The pandemic is over? Tell that to my month-long case of COVID

Today marks the end of my first month of living with COVID. On the whole, I’d rather have gone to Disneyland.

I just got in under the wire. I didn’t even realize the pandemic was over when I contracted COVID on Sept. 2. Now President Biden says it’s ended. But not for me.

After a full month, I’m still suffering long-term symptoms. I have learned many valuable things that I never wanted to know.

I managed to wait all the way through the whole pandemic, right up until the end to catch COVID. I had all the shots and boosters and I’m absolutely confident it would have been worse without these precautions. And of course, many people don’t experience long-term symptoms, but it’s important to know they’re there.

I’d been so careful. Friends made jokes about my caution and I always had a mask or two in my purse. I thought I’d managed to elude the danger.

The Washington state COVID hotline worked perfectly (1-800-525-0127). It’s important to call right away, as soon as you have the positive test, to get antivirals prescribed. The call center immediately put me in touch with a nurse practitioner who got me started and then made a virtual appointment with my own doctor. Even vaccinated, my age made me a high risk.

It’s often said that age is just a number and should be ignored. The people supporting that philosophy ordinarily haven’t even had their first midlife crisis. The fact is that after a certain point, nothing on your body is as elastic or as durable as it used to be. Don’t kid yourself, after a certain point, age isn’t just a number, it’s an obstacle course. It turned out my body wasn’t very interested in cooperating.

I wasn’t worried about the often-mentioned brain fog. My brain is pretty foggy the best day I have, so I just didn’t see how that could be a problem. Apparently the first sign of trouble though was when I sent out a series of texts to the kids that were complete gibberish.

Later that day, when I woke up from a nap and walked out to my living room and didn’t know where I was or what day it was, the whole thing got very personal.

The other thing I learned is that it’s essential to have someone who’ll act as a “team leader.” My older daughter (First Kid, as she likes to be called) fills that role. This is the first time for me that living alone has been frightening. Because I’ve lost my sense of taste, I often feel there’s no point in eating. I quickly lost 20 pounds. That’s dangerous. It helps to have someone to remind and keep an eye out for danger..

There’s little energy left over for housekeeping. I’ve befriended the little spontaneously growing dust balls under the bed. I’ve named them Doc, Sleepy and Sneezy. You never know when you’ll need a friend.

Most everyone asks how this compares with other crises of my lifetime, like World War II and the time I put my mother’s angora sweater in the wash. Well the fact is, it doesn’t compare at all. But one thing that’s just the same is the many people who have tried to help smooth the way.

Within minutes of Governor Inslee’s first announcement more than two years ago, the lovely young couple from New Mexico who live upstairs called to ask if I needed help. They were here Monday night when help was finally needed. So far the attitude seems to be, “We’ll get this handled.”

“At my age, if I get the virus, I’ll probably die,” a friend observed mournfully. Honey, at our age, the virus will have to get in line. No use getting spun up about it.

This has been different from what I usually write but it seems important to observe that we’re not in the clear yet. It’s important to know what to do, to have help and to realize that things can happen very fast, so a plan matters.

I don’t know how much longer the pandemic will really go on, but I do know to be thankful for friends who will take a minute to help with the heavy lifting.

Note from my daughter this morning: “We are wonderful together.” Yes, we are.