When the Coronavirus began to spread worldwide, I think it’s reasonable to suggest that all of us experienced (and are still experiencing) some level of fear. The fear of it spreading to you or your friends and family and if you did get it, would you survive? Part of me was also in deep denial that it could happen to me. I’m not sure why when I had the last virus that swept the U.S. in 2009, aka Swine Flu. Regardless, I still took the pandemic very seriously and for the most part, was cautious.

We just had our baby boy, Declan, so I was hyper vigilant on anyone we interreacted with when he first entered the world. Still to this day, only a handful of people have actually met him, let alone held him. I have hardly seen my friends or family this year, and while plenty of my friends and family had traveled in 2020, I haven’t stepped on an airplane or even left Texas. The craziest human interaction we’ve had is going to the grocery store and once in a while to a restaurant but typically sat outside. I also continued to work full-time without childcare because of my fear of catching the virus.

All of that said, we made a decent effort to comply with the CDC guidelines, and yet, we still found ourselves face-to-face with COVID-19.

MY POSITIVE COVID TEST

I believe that Declan had the virus first. I had thought he had an ear infection and a cold, so I took him to the doctor to get a checkup. He didn’t have a fever, so they suggested it was just him teething. A few days later, I woke up with a teeny, tiny sore throat. It was days before Christmas, and we had plans to see our family. I decided the responsible thing to do was to get a test.

After a quick search, rapid tests were the only available option in my area. I remained on the phone with my mom (who is a nurse) while I took the test in my car. Guys, I was so confident that I didn’t have the Coronavirus that when the nurse came back to give me my results this is the conversation that took place…

Nurse: “Okay, so, your results are positive. Here is some paperwork on what you’ll need to do next.”

Me: (So confident that I would hear a negative and not fully listening….) “Okay, great! Thanks! Have a great day!!” (As I drive off into the distance…)

My Mom on the phone: Silence…. “Kayla, did you not hear her?”

Me: (Hitting the brakes) “Oh my god. She said positive!” (Cue my 2-minute cry and doomsday music playing in my head.)

I didn’t feel sick enough that the positive results were a huge shock to me. Not to mention, how did we even get this? We had hardly seen anyone! It just goes to show, ANY TIME you step out of the house, you take a risk.

QUARANTINE AND WAITING GAME

After I got home and shared the news with my husband, I felt a HUGE rush of anxiety. I had been glued to my TV for the last 9 months, and based on the media, I definitely was going to die. It’s silly if you look at the stats and my health, I wasn’t likely to croak, but the media makes COVID seem to be a death sentence for everyone due to their anecdotal coverage.

There’s no doubt that this is a serious virus and that it’s sadly taken the lives of so many this last year, but I think the worst symptom of the virus is the anxiety attack that comes with it. Each day I was waiting for my lungs to collapse and for me to have to be rushed to the ER. However, I’m clearly writing this blog post 14-days later and happy to report I never needed hospital care. I also want to share my daily symptoms in hopes to help someone who just received a positive test and needing some reassurance – even though everyone has responded differently to this virus.

Day 1: I test positive the minute I felt my first symptoms which was a tiny sore throat. Within 12 hours that day, I would feel extreme cold symptoms move in such as a runny nose, congestion, a cough and SEVERE exhaustion.

Day 2: This was definitely my worst day. I woke up that night feeling like water was in my lungs. I learned quickly that laying on your back is a no-no with COVID because your lungs can’t expand as well. The following nights I would lay on my belly. On day 2, my symptoms had worsened into a REALLY bad cold. Same symptoms of runny nose, congestion, a cough and SEVERE exhaustion.

Concerned, I called my healthcare provider, and they gave me a cough medicine and Z-pak.

Day 3 – 4: I was finally starting to feel better with my cold symptoms, but the exhaustion and congestion remained.

Day 5 and on: I gradually started to feel better every day and currently just have a little congestion remaining. I never lost my taste or smell and can say that, for me, it felt like a bad cold.

I was definitely the sickest one in my family. My baby just had a runny nose for about 5 days and my husband had ONE day where he felt like he was going to sneeze all day with some pressure in his face.

COVID TREATMENT PLAN

Unless you’re severely sick, there’s not much you can do in terms of medication for COVID. I don’t know if the Z-pak did much for me, but I did start feeling better the day after I started taking it. I also continued to take my steroid inhaler that is part of my asthma treatment plan.

Beyond that, we were on top of taking vitamins to boost our immune system. The vitamins we took were as follows…

Vitamin D3 (10,000 units)

Vitamin C (1000 mg)

Zinc (200 mg)

I also continued to take my magnesium (500 mg) that I religiously take for my vestibular migraine treatment, which brings me to my next point…

VESTIBULAR SYMPTOMS AND COVID

It’s been discussed that one symptom of COVID is vertigo. Well, if you have a vestibular disorder, it’s hard to know if you’re experiencing dizziness from the coronavirus or if it’s just another day in dizzy land. I will say that for me, I felt 10x dizzier than normal.

I typically have VM attacks when I’m stressed or anxious, and as I stated above, my positive test had me anxiously awaiting my demise the entire 14 days. No doubt that contributed to my VM symptoms, along with the congestion and exhaustion. Getting up to use the restroom felt like running a mile and was even more exhausting when you’re trying to not run into the walls.

Overall, even if COVID did present dizziness symptoms as part of my illness, I would have no idea. I definitely was dizzier, but dizziness is at least something I know how to cope with, unlike the fear of ending up in the hospital because my lungs were filled with fluid.

I’M STILL ALIVE AND KICKING

I now write this blog 14 days later after coming down with the Coronavirus. We were lucky and had mild symptoms. I don’t even think we were hit with a second wave that I had known to affect other friends of mine. They say between days 5 and 10 things can worsen and you need to pay attention to your symptoms. I’m very grateful that we are reportedly doing okay. And honestly, based on what I’ve been reading and stories from others who have had COVID, their experiences have been relatively similar to mine.

That doesn’t mean that I’m taking away from the fact that COVID is deadly, however, it’s a reminder that if you do in fact test positive, take a deep breath. It’s very unlikely that you’ll end up in the hospital if you’re proactive with taking care of yourself.

And in the meantime, just wear your freaking mask. I’m still convinced that I became ill from you people with your noses hanging out of your mask. That’s right, I’m looking at you, Karen.