Reflections on My Coronavirus Experience

I’m out of the hospital now, home and self-isolating for 2 weeks. Here are some observations from my bout with the virus:

1. Coronavirus is not the flu. I only had a mild case. It had me dizzy, even losing my entire sense of balance sometimes. I didn’t even start coughing until day 5 in the hospital, when I was close to being done with treatments. I never had any congestion. I had severe body aches, along with various specific pain points. I could only move very slowly and I was weak enough that I needed help getting out of bed for the first four days. Most frightening: uncontrollable convulsions, which were what finally made me go to the hospital after five days of suffering. I’ve never had anything like it. It laid me low and sat on me to keep me there. Much worse than any flu I ever had and, as I said, this was a mild case.
2. It’s astonishing how upbeat all the hospital personnel were. One nurse told me that they have more patients now than they did in April but it’s going much smoother than back then because of new treatments (i.e. remdesivir) and all that they’ve learned over the months. Every nurse I had, maybe 10 or 12 total during my time there, was calm, patient, professional, and extremely friendly. They helped me in every way I needed and then some. I met only two doctors but they were the same. Everyone answered all my questions, which I always have a lot of whenever I’m in the hospital. Except for the kitchen arbitrarily changing my meal orders and serving terrible food, this was the most pleasant hospital visit I’ve ever had.
3. Young, pretty nurses are still a thing. 🙂
4. Until yesterday, I slept about 90% of the time. Just couldn’t stay awake. Even conked out during the late football games, which never happens to me. On the plus side, I slept better than I had in years.
5. I even felt better psychologically. Depression has been a long-time companion of mine, often debilitating. By day 3, I noticed that I was feeling more inclined to want to do things than I have in quite a while. That’s a big deal.
6. I was supposed to be on a diabetic menu. (I have Type 2.) Products like Ensure are bullshit. They claim to have “slow-release carbs” yet #2 on the ingredients list, right after water, is corn syrup. How is that slower-releasing in that Kaopectate-lookin’ goop than it is in sodas? Not that I ever ordered it – the kitchen regularly substituted arbitrary things in my meals. Unsweetened ice tea instead of lemonade was common, as was margarine for butter. I even had a few main dishes replaced entirely. The supposed “diabetic” diet had more carbs on it than if I decided to do a full-on carb load. Why medical science insists on feeding carbs to diabetics is beyond me.
7. Intellectually, I was flat and sluggish. That’s normal with anything flu-like but I really, really hate it. I like my mind. I want it to be, and I work to keep it, sharp and on point at all times. I felt slow & stupid and it was embarrassing to me.
8. My roommate was just plain bizarre. Little potato-lookin’ guy. Letting off loud, random noises, loudly talking to himself, yelling into his phone on every call. I had to walk past him to get to the bathroom; the only thing he ever wore was his open-backed hospital gown. With nothing underneath. Once, just as I was entering the bathroom, he suddenly started talking to me, something about Walmart, as if we had been in the middle of a conversation. I had no idea what he was saying, “Walmart” was all I could make out. The rest of the time we merely nodded hello. He left before I did so I at least had a couple of hours of quiet before I checked out.
9. I “fell in love” with three of my young, pretty nurses. It actually helped me feel better. Briana, Amber, and Gaby – I’ll miss you.

To summarize, don’t catch this disease. It’s much worse to deal with than you’ll ever hear about from those who haven’t had it. If you do catch it and have to go to the hospital, pray that you get young, pretty nurses like I had.

I’m glad it’s over.