Covid Diary

With the end of the national emergency set to take place on May 11, 2023, many things still seem uncertain. I for one still seem like I am emerging from a Covid fog. So, I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on some of the things that happened during this time period. It is my hope that people with similar experiences reflect on there is well so that we can not only help each other through what will become our new normal daily lives, but also future generations so they can learn from our mistakes.

My Covid journey began like most peoples at the beginning of lock down back in March 2020. Luckily my hair was cut the day before the National lock down took place. It would be another eighteen months before it would be legal, and I was able to go get another haircut. Seems silly to think that something as simple as a haircut or even a run to the store would be a luxury. Let alone toilet paper. What was supposed to be a two-week lockdown to hamper or stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus kept getting extended.

When the lockdown was first announced everyone flooded the grocery stores in order to buy what necessities that were needed. During this time many people were exposed to Covid because of the panic. People began hoarding items they felt would be hard to come by in the weeks to come. Toilet paper was virtually non-existent. People could be seen dragging two carts stacked full of food through the local stores. I personally found grocery shopping challenging the day prior to lockdown. In order to get the items that I needed for myself and my terminally ill mother I had to go to 4 stores in three different towns. I just happened to have a haircut scheduled for that day at 9:30 a.m., which turned out to be luck. Because of living in a rural area of Michigan and having to find supplies at various stores in different areas my journey that day was not over until 5 p.m. with a small break to get lunch for me and my mother.

Even today certain grocery items are hard to come by. My personal peeve is paying premium prices for fresh fruits and vegetables only to go home and find them half rotten once they are cut into. In part due to supply issues and the other due to stocking at the store. Food is literally setting either in containers or in the back of the stores rotting before going on the shelf.

Like most people I thought that I would have two weeks at home until my boss at the time called me to let me know that my job was deemed essential. People needed medical insurance because of Covid. This meant that payments needed to be processed quickly as possible. We also had to print paperwork for people concerning COBRA eligibility along with information on how things would be handled for benefit related services such as FSA, HSA in addition to COBRA Coverage. Not to mention all the legally mandated government paperwork we were contracted to do by companies. The declared National Emergency required companies to send out letters concerning how their benefits and insurance would be handled. While most people in America would be off, I would be working. The demand for benefit service administration increased during the lock down. I even had a letter that I carried with me in the glove compartment of my car in case I was stopped by the local law enforcement. In all honesty I didn’t need it. Short of committing murder the cops stopped nobody. I will admit to driving way above the speed limit on several occasions. In all honesty I was not thrilled that I would be working. I wanted to spend the time with my mother and I myself was recovering from a virus that I had since January, very likely undiagnosed Covid.

Then almost a year to the day that the national emergency had been declared I came down with Covid. According to my doctor in the hospital it was very likely for the second time. It started as a small tickle that would not go away in the back of my throat. I thought it was allergies since people were starting to come back to work and the building was going through a deep cleaning. As a precaution I had to go home from work. The doctor advised me to stay home the rest of the week and if my symptoms didn’t clear up to go and get a Covid test. So, a couple days later I went in for a test. I honestly did not think I had it because up until I got tested, I had no other symptoms and never ran a fever. Lucky me my fever started just as I got tested. The nurse took my temperature prior to performing the quick test. It registered at 99.1 degrees. Nothing to worry about. When I went back in to get the positive result, she took my temperature again and it was at 100 degrees. She advised me to head home immediately and to get rest. I did. Other than the mild fever and the scratchy throat I felt fine.

By dinner time that night, a tuna fish sandwich, I felt like I had been run over by a freight train. By the way I still have a hard time eating tuna to this day. I still get a metal taste in my mouth. My dinner did not stay down nor in me. As a matter of fact, I had a hard time keeping anything down or in me for the next two days. By Monday evening at 8 p.m. I knew that I was severely dehydrated and needed to get to the hospital. My Covid brain got the better of me. It took me till 1 a.m. to get the words out to have my brother-in law to take me to the hospital when I began my twelve-day hospital stay.

It was during my hospital stay that I decided to go to Colorado to visit my friends from college once I had recovered. My physical therapist advised against it. She knew that I had a long road ahead of me to recover. The thing she didn’t understand is going to Colorado kept me motivated to get well. I wanted to go and to go hiking. Colorado had become not only my happy place, but something more spiritual. Knowing that I would be released with an oxygen tank in tow my therapist still strongly recommended that I think about not going on a trip, at least this year.

I didn’t listen to her. After not knowing if I would be here another day and grateful that I was still here I decided to risk it and go. I don’t regret it. The trip was not as I had planned. My recovery took a total of 6 months and in truth is still in progress. I didn’t do any hiking. I did get to drive through the Garden of the Gods as well as take a few very brief walks. Part of my travels were influenced by my mother who had passed away at the beginning of the pandemic due to terminal bile duct cancer. Even though she had known she was dying a few years prior she traveled. Her bucket list was endless and while she was alive and feeling okay, we traveled. There were times with her where she just sat in the car enjoying the beauty of the location. When she felt like it she did a few things at our destination. I decided to if she could do that, I could do the same. There would be one difference. I would be traveling alone where she went with me and my sisters. Granted I had good friends who accompanied me certain times when I was out in Colorado, but when I went to the Garden of the Gods I did alone. Time at the Garden was just for me. The trip was a great release of emotion and pride of accomplishment. Please enjoy some of my images from that day. Hopefully they will take your breath away like they did mine and maybe even inspire you to go on a journey too.

All images copyright 2021 by Peggy Alaniz