For reference my age is 66 as of this writing.
I started to notice a scratchy throat on Thursday the 26th of August 2021. I was fully vaccinated with the Pfizer Covid 19 vaccine in March but I knew that the delta variant was regularly breaking through the vaccine’s protection. So I thought ‘this could be a breakthrough infection’ and went in for a test. I also bought a home test kit. Both tests came up negative so I thought ‘this must just be a cold or a mild case of the flu’
On Saturday the 28th I was texting with my son Justin who teaches english in South Korea. Between texts I was checking my temperature pretty frequently because I felt like I was definitely coming down with something. My temperature reached 101 so I started taking Tylenol to bring it down. I was also experiencing more than normal sinus stuffiness and my resting heart rate was 15 beats higher than normal for me.
I woke up Sunday morning feeling pretty good and went for my usual 4 mile walk in the desert. It went fine though my heart rate was still up and it pretty much kicked my butt for the day. My intermittent cough stayed about the same that day as did the other symptoms. My thought was that ‘since the test came back negative this is some bug and its is on its way out’.
Monday I was scheduled for a stress test with my cardiologist. Their criteria for being in the office was no fever and no cough. My fever was under control and my cough could be suppressed with cough drops so I decided to go ahead with the test since I had already waited a long time for a slot. The test started out fine but when they pushed my heart rate up over 150 I found it a bit hard to breath and the readout on the monitor, which I could see, looked pretty crazy. I did recover pretty fast but not as fast as normal. The ladies administering the test looked mildly concerned and showed the readout to a cardiologist. He recommended moving up my follow up appointment but that was all. It took hours for my heart rate to drop back under 100 which isn’t normal for me. My fever and tiredness were worse the rest of the day and my tinnitus was much louder than usual like roaring in my ears.
The following day, Tuesday the 31st, I was supposed to go in for my rescheduled follow up with my cardiologist. I was starting to suspect Covid again so I used my remaining Covid home test. It came up positive (damn it) so I rescheduled my cardiologist appointment and went for an ‘official’ test at near by Poston Butte high school. I got those results late in the day, also positive.
The same day (Tuesday) my sense of taste started to be affected. Very strange experience, most things taste like cardboard but sweet, salt, and very sour kind of break through.
This morning Wednesday, September 1, as I write this my symptoms are: Loud ringing in my ears, but not as loud as days past. My temperature is normal (with Tylenol) not sure what it would be if I quit taking it. Taste is still minimal. My nose feels kind of buzzy when I breath through it but is much less stuffy. My Blood oxygen level is 96 and my heartbeat is 78 which is still a bit high. I still have much less energy than normal and I feel kind of spacey. When I double checked the paragraphs above I found a sentence that made no sense. I’m planning to take it pretty easy again today.
I’ll add to this entry whenever anything changes or I get past the infection.
Update: September 9 2021
My symptoms were finally mostly gone by Monday September 5, 10 days after I started having a fever. It never really got that bad but still sucked. Statistically it could have been much worse if I wasn’t vaccinated.
My taste is still a little strange. I have this weird taste in my mouth most of the time. I’m pretty sure my energy is not back to normal but that may be partly from sitting around so much for a week.
I feel fortunate to have been vaccinated when I got Covid. One interesting thing I found out after I cancelled a trip that I could have taken because my Covid test taken on the 8th still came up positive. The Covid PCR test is not a good indicator that the infection is over or that the person is no longer a spreader. It can come up positive for months after infection. According to the CDC its something about the RNA of the virus having insinuated itself into the person’s cells where copies are made. These copies are not living viruses but can make the test come up positive.
Anyway back to real life. Who knows maybe I’m super immune now. Here’ s hoping!
MiNd-Sprung.com 
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