Recovering from COVID

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We had a COVID Christmas. I'm not sure where we picked it up, but we were both sick by mid-December. On Thursday December 9 I had a dentist appointment that was very stressful. I went for a walk afterwards. The next day I shipped an order to a customer and went for another walk. On Saturday I went to buy some groceries. I wore a mask when I was indoors in public places. But by Saturday night I was beginning to feel unwell. So was my husband. I told him to stay home from church the next day, and we watched the livestream service, instead. At our family Zoom meeting that day, I told the family I thought we might have Covid, but at that point it was still mild. I thought I'd be able to catch up on my reading. By the next day I knew that wasn't going to happen. I didn't feel like doing anything. People in our church shopped for us. We stayed in and managed to feed ourselves and rest, but by the next week's Zoom meeting it was obvious we were barely getting by and the family intervened. My nephew's wife, a nurse, insisted we call 911 to get checked to make sure we didn't need medical help. (My nephew lives in Fresno, a two-hour drive.) We did call, and the paramedics came to check me out. It was 39 degrees outside. They took me to the front porch and checked my vital signs. My oxygen levels were good and the other signs were normal, so they left me to recover at home. My husband was not as weak as I was. By Monday the family decided that my brother's wife would come from Orange County and care for us for a few days. At first I protested. I knew she was vaccinated, but I also knew vaccinated people were getting sick. She insisted on coming. She made sure we could eat. We had food. People from church had brought bone broth and we had fruit and canned soups and bread. The problem was in not having the strength to heat up the soup or even get to the refrigerator without the fear of fainting. Susan made sure the food got into our stomachs. She cleaned up the kitchen, picked up the mail from the box a block away, shopped if we needed anything. She even cleaned my refrigerator and did some laundry. The day before she left she supervised my shower and I changed my bed linens. I wanted to do these things myself to make sure I could, but felt safer doing them with someone near who could step in and help if I got too weak to finsh what I started. Susan left the morning of Christmas Eve. By then she knew we were strong enough to manage our basic needs alone. That night one of our pastors brought by almost a quart of homemade soup. That became our Christmas dinner the next day. Since Christmas we have been taking it easy and getting stronger. I went shopping for the first time on January 5. Sitting at the computer still was tiring, but I had to resume financial tasks by the end of December. I began to at least check bank accounts, and pay a few bills online. I'm not yet completely back to my normal energy level and Hubby and I still have raspy voices. But neither of us developed serious symptoms beyond being weak. We never had high fevers or had any trouble breathing. I think it's just a matter of time before we're back to good health. Meanwhile, we still stay in a much as possible. I have to continue all the medical and dental appointments that were supposed to be in December next week. The next wo weeks will be difficult. I have clerical work the government requires from me due at the end of January and my brain still isn't back to normal. It still is hard to make decisions and concentrate on getting data. I have forgotten how to do things that used to be routine. They call this brain fog, and it's often part of the COVID experience. Also ahead of me is the completion of one dental implant and the placement of two crowns. I need a complete eye exam that should have been December 27. It will determine whether my eye injury can be healed and my vision brought up to the level that will allow me to keep driving. I'm also waiting to have a painful eruption of some kind on my arm looked at by a dermatologist, but don't know if the insurance approval has ever come in. I'm kind of eager for January and February to end so that all this is behind me. May my friends here escape a serious case of COVID and may this pandemic die down soon.