Posts Tagged ‘COVID recovery’
He’s Home
Of all the issues clouding our activities of late, this one feels like the most tangible: Asher is home with us again.
He seems pretty pleased to be back in the comforts of his previous territory and free from the constant distractions of other canines needing to be assessed. One clear thing the trainers noted was his constant need to determine the potential threat of the various other dogs coming and going at the kennel. That is not an unusual behavior in a dog but it did clarify that inviting visits with other dogs at our place may be a challenge.
Progressing from the assessment time with the professional trainers, we plan to now work on helping Asher to more consistently respect commands outdoors and learn that the boundaries of our property are non-negotiable. There may be a series of 3 to 5 on-site visits from one of the trainers to supervise the process.
Basically, that means she will be here to teach us more than to teach Asher. I’m sure he already knows what is expected of him. He’s just waiting for us to figure out who the bosses are in our relationship.
An unexpected outcome from two fresh COVID test kits yesterday morning indicated Cyndie’s previous positive result probably wasn’t a fluke. She still looks to be infected and intends to remain isolated from contact with others as much as possible. Thankfully, she is not feeling much worse than any other normal spring day with her allergies to practically everything in our environment, especially hay and molds, in addition to the pollens from every growing plant.
My test came out almost perfectly clean.
The instructions say to look VERY closely because even the faintest hint of a line should be considered a positive result. There is a faint hint but compared to my other test results that were clearly positive, we take this to indicate the virus is losing its command over me.
I’m left with a residual cough that has been my reality for most of my life after an illness. Based on past experience, it will linger for longer than seems reasonable but I’ll eventually get over it.
The tropical rainforest conditions we have been experiencing have the air around here filled with spores from molds, mushrooms, and every manner of flying insects.
Areas of our lawn grass that aren’t beneath standing water will get mowed with brand-new blades that I installed yesterday.
This afternoon we will install flags to mimic the installation of an invisible fence along one of our borders to use in training Asher. In hindsight, it seems so simple after we met with impressive success fencing off our landscape pond and the composting manure piles to train him that those were off-limits.
He has respected that training ever since. (knock on wood)
We are optimistic about the likelihood that Asher will respond equally well to instructions about our property borders once Cyndie and I master the art of being consistent and clear with our leadership.
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Not Necessarily
Things are not always what they seem, especially when we allow our unconscious biases to run willy-nilly throughout our activities unchecked. Cyndie and I now think there may have been a flaw in our testing procedure last Wednesday that allowed for cross-contamination of our results.
She continues to try testing with kits that are beyond their shelf-life between occasions when using new tests. Last night her results were clearly negative. We both agreed that her symptoms that showed up almost instantaneously upon seeing that positive result on Wednesday could well have been psychosomatic.
In a parallel to that, last night’s negative result had her feeling surprisingly healthy. Her mind can be very persuasive.
So, if your gut has been telling you something a little different than what I describe happening in our lives, your intuition is worth acknowledging. If you have been reading my writing for some time, you may sometimes know me better than I know myself.
This morning, we finally have an appointment to retrieve Asher from the training kennel. After tending to horses, we are going to take fresh tests in separate rooms to find out if I should stay home and how careful Cyndie should be about contact with people at the kennel.
If she gets an all-clear, we will assume she never was infected. If I get a clean result, I will be baffled about how the virus works and how/when I have been shedding the virus at a measurable level. Granted, research we have reviewed indicated most people are no longer contagious after 10 days.
It is expected that my vaccinations would have significantly shortened my infection time, along with the length of time I was contagious.
I have no concept of how my sudden flare-up of a bulging disc and subsequent few days of head cold symptoms interrelate to the COVID infection that showed up in the middle of May.
I am ready to put all of it behind me. It is a new month and I am beginning to feel like my old self again, emphasis on old.
My, how quickly a few extra doses of sugar, suddenly becoming sedentary, and plenty of Cyndie’s lovingkindness in the form of “eating therapy” thickens my middle. I’ve got just two weeks to get into biking shape for the Tour of Minnesota week.
That’s not necessarily a hard thing for me to achieve, but past experience does not guarantee future results. Be assured, you will be able to read the play-by-play with each passing day.
Happy June Everyone!
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Long Slog
At the rate things are going for Cyndie and me, there will be no quick fix for what is ailing us. On Day-7 of my COVID infection, we tested for the second time and Cyndie was still negative but I showed a blurry positive result. Wednesday, one week later and Day-14 for me, we both had a strong positive result on a test.
I am now experiencing head cold symptoms. Cyndie developed a headache and now has an upset stomach. We both are running on fumes when it comes to energy. Everything scheduled on our calendar of events continues to get canceled.
In attempt to keep my body moving enough to help my lymph circulation, I continue to chip away at chores outdoors as weather allows and my energy lasts. The riding mower is a pretty easy choice in terms of energy required but my attention to detail isn’t a sharp as normal.
When backing up to reach a spot of tall grass on the edge that I had missed, I heard a distinct thud. I knocked over a flower pot Cyndie had recently planted.
Most of the flowering plants were covered in dirt and smeared across the rocks. I tipped the pot back up, lifted several globs of dirt and plants and placed them back in the pot. Cyndie will never notice.
Are you kidding? I immediately took a picture and texted it to her with my apology.
I may be sick, but I’m not insane.
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Separate Rooms
The end is in sight but apparently it’s too soon for me to celebrate. I have completed the full regimen of antiviral meds and am more than ready to be done with this whole COVID infection. Yesterday, Cyndie brought home some new tests and proved she continues to be free of the virus.
My test wasn’t so clean. We have added a cancellation of our plans to go to the lake for Memorial Day weekend to the list of things scratched off our calendar. The variety of people whom Cyndie arranged to care for the horses during all these events must think we are loony. Each day they get another message that their services are no longer needed.
I decided recovering from COVID was going too easily so I added tweaking my back yesterday just to complicate things that much more.
Since our practices have succeeded thus far in keeping Cyndie from picking up my germs, the routine of living separately together will continue for a while. I’ve been granted the bedroom and she is living in the den.
That is getting old. Communicating by text inside the same house is not the usual mode of operation for us.
I tried watching the Timberwolves first game in the series with Dallas last night but there was no magic to be found there to distract me from my health woes. I did find a Joel & Ethan Coen 2018 film, “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” to entertain me that I particularly enjoyed.
It was the kind of movie I could watch while isolated in my room and not worry about Cyndie disagreeing with my tastes.
Just trying to make the best of this unappreciated situation we find ourselves in.
If it stopped raining every hour or two I could spend more time outside and maybe work the kinks out of my back. The muscles are probably filing complaints about too much time in the bed or the recliner.
For the record, I agree.
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Slight Pause
As my body arrived upon day 5 of my COVID experience, the vital signs of temperature and oxygen saturation were back to my healthy normal. I executed the majority of my routine of core strength poses and stretches, dressed for the day, and enjoyed a full breakfast that Cyndie had prepared.
I was ready to go, except for one significant thing. I had no “get up and go.”
It wasn’t that I lacked confidence I could step out and fill another day with chores. It was that I lacked any impulse to do, well, anything.
I felt zero motivation—a complete absence of momentum.
In that case, returning to recline on my bed seemed like an appropriate response. The intangible aspects of a COVID-19 infection are worthy of our respect. I’ll give the prescription medication another day to do its thing.
I allowed my body at rest to remain at rest for the majority of a beautiful day.
As the afternoon faded into the dinner hour, I noticed the summery sounds of our surroundings serenading on an intoxicating breeze beyond the screen door.
Despite a minor PTSD flashback of an unsettling encounter evicting a rather large eastern fox snake wrapped around the entry of one side of the shop garage door the day before, I stepped out onto the deck to inhale the fresh air.
I had considered not writing about my having been infected with COVID-19 but I wasn’t sure where that inclination was coming from. I shamelessly share almost everything else about myself.
Having done so, I now appreciate the messages of support and well-wishes I’ve received. Thank you, both of you.
Just teasing. It’s been more than two. Getting better takes time. Feeling better is a process related to getting better. Support from others is a good prescription for feeling better.
I am definitely feeling better. Yesterday will be registered as a slight pause in the return to regular physical duties.
There are so many others who have experienced far more severe illnesses than me as a result of this virus (or lost their lives to it), it occurs to me that maybe I didn’t feel the descriptions of my experience deserved the column space. I’ve also heard plenty of tales about folks who tested positive but didn’t even know they had it.
One thing for certain, I’ve lost the bragging right of never having Covid. I’m booted from the club that thinks they have some magic natural immunity. For now, I am still able to boast of only having it one time.
I will frame this as having been just a slight pause in my otherwise surprisingly good ongoing health.
“Full speed ahead, immune system!”
“Aye aye, Captain. All systems go!”
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Relative Something 