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Ever since the coronavirus pandemic came on the scene my husband and I have been extra careful. We both received the vaccines and the boosters we were eligible for. We avoided crowds and made sure we were masked when we went out in public. We had many friends and neighbors who came down with Covid, but we avoided them until long past the time they were contagious. We began to feel lucky that we were among those who had not gotten sick. Well, that soon changed.
We decided that it was safe enough to take a much-needed vacation to New Orleans. When the time for us to leave arrived we made sure we had enough masks to last us the week we would be gone. We realized that those times we may be at the highest risk of contracting Covid were on the plane, at the airport, and in very crowded areas, so we were extra careful wearing masks and sanitizing our hands after touching anything.
Luckily New Orleans was not very crowded during the week we spent there and we managed to avoid large gatherings of people. We both had a great time seeing the sites and especially eating the great Cajun and Creole food. We walked a lot, burning off the calories we consumed, and remained quite healthy the entire trip. We didn't even get overly tired with all of the walking. It was a great vacation.
On our flight back home, from Charlotte, NC to Rochester, NY, we were unfortunate enough to have some asshole sitting behind us who coughed constantly during the entire flight. We were careful to leave our masks on, except for that one time while we drank our juice and ate our pretzels. We were among the very few people on the plane who were wearing masks. Masks are optional on American Airlines flights.
We returned home on Saturday and felt great. All of this changed on Sunday. Kevin began to feel sick with a scratchy throat and chills. I just had my usual sinus problems which affect me on most days. Kevin tested negative for Covid on Sunday. Since he was negative I didn't test myself.
On Monday Kevin had a high fever, muscle aches and pains, and a bad cough. I felt okay. Kevin tested positive for Covid, so I tested myself too, and I was also positive.
We both had a scheduled doctor's appointment for Tuesday but cancelled. Our doctor spoke to us by phone and suggested Kevin be prescribed Paxlovid for Covid. Since I was taking medication for Afib I could not take Paxlovid, so I had to ride it out. Paxlovid was not easy to get. Wegman's doesn't carry it and there was a bit of a wait at Walgreens's.
When Kevin finally began to take the medication he almost immediately began to have side effects. He had a terrible sore throat and trouble swallowing. After conferring with our doctor he stopped taking Paxlovid. After about a week Kevin no longer had a fever and began to feel better except for the bad cough, aches and pains, and fatigue. He did, however, lose his senses of taste and smell. I never developed a fever or muscle aches or any of the other usual symptoms of Covid, except for extreme fatigue. It felt as though I had a bad sinus infection, which is nothing new to me.
About 2 weeks after initially testing positive, we both tested negative and were feeling much better. Kevin is slowly getting some of his sense of taste back, but not his sense of smell. We are slowly getting back to normal and feel lucky that we both had our vaccinations and booster shots. We both are going to wear our masks when in public and will take all precautions to avoid getting this again. Covid can still get you when you least expect it!
