COVID Blows

Two weeks ago, on a Thursday, Lisa handed her letter of retirement from the rehab facility she has worked at since we arrived in NoCo. The last couple of years have been tough on her physically, with the pandemic, and general staff shortages. Too many patients for each nurse to handle. Lisa has worked hard all of her life, and never grumbled. It was her time.

She started feeling strange over that weekend, and by Sunday night she was – what we did not know at the time – in full-blown COVID mode and sat propped in her recliner with brief exceptions to hit the bathroom. She couldn’t keep anything down, or in. She was weak, but couldn’t sleep properly because of a high amount of mucus. Still, she was determined to ride it out. We don’t do doctors, although this time I offered to take her. By Thursday, she finally took a COVID test, because she finally felt strong enough to do so. Positive.

Just in time to recover. Ate her first meal in a week yesterday.

Yesterday, as I was doing my weekly veggie/fruit prep, I felt a chill that I just couldn’t shake. When I finished the prep, I went outside to take care of some of the outdoor chores, but I felt exhausted, and mucussy, and I could not stop sneezing. So, I came in, grabbed a lemonade, and sat in my recliner.

Lisa, a far better nurse than a patient, took one look and immediately ran a COVID test on me.

Positive.

Now, I never get sick. Ever.

Human diseases suck. I really try to avoid them.

Even when I got COVID in 21, which Lisa brought home from work, it was just a couple of days of no taste and exhaustion.

This feels like the last time. Like the flu. But I hate it.

And like any parent, I cannot take time away from my caretaking duties to my fur family. Last night we had a wind storm that caused the side gate to slam and wedge closed so Claire and Honey couldn’t get down to where I had left their dinners by the barn. I was half sleeping on Blue’s couch – I didn’t want to subject Lisa to my sleepless night – and I heard them kicking at the gate, and then at the door below, at around 10 pm, so I had to get up and deal with that. It felt colder outside last night than it probably was. The rest of the night was back on Blue’s couch tossing and turning from body aches, and finally, at 2 am, I woke up for the morning feed.

I’m really quite lucky. No gastrointestinal nonsense. Just body aches and pains and chills. A dull, constant headache. Nasal passage inflammation.

Hopefully it will pass as quickly as the first bout.

But today, I will try to keep the Lord’s instruction and rest.

I still have to shovel some shit, and fill the hay bags, but then this old ass goes into the recliner and the feet go up.

But first, a kitty cuddle. I may skip my rounds.

You fine, five readers, stay healthy.

It really does matter.

And rest when you need to. Shit will get done when it has to.

But most of all, let’s make today a great one.

Fuck COVID!