Y’all may have wondered where I’ve been. Well…my wife and I caught the little ‘c’ at Thanksgiving. She was mostly asymptomatic, just fatigue. I wasn’t.
Covid is nasty stuff. My primary symptom was near continuous coughing. We had no fever nor other real symptoms. For me, it was coughing followed by a lack of appetite. I lost fifteen pounds in about ten days. I just couldn’t eat and forcing myself was worse. My wife finally won the argument and we went to the ER a week after we started having symptoms. Tested. Yep, both of us positive.
Because of my coughing, I got a chest x-ray. The ER doc said, “Covid pneumonia.” On the good side, my blood O2 was in the low 90s, 92-94%.
One of the best purchases we made on the way home from the ER, when we stopped at our pharmacy to fill some ‘scripts, was to buy a blood O2 meter. It’s a little thing, pricey at around $50. You clip it to a finger, press the button and wait a few seconds for the reading to appear. The covid nurses, when I was hospitalized, carried an almost identical device. My wife and I used it to monitor our oxygen level several times a day. Best $50 we spent this month. The ER doc said if my O2 level dropped below 90%, to get to the ER immediately.
On the subject of testing. It’s a joke. Kansas is running ads that imply testing will prevent the spread of covid. The test is after-the-fact. If you’re positive, you’ve got it. Will you get sick? Maybe. Maybe not. The test just confirms you have the virus. If it’s negative, so what? That could change next week. What really irks me is the ad implies testing is a preventative. Bull! Get tested if you want. But, don’t expect the test to prevent you from getting the virus if you’re exposed.
Our county, here south of Kansas City, has ‘free’ public testing on Wednesday at a drive-through at a hospital. On Thursday, the same setup at another hospital at the other end of the county. Just drive up and be tested—if you have an appointment. Several friends made appointments (online, the only way,) and on arrival—no appointment. Fortunately for them, the work load was low, almost non-existent.
So, we were positive. A lady from the county health called to tell us (if you’re negative, you aren’t called.) She asked about symptoms, where we thought we got it, chatted and rang off. No invasive personal questions.
The ER visit was on Monday. The call from the county was on Wednesday…ten days after symptoms first appeared. We were out of quarantine by the time we were notified we tested positive!
Come the weekend, Saturday. I was feeling pretty good. That is until late in the afternoon when it all crashed. I felt like my bloodsugar bottomed out. I was very shaky. I’m border-line diabetic. Off to the ER again. My wife drove. I didn’t think I could.
The boss ER doc was on duty when we got there. He took one look at me and sent me off for a catscan of my chest. Ten minutes later he said I had a blood clot in my right lung. He was transferring me to a larger hospital with a empty covid bed.
Just when I was beginning to feel better.
Summary of the weekend. Hauled off by ambulance to one of KC’s larger hospitals for the weekend. Was given a ‘script for a blood thinner. Fortunately, the type of clot I had wasn’t the kind to move.
I was released a week ago today and am feeling much better. My coughing is much less but fatigue remains. I’ve told some friends my energy level is 0.3 on a 10-point scale.
I haven’t written anything since before Thanksgiving. My motivation is zero. I’ve about 32K words completed for The Prodigals. Most of my time in the hospital was spent mentally writing scenes and dialog. Now to save those thoughts before I forget them.
Slowly, day by day, I’m getting better and coughing less. I haven’t put a target date on The Prodigals, yet, just sometime in 2021.
The cover will be different from my previous books of the Tri-Cluster Confederation. It will be of people, the three main characters, instead of space scenes like my published books. That is, if I can find a graphic artist who can create realistic people in a SF motif.
Hope you all have a great holiday season. I’ll be working, making up time lost.
Mike Watson
