Triple Vaccinated and I Still Caught COVID

stevenmsinger Accountability, COVID-19, Data, Education, Healthcare, history, Schools, Students, Teachers, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The pandemic is not over.

Take it from me.

I got three doses of the Moderna vaccine last winter and summer, and this week I still caught COVID-19.

Now I sit here in self-imposed exile in a room in my own house trying not to infect my family.

I suppose I’m lucky in a way. My symptoms pretty much went away because I took an anti-viral medication. But my medical history is such that I’m extra sensitive to this disease.

It’s not a question of whether I’ll survive in the meantime, but more a matter of if it will ever truly leave me alone.

I wonder if it might not have done me some permanent damage. My heart is already scarred from heart attacks. Will this make it worse?

My intestines are impaired from Crohn’s disease. Will this exacerbate the stabbing pain I sometimes feel just trying to live?

Will I be one of the 7.5% of people who contract the virus and then are left with “long COVID”? Three or more months from now, will new symptoms crop up that I didn’t have before?

Because of the medications I have to take to help with my many other delightful maladies, I was always more susceptible to catching this disease, but I don’t think getting it is on me.

I was extremely cautious about COVID.

Few people took this situation more seriously.

When I didn’t have to go out, I stayed home. When I did go out, I always wore a mask – ALWAYS.

The only people who have seen my whole face in the flesh in years are my immediate family – wife, daughter and father-in-law.

I’ve only eaten out at a restaurant maybe twice in the nearly three years since the The World Health Organization declared COVID a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

And one of those times was at a hospital cafeteria waiting for my father to get out of surgery.

Yet when I did unavoidably venture out to get groceries or pick up food from restaurants to eat at home, I’d rarely see the same level of caution from my friends and neighbors.

Hardly anyone seems to wear a mask these days. Few social distance, too. Most act like the whole pandemic is over and some even give me the stink eye for my wariness.

It made me wonder – where could I have caught this virus?

The most likely option is my cardiologist’s office.

After months of hemming and hawing, I finally agreed to come in and take a stress test.

As I was struggling on the treadmill hooked up to various machines that go ping, I was instructed to take down my mask if it would help me run (they called it walking) faster.

The next day I started to feel really crappy. The day after that it was so bad I called my primary care physician to see me.

I had a 100 degree temperature. My head felt like it was in a vice. I had chills and my muscles felt like I had been run over by a truck.

I took a home COVID test but it got a negative result.

I thought I was just sick or maybe had a sinus infection.

I had a close call months earlier but after several negative home and office tests, I had been diagnosed with a bacterial infection.

However, this time it was different.

Once I told the nurse my symptoms, she said the doctor wouldn’t see me. Instead he got on the phone and said he was getting bombarded by calls from people reporting the same symptoms. These were tell-tale signs of the latest COVID variant.

It probably wouldn’t show up on the test for 12-48 hours more. But since it was early, he wanted me to take Paxlovid – an anti-viral that can reduce the severity of symptoms and rid me of the disease in about a week.

So that’s where I am now – in the low security prison of my own bedroom.

My wife has to sleep in my daughter’s bed or on the couch.

As prisons go it’s pretty comfortable. I mostly read or listen to music or watch TV. Sometimes I sleep but the medication I’m taking puts a terrible taste in my mouth that keeps me awake.

If I don’t constantly sip water, it almost feels like my mouth is full of smoke and I’m choking.

I wonder if getting a fourth dose of vaccine would have helped. I had planned to get another Fauci ouchie in August closer to the start of the new school year.

As a teacher, I thought being in class with students was when I was most in danger. But they generally took the pandemic seriously and only began to unmask en masse in May.

I guess I’ll never know.

So many mysteries, so many worries.

I wonder if anyone out there still wants to read an account of catching COVID now that 90.6 million Americans have gotten it and 1.2 million have died.

Perhaps it will just add another data point for posterity. Maybe it will be part of a bar graph steadily making its way up or down.

I guess it depends on the trajectory of our collective future.

 

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18 thoughts on “Triple Vaccinated and I Still Caught COVID”

    • Being sick is no joke and prayers for a speedy recovery! The common denominator with repeat infections is in the amount of shots received. There are tons of studies out there with that data. That said, do what you feel is best for you and your situation and listen to your body.

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    • Thanks so much, Poetic Justice. I planned to get the fourth shot, but I thought it was better to wait until it was closer to classes resuming. I mean what are the chances of catching this thing in the summer when I hardly leave the house!? Right!?

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      • And now we need to be concerned about Monkey Pox and polio! I went to one of my many doctors yesterday and the Monkey Pos poster were everywhere. It’s probably more prevalent than we are allowed to know. 🥲🥲🥲 Get well soon dear friend.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Hey! So sorry to hear. Hope all is well, and I mean on-going well, with you soon. It’s at least good to hear that you’re responding well to the anti-viral. I hope for a swift recovery and antibodies that will keep you safe in the future.

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  4. Hope you recover your vigor soon–we need your voice.
    Glad it is relatively mild and controlled. Sounds like watching TV all day may ultimately do more damage.
    David

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    • I’m watching my way through Donald Glover’s “Atlanta” TV show, so it’s high quality stuff. Plus, whenever I get sick of that I can always listen to Frank Zappa’s “I am the Slime.” Then a few chapters of Liu Cixin’s “The Three Body Problem” and time for a nap. But thanks for looking out for me.

      Liked by 1 person

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  5. So sorry to hear this. COVID seems to work in mysterious ways – especially these variants. I agree with you about people not taking it seriously and acting like it’s over. I’m in California about an hour south of San Francisco. Just as our COVID rates were rising at a “concerning” rate due to the latest variant, our local commuter train between all the major cities decided it was time to end the mask requirement. What?!? My son is doing summer work and lives in a touristy area. Despite being extra-cautious (he always has a mask on even though that’s not typical of his age group), he just had COVID. Fortunately, he was well in a couple of days. Unfortunately, he lives with his dad who had several health issues. Too soon to know. I’ve had 2 vaccines and two boosters. So far so good. I am not in the classroom and off for the summer anyway. Please take care of yourself. Praying for you.

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  7. Marcus, my son-in-law was infected by one of the COVID strains a few weeks ago. My daughter and their two young preschoolers fled to her mother’s house fifty miles away form home, where they sat out daddy/husband’s isolation back home all by himself. Ten days later, he’d recovered and they returned home. Daughter didn’t even want to risk sharing the same air in the same house.

    Hopefully, your recovery will be faster.

    I had a dental appointment this morning and did some shopping (basics) on the way home. I saw the same thing. Most people aren’t wearing masks.

    My guess is that maybe one in every 100 shoppers/employees I saw was wearing a mask. I was one of the few still wearing a mask. I also wear a hat to cover my hair and sunglasses, even in the store, to offer some eye protection since our eyes are an entry point for the virus, too.

    And when I return to the car, I still sanitize hands and face before taking of the mask.

    I refuse to join what I think of as the dumb monkey see, monkey do crowd. A few glanced at me. I glowered back, but I’m not sure they could see my expression since most of my face was covered.

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    • Lloyd, my daughter was a little nervous at first but then all of a sudden she stopped. I asked her why. She said she realized since she was just 13, she was the least likely person in the house to catch Covid or have bad symptoms. Smart, kid.

      It’ll be monkeypox see, monkeypox do, pretty soon. The only thing I’ll miss about wearing a mask is being able to hide my expression. Though people say I have very expressive eyes. LOL!

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  9. Hi Steven,
    I got COVID for the first time last week. I took Paxlovid as well, and that taste is NASTY. For me, it tasted like hairspray. I found that chewing cinnamon gum helped get rid of the taste. Popsicles also worked for me. My case was mild, but I had trouble sleeping as well. I’m feeling much better this week. Hope you feel better soon.

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