Despite best efforts, it happened. The ‘Rona finally caught up with us. Both at the same time. For the past two and half years we’ve been, for the most, hiding out here in the hills; somewhat of a mystery as to where or when it overcame our longstanding defenses of masks, boosters, distancing and minimal social interaction.
Because I’d attended our small Resilient Communities group 6 days prior where although no-one had displayed signs of illness, feeling not-quite-ok-but-not-quite-sick I’d gone to the precaution of doing a RAT prior to going to town last Friday to stock up on a few things and accompany my mother-in-law to a medical appointment. The RAT result was negative. However, by Sunday morning after a rough night both of us felt distinctly unwell, and two RATs later were COVID positive.
Instead of as planned stocking up and staying at home dodging NSW’s third wave we got caught up in it, so now it’s iso at home for a week. Not so bad in we’d planned and executed the former part therefore we’re in no need of supplies other than our weekly fruit & vegetable box courtesy of North Arm Farms and Dolly’s Run to supplement our garden’s winter offerings of leafy greens and citrus.
I’m faring somewhat better than the G.O. which is both unfortunate and fortunate as it means I can look after him [to the extent he’ll concede] and we cover off domestic necessities accordingly if somewhat sparingly… the fatigue is astonishing. We’re focusing on staying hydrated, eating well, sunshine and rest while of course maintaining Diesel-dog’s exercise routine.
I had planned more scintillating blog post topics… works in progress on resilience and my recent Ancestry discoveries are in hiatus… COVID brain fog is real so this is as good as it gets. And also why in the meantime, we’re quietly spending the time looking after each other, sitting in the sun when it appears, light reading, word games and this blog post in an attempt to avoid long COVID brain fog. When the air turns too cool for our indisposed bodies to remain comfortably outdoors in the afternoon there is the novelty of a couple of hours of undemanding Tour de France or food and travel television even though ordinarily our TV rarely gets switched on during daylight hours.
Not much ordinary about COVID, I’ll say that. We’ve had some interesting symptoms. I’d read about the less common “rash on skin” but was perplexed to wake at 3am with itchy welts wtf only around my elbows. Later over his morning coffee, the G.O recounted hallucinations of being under bombardment in a Ukraine city while trying to rescue children from bombed buildings, which resumed even after he’d roused himself and gone back to sleep again. Intermittently one of us exclaims loudly as another shooting pain assaults our body at random, and we swap anecdotes about night sweats, body aches, tiredness, befuddlement and clumsiness… for me symptoms reminiscent of menopause, giving the G.O. an idea of how the other half lives.
Of the classic COVID symptoms we feel blessed our tastebuds are relatively unscathed. Our appetites are modest but remain sufficiently unjaded to appreciate simple food [frequently augmented with spices and/or fresh herbs, chillies, garlic, ginger and lemons] and a couple of glasses of restorative pre-dinner chilled white wine spritzer [mixed 50/50] enjoyed in front of the woodfire. I have however, lost my taste for red wine and I’m desperately hoping it will reappear forthwith.
Although until now we’ve beat the odds, the numbers game didn’t look good. Apparently we’ve succumbed to the inevitability of the Covid-19 pandemic which replaced the concept of herd immunity. We’re grateful at least we had prepared for the eventuality practically, and also met our coronavirus fate together conveniently in our own home.
There’s no forgetting the last time we were both really sick, some time ago… 2016 during our road trip around Australia, stopping at Mataranka in the ‘Top End’ we’d enjoyed soaking in the famed thermal pools popular for their reputed restorative properties [lesson learned never again] en route to Darwin, where we were laid low by a nasty flu. We spent a week, not so much in isolation but in our caravan at Lee Point Village Resort which upon pre-booking had appeared beachside; in reality poorly chosen, far from services and close to sewage ponds Leanyer Sanderson Waste Stabilisation Ponds the pungency of which permeated even our congested sinuses.
As they say… shit happens.
“And when shit happens, linger on it for a while—don’t lose your poise and sense of humor—because that very same shit will make you a stronger person amidst different shitty people in various shitty places under any shitty circumstances of your shitty life.” ― Danny Castillones Sillada
From my July camera roll:
“Humor keeps us alive. Humor and food. Don’t forget food. You can go a week without laughing.”
― Joss Whedon
daleleelife101.blog 
That’s no good 😢 Take it one day at a time & get well soon.
Rona Brain or not your writing is sublime as always ❤️
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Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed.
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Oh mate… after all your precautions it must be infuriating. Your symptoms sound curiously like what I remember from chemotherapy, except you luckily have your tastebuds still, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I’ve read somewhere that someone discovered eating huge quantities of chilli as an antidote to feeling rona-crap. Apparently the endorphins released help mitigate some of the worst aches and pains. And as someone with permanent brain fog, may I recommend 1 jigsaw puzzle and one Hard sudoku puzzle a day. It’s my brain sharpener of choice and I really notice if I miss it out of my routine. Your endless self-renewing soup pot made me laugh. I reviewed my pantry dried goods the other day and realised I can make soup for about 16 weeks without running out of supplies!
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Simply perplexed but given the numbers not too surprised. I love a chilli buzz and it’s always been my go-to fix. Wordle, Quordle and Octordle are my brain games of choice… whatever I have time for with a with a cup of coffee to start the day. I’m so grateful I had a soup made and easy ingredients for another and I’m sure I could cobble more together if I need to…. 16 weeks of soup sounds fine to me.
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Oh my, you have my sympathies, Covid is not nice and the thought of Long Covid is scary. Can I recommend a daily iron pill for a fortnight to pull you out of this? Although all your food looks totally amazing, and your Winter garden beats many a UK summer Garden. Sending all good thoughts for a speedy recovery. As to brain fog , sleep helps and it gradually goes.
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Thank you for the tip. Once we recover we’ll consult our GP and see what, if anything we need to do to help us with longer term recuperation. And yes, in the meantime we’ll keep onto eat and resting up.
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Oh Dale, I am so sorry. 😦 Please give yourself and the GO a big hug from me, and a doggie salute from Mogi to Diesel. My next door neighbour has covid at the moment and I was over there helping to coral the alpacas the day before she came down with it. I think I’m ok. -knock on wood- but the fear is ever present. Fingers crossed Modern will get the green light for its Omicron specific vaccine before xmas.
Take care of yourselves and let us know how you’re doing every couple of days. Please. -hugs-
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Thanks Meeks. We’re doing ok. Slowly slowly going about our days. I know how careful you have been… please you take even more care.
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-hugs- I keep telling myself that it has to end eventually. Before it became obvious that re-infection was a distinct possibility, I did sometimes think that maybe we should just take our chances and get it over and done with. Now I’m even more paranoid than before.
Please take good care of yourselves. Nothing is as important as your health. love Meeks.
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Oh this sounds awful. But what a comprehensive blog post for a sickie! Your brain is firing! Hopefully you start to feel better soon.
Lovely that you have a nice garden to spend your mornings.
Take care old friend.
C
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Thank you for the kind comment. It took a couple of afternoons to cobble together the words and some of them were not quite in the right order, possible still aren’t! None of those words can fully express how grateful we are to be right here right now.
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The ‘rona is indeed no fun. We haven’t had it yet but we think it will happen eventually, just hopefully in between waves so that if we require serious medical help the specialists aren’t running on empty as they are now. I’m impressed how deftly you put together your blog post, I can’t seem to do that at the moment and I don’t have the virus, though am recovering from dental surgery, which is one reason why we are being super careful. The real damning part of it is people can pass it on when they have absolutely no idea they have it. Also the more I learn about Long Covid the more it sounds like many symptoms which I have already experienced over 20+ years of having Fibromyalgia. I certainly don’t want more of that than I already have. If there is a bright side, your garden and delivery of veggies puts you in a better position than many, so good on you for setting yourselves up well. Best wishes to you and the GO. xx
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Thank you for the best wishes and kind words… the post took a bit of determination to put together but one of the reasons I did it was to highlight that people who have never had COVID are now getting it. A worry. I’m feeling much better than I thought I would be, and the G.O. is par for the course. Which is why we’d been so diligent. I wish you both well, especially your recovery from dental surgery (horrors!), and I while I admire you pragmatism I hope you continue to evade the dreaded ‘rona.
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I’m only catching up with blog reading, and starting where at this one – as I got unavoidably trapped at a Retreat where I became a household contact 3 days after arrving and then 2 days later caught it from the first covid person, after I sat the dining table adjacent to her. I then had to stay in place (NZ mandatory isolation rules), I was well looked after but it was not my bed or my home…and I had limited art supplies which I couldn’t do much…
I’m home now but still taking it easy…
On top of all that w/press says “I’m done with image uploads” so when I’m functioning a bit better need to decide what to do about that..
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Oh. No. And here we’ve been all this time saying tg we’re at home. I so very much feel for your plight. I hope in every way things are on the improve for you now.
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Oh I hope you are feeling better now. It sounds like you had a bad case of it. About 4 weeks ago I cough COVID from my mother, as did my sister, brother and sister-in-law. For most of us it was more of a cold, just feeling rotten for a day or two. Nothing like the symptoms you describe. You may notice that the Fella’s name is not on the list. He didn’t catch it, despite being in the house with Mum and then isolating with me for 10 days. Quite a good thing that he didn’t catch it. And Mum has made a good recovery too.
Thank heavens for your provisions, with a pantry full of nourishing goodies. 😇
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Seems like the luck of the draw on so many levels. A few are spared, others are affected more, or less. I’m pleased the ill effects were moderate and short–lived. That pantry has come in handy many times over the years. We’re on the mend… and life goes on.
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