I’m sitting here writing next to my best friend of late. My best friend being a box of Kleenex. My third box, to be exact. Nearly 195 supposedly ultra soft facial tissues have been my constant companion since I contracted Covid 2 1/2 weeks ago.

I guess I’m officially an old lady now since a sure sign is when one stuffs a Kleenex up a sleeve or keeps it within reach in the car. I always wondered why that was. Do old ladies get runny noses more often than young ones? Perhaps. But in my defense, I plan to go back to being Kleenex-free once this awful illness decides to leave my body.

Now don’t get me wrong; everyone I know who got Covid after being double vaccinated had just a slight sore throat, some had a cough or headache, others simply felt more tired than usual. I was not so fortunate, which surprised me because I’m normally healthy. Injured? That’s my specialty. But I rarely get sick.                                                                             

So imagine my surprise when I woke up feeling pretty crappy that morning and thought perhaps I’d died and hell looked exactly like my bedroom. But then I saw my pets gathered around me and realized I was still earthbound because surely they hadn’t died with me. They love me, but not that much.

The first 72 hours of being sick I only crawled out of bed to use the bathroom, feed my brood and let them out. And those tasks took all my strength. In fact, while waiting for the dogs to do their business in the backyard, I sat at the dining room table, put my head down, and nearly fell back to sleep. The sound of Skip scratching at the door brought me to my senses. Temporarily, that is.

Lucky me displayed many of the lovely components of Covid: headache, nausea, no appetite, fever, achy, exhaustion and horrendous continual coughing which is another Covid bonus. The gunk in my lungs resembled that thick goopy stuff in the 1997 movie, Flubber. Yeah, pretty gross.

I tell ya, I’m a champion nose-blower now. I could’ve passed for Rudolph’s distant relative, my nose was so red. I had Kleenex stuffed under my pillow, on my nightstand, next to my easy chair. Pretty much everywhere. Then for the topper, I lost my voice for a week. That was torture since you all know how much I like to gab. Still, a bunch of friends kept checking in on me even though I was speechless. How sweet was that?

Anyway, I woke up 3 days later and 5 pounds lighter. The early symptoms had subsided except for the viral cough that still persists even after being prescribed Paxlovid. The doc said it can last several weeks. Again, lucky me. Oh, and there’s the constant fatigue and brain fog. But I’ve tested negative and I’m thinking this third box of Kleenex will be my last.

I’m back out relocating ferals, walking the dogs and seeing friends again but those things are followed by a long nap and I’m not normally a napper. I have my appetite back so have gained a couple pounds. My nightly coughing attacks have gone from 10 minutes down to just 5.

All this has me thinking how fortunate I am to have been double vaccinated, otherwise I can’t imagine where I’d be now. Well actually, I can. I might have ended up in the hospital. So today I’m thankful and I do feel lucky. And as soon as I can get an appointment, I’m getting my booster.

Now if I can just recover from my latest tennis injury, I’ll be good as new.