I started feeling hot the evening of July 11th. I went to bed, and felt better the next day, just a bit tired. The same thing happened on the 12th. On the 13th I worked all day, and an hour before the end of my shift, I came down with a full on fever, and a cough. The next morning when I woke up, I was sick. I went to the local clinic, and got a test done. I called in to work. The next day, the clinic called. They told me I tested positive. I didn’t need the test to tell me that. I was getting really sick.
My fever was lingering around 100 degrees, and did not let up until around the 22nd. Then the fever was just in the mornings, and evenings. The cough persisted. I also developed digestive difficulties. I had pain in my stomach, and didn’t want to eat. I lost my senses of smell, and taste completely. I was breathing, but not getting any oxygen out of it. My toes, and fingers were turning blue by 21st. I had to go to the emergency room. They gave me an I.V. with some anti-inflammatory medication. They did a chest x-ray, and tested my blood. My blood sugar was way out of control. I’m a type 2 diabetic. They were going to admit me, but I perked up enough after the I.V. and medication. Tylenol was extremely helpful the next couple of days reducing the pain in my lungs. I didn’t have congestion in them, but they hurt, and weren’t working right.
The next few nights I continued to sleep in my recliner because I couldn’t breath when I laid flat on my back. I use a bi-pap machine because of severe sleep apnea. I drank copious amounts of water throughout the sickness, and did breathing exercises my wife, and the nurse recommended. The breathing exercises helped a lot. I had to force myself to eat. I had lost close to 15 pounds in a short time, and was very weak.
Finally by the 28th, my symptoms were gone, except for a morning cough. I was told that the cough would continue for weeks after. I still have a bit of a cough. I am still trying to get my strength back. I tried to do some chores, and got winded pretty quick. I got a doctor’s clearance to go back to work, but they are requiring that I stay home 14 days after the release.
In the dormitory that I work in 98 of the 98 inmates tested positive. They were all required to wear masks. I was also required to wear a mask. The masks did not stop them from passing the virus on to each other. They did not stop infected people from infecting those who didn’t have it, and it didn’t protect them either. I caught it from the inmates while wearing a mask. I’m certain the way people are getting it is by touching contaminated surfaces. I don’t believe masks help.
Half of the inmates in my unit had no symptoms. Some of those inmates were in their 70’s. Out of the other half, most were mildly ill. They told me that they just felt tired for a few days, or had a tickle in their throats. Out of that group, there were about 7 that actually felt really sick. None of them were as bad as I ended up being.
After having the dreaded Chinese virus, I would recommend that we do away with masks, put everyone back to work, open the schools, get rid of social distancing, and go back to normal. The only thing I would do is let the vulnerable people quarantine at home. Shutting everything down is wrong. I hope this helps.
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