I know y’all pretty much down to a T. Those who listen, but even more those who read. The few who know me know that I post and archive. Specifically when I write a post sensitive in social commentary. This is the latter, so on you go at your own risk with no warning asterisks. In this post I am flanked by men of my choosing. I am THAT old. Old enough to pick, old enough to point. Usually I pick those receptive to listening and better yet hearing. At this point in our century of life we surround ourselves with bodies who choose to leave a better life behind. We are the people who paint our past for those who deign to look at us in the future. I am wearing a mask. I am a double vaccinated mother. Who contracted Covid. This is called a breakthrough case. To be upfront: my youth was mired in severe bronchial problems and asthma. I was a prime candidate for this not going well. Let me describe my iffy four days. They were terrifying. I was caught off guard by how fast it came on as much as I was by how fast it left my body. For those who think this is not real: again, I understand what not breathing and constricted airflow feels like.
This was a bit past that. Not breathing is not painful by the way. But there is also pain. My eyes had puss that closed my lids. My sinuses were inflamed and I couldn’t open my eyes. My throat was sore enough I couldn’t swallow. I am a migraine sufferer and it did not reach that level but I had a severe 1 bottle of sulfate rich burgundy worth hangover for 168 hours. Yes, they were bad enough I counted, but not as bad that I couldn’t. Cramps and joint inflammation woke me in unrelenting rheumatoid arthritic pain..so add insomnia to the list. Friends, I was a hair close to calling it in the middle of the second night the onslaught of symptoms happened. But I didn’t. And as swiftly as it came, as battered as I felt, the virus left me. I want to be super clear: this thing, this beast, was not anything my body or brain recognized. It came on as fast and furious as it left. It is a bewildering monster. I know in my deepest flesh that it would have bested me without a vaccine. Please give yourselves the same odds my country offered me.