later, we received our second shot.  Anticipating a worse reaction, I told my boss I would be out the next day.

Strangely, it didn't hit me quite as hard as the first.  Maybe only 90% as bad?  I had chills when I got home, and just stayed in the bed to try and get warm.  I slept as much as I could.  The next day, I was again drowsy, with some intermittent nausea.  It was easier to deal with because I had an idea what to expect after the first shot.

Very much worth it though, especially as yet another variant rampages through our society.  Now to see how the booster effects me, if I can find a place that has appointments open.  Maybe the other brand of vaccine won't hit me as hard, but only time and a little experimentation will tell.

As an aside, my job did eventually offer a booster shot to employees. On the last hour of the day. The day before Thanksgiving. And with no prior warning. Ridiculous.

My Covid Journey, Part 1

Nearing the anniversary of this, I figure it's time to talk about it.  So, here it goes.

2020.  Wow, that was quite a crappy year.  It would be easy to think the run from 2016 to 2020 wouldn't constantly get worse and worse.  Yet it did, culminating with the utter dumpster fire that was 2020.  While there is a ton of possible things to discuss, I'm going to go with my personal journey through the biggest story of 2020, the corona virus.

I was fortunate enough to keep my job through the pandemic.  I was also able to work from home for about 2 months.  Eventually my boss required us to come in once a week, then leveraged that to be full time back in the office.  I won't go into details, but it wasn't ideal or necessary.  We were also the only department to actually do so, still to this day.  At least they bought us lunch that one time?

Anyway, we wore masks, spread out, and things were going okay.  Near the end of the year, one of our co-workers got sick.  They assured everyone it was a head cold.  Without a negative test, they had to stay out 10 days.  With a day left, they finally got a test.  Or, claimed they did.  They said it was negative, but that it didn't matter because the 10 days were up anyway.  Then, another person got sick.  She was staying out the 10 days, but couldn't get rid of her cough.  She, of course, "couldn't" get a test.  Then, I got sick for a few days.  Being responsible, I got tested.

It was positive.

It's hard to describe exactly what it felt like to see that, but I will try.  It was like time stopped for a second, and everything fell into despair.  I think I was in shock.  I could comprehend what the result meant.  I could very well die from this.  I just made a sad face and held the phone out to my wife.  Her eyes went wide.  We knew she would have to get tested, although the chances of it being the same were 99%.

She did, and it was positive.  I informed my work, and she hers.  We planned how to stay away from the kids as much as possible.  They would continue to stay in their rooms, while we would stay downstairs as much as possible.

2020 just had to get in that last kick.  On the second to last day of the year, I had finally tested positive for Covid.

My wife's work, being retail-oriented, had a plan in place to pay out 2 weeks while you stay home, after providing a positive test to some third party place.  She did that and was able to sit around and recover, in between worrying about me, the kids, herself, and cooking meals.  My work had no such safety net.  I could use all of my sick time, or try to work remotely.  Not knowing how the virus was going to affect me, I chose to work what I could, and just use sick time to fill in the gaps.  My boss agreed, and that is what happened for the next two weeks.

Thankfully, my case did not get too serious.  There was a lot of coughing, which made sleeping extremely difficult.  For the first few nights, I had to poorly sleep in the corner of my couch, and mostly upright.  Not fun.  Once I was able to sleep lying down, it got better.  Again, I'm lucky to have not needed hospitalization, or worse.  My wife fared better than I did, having an even more mild case.  My son had some symptoms for a few days, but seemed better quickly, or at least told me he was better.  My daughter didn't show or tell us about any symptoms.  I am very thankful that we got through it.

That second co-worker who was sick? She ended up getting tested after I did. Would you believe she tested positive? Because she did. I'm certain I got it from her, but I'm not sure where she got it. I don't hold it against her, since she was a friend of mine, but I really wish she got tested much earlier than she did. It's strange to be a more mature person than a woman over 55.

Whew. That was quite a ride. At least there is a tiny light of hope after November. 2020 sucked, but at least it's over. 2021 has to be better, right?

Right?

*Sees January 6, 2021*

Oh...well, damn. We're screwed.