Last Friday, G said he had a headache, but I didn't think too much about it UNTIL he woke on Saturday complaining of a headache and sore throat. I had an at-home test, and he had a faint positive line.
We had been officially invaded (yet again).
Now, I have been diligent as fuck to avoid COVID. D, N and I have been vaccinated three times. M had a natural infection in September and then got his two shots in October. G was supposed to get his booster last Saturday, but I had to cancel because he had COVID. We had been wearing KN95s since our trip to Vegas in December.
But I definitely give the hell up once COVID is in the house. I'm not wearing masks inside my home, and I'm not banishing a sick kid to a room by themselves like they are Rapunzel in a tower.
When it comes to symptoms in our house, it has been weird.
G was fine by Monday.
D began with congestion on Tuesday, which worsened on Wednesday, and he spent Thursday in bed with a headache and chills. On Friday, he worked most of the day in his basement office.
My symptoms have been weird and changing every day.
On Tuesday, my left eye was red (like a conjunctivitis-type look), but then cleared up by the next day. Was that COVID? Who knows.
Wednesday and Thursday I felt fine.
On Friday, my uvula was swollen but cleared up the next day. Was that COVID? Who knows.
However, yesterday, I woke up and had no voice. I also had no congestion which was weird since usually congestion is what causes the lacking voice. By last night I had chills. No headache. Today my voice sounds better, but I have more congestion in my nose.
It feels like my body is playing Whack-a-Mole with COVID. COVID tries to make a symptom happen and my body gets rid of that only to have COVID come up with a new and different symptom.
N and M both woke up today saying they feel a little "not right."
Of course, I'm assuming that D and I have COVID, but as contagious as it is, I'm pretty sure we do.
Now, we have only tested G for COVID because the kids were on NTI last week, D works from home, and at the cottage school, if someone in your house has COVID, you stay home whether you are sick or not so I taught virtually on Friday.
This afternoon, all 5 of us are packing in the car and getting tested through the school district. I don't know if the district will go back to in-person class or not, but it seems likely that if they do, G will be the only one returning.
Of course, I think I'm about over the pointlessness of testing for the following reasons:
1--If I test positive today, I have been feeling weird since Tuesday (with the eye) and then Friday with the uvula, which I assume to be COVID-related. But quarantine would begin as of today (or tomorrow if you're the school district; I have never understood why the day of the test doesn't count as a quarantine day). So do I go by test-date or symptom date?
Even if the district says 10 days for quarantine, if I test negative before the 10 days, can I go like pick up shit from Home Depot?
I am so the fuck tired of thinking about the logistics of all things COVID-related.
2--The test is only valuable right in that moment. I can test negative and then two hours later test positive. How is that in any way valuable, especially if I feel fine the entire time? N worked yesterday. She was three-times vaxxed and asymptomatic. If she tests positive but feels fine, does she stay home (while feeling well) and cause a massive headache for her already-understaffed job? Or does she go in when she feels fine but could possibly be positive (but where the fuck can you find COVID test in a timely manner so that she can know?) And she could test negative at 9:30 in the morning before work but become positive at 2:00 in the afternoon when she is still working but still not have symptoms.
Have I mentioned I am so the fuck tired of thinking about the logistics of all things COVID-related? Particularly when large swaths of people have, as I've said, been doing whatever the hell they want since March 2020.
3--We are a family of 5 which means if I wanted to test everyday to check our positivity, I would need to buy 3 packages of tests for a total of $75 PER FUCKING DAY. And even if insurance pays for them, it covers 8 tests per person per month. And it seems kind of pointless since we're knee deep in Omicron right this second. And also, where the fuck does one find 3 boxes of COVID rapid tests? Last time I bought one, they limited purchases to 1 box which will test 2 people in my family.
I'm tired of thinking about COVID and writing about COVID and worrying about COVID and have every decision become a fiasco as a result of COVID.
