covid 19-a long long year

COVID 19-A LONG LONG YEAR

my wife she and i were talking this weekend about this last year
she said
you know there was a point last year where you looked real bad
i was worried about you
you started to look like an old old man

well i told her
i felt that way at one point 
like an old old man

i was down 40+lbs
none of my clothes fit me
i had to use her belts to hold up my pants
i would get short of breath going to our garage which is across our courtyard from our condo
if i went to the garden i had to rest a lot when i would garden
i got short of breath a lot and my heart rate was irregular

at one point i got the shingles 
then reacted to the shingles mediation with an elevated blood pressure that sent me to the emergency room
later my blood pressure started being too low and i had to come off all my blood pressure medication

at one point when my nausea and loss of appetite was so bad i came off all my meds since i couldnt tolerate any of them

even 4 months after i got sick i bottomed out with my 40 lb weight loss and couldnt hardly eat anything
it was at that point 
i was at the gastroenterologists office when i asked him
im going to starve to death arent i

that was four months alter i first got sick is the second time i thought i was going to die

i was watching the news last week when the newscaster lester holt said to look on your phone and find the last photo you took before the pandemic was declared on march 11 2020


this is me on march 11 2020 volunteering in the kindergarten garden 
i was unmasked
i did wash my hands a lot that day
i didnt social distance 

what a difference 11 days later made
thats the day i got sick 
it started with dizziness nausea achy all over like the flu and shortness of breath
i was in the garden planting my tammy tomato in the garden when it hit

8 hours later i was in the emergency room with 
fever chills headache nausea abdominal cramps shortness of breath that just kept getting worse
i spent 3 hours there and had a good workup for covid 19
my labs and chest xray were normal
my covid 19 nasal swab was negative 
i always say it only means something as we have learned if its positive
weve all heard the stories of folks who died of covid 19 who had negative nasal swabs
keep that in mind when you get tested and are making decisions based on the tests

i have discussed my case with several doctors who feel like i probably had covid 19

ill never know for sure now since i have now had two covid 19 vaccines and my covid 19 anybody tests will be positive

i feel like i had covid 19 as does my primary care doctor who has taken care of in hospital covid 19 patients over the last year

probably 1-2 days after i was in the emergency room is when i felt the worst
thats when i thought i was going to die the first time
in fact my wife she and i sat down at one point talking through a closed bedroom door since i was isolated from her
and 
discussed all our finances and we reviewed all our final paper work like the will power of attorney health care directive etc 
i knew how this disease could work in folks 
it could smolder than take off again in a few days
well it didnt take off
it just seemed to smolder for weeks and several months

ive thought a lot about was this covid 19 or not
i cant really think of anything else it could have been

my first day out of isolation i couldnt do things around the condo without getting short of breath and having to rest
eventually i had a cardiac workup that turned out to be normal
this was after my symptoms of shortness of breath and irregular heart beat got much better so that i could get on a treadmill

in those months my weight went from 187 to 148 and now has tapered off at 165
my high school weight
at least half my clothes now will fit me

my shortness of breath has totally resolved
my irregular heart rate has resolved
i am off all my blood pressure medication
i still have some appetite issues that i have learned to control by watching my diet
i was able to restart a cup of coffee a day 
i had to give up my wine dang it

as i told my wife she yesterday 
i think i feel better today than i did the day shown in that picture above

about a week before that picture was taken mr hudson had his presurgery appointment for his kidney transplant
his angel kidney donor was ready 
he was in advanced kidney failure 
he needed his transplant
we met with the total transplant team
all of them hugged us all and they all hugged mr hudson 
even the real stoic transplant surgeon cried as she gave mr hudson a hug

then
after march 11 the transplant was canceled because of the covid 19 pandemic
then
finally almost 4 months later the transplant was scheduled
his failure had worsened
you could see it in his eyes and how he didnt want to play as much
a donor donated a private jet ride from the east coast to los angeles for the kidney donor
she is an angel
he got his transplant and had a rocky beginning and has had ups and down
but
now
he is a healthy looking rambunctious typical two year old boy

then
we all had to quit doing all the things we like to do 
like travel and eat at restaurants and going to concerts and movies 
it was a total shut down

our goal my wife she and i was to not catch the virus
we were in the high risk category
we also did not want to carry the virus to mr hudson who is immunosuppressed

we limited our activities 
for me i increased my volunteer hours in the garden
i continued my gardening in as the english neighbor calls it my allotment
i do  kindergarten class with  ms b three mornings a week
we do some baby sitting with our three grandkids
i shop at traders jos mostly for groceries and go to the pharmacy and a few other stores only doubled masked and at their slow times
we have not eaten out at a restaurant in over a year
my wife she grandmothers 5 days a week
we are ok with our routine
we do look forward to expanding our social interactions

my aducanumab study was delayed since last march and is due to restart soon

we had a new grandson born last summer 
being pregnant and delivering in a pandemic isnt the best time to have a baby 
but 
mr n came out healthy and has remained that way 

i so feel for ms b and her kindergarten classmates as they struggle to do their virtual classes
i look forward to hopefully next fall when she can return to live classes
these kids have missed so much 

we my wife she and i have both been vaccinated for covid 19
mr hudsons parents just started their vaccination series
his nanny got hers 
my 80+ year old mother in law has had hers
so the high risk members are all vaccinated except for mr hudson
it will probably be 2022 before he gets his
ms b will probably get hers next fall

we have to form a cocoon around mr hudson to protect him for now

our exposure even though we are all vaccinated has to be controlled since we can still potentially carry the virus to him

remember this if you are going to be around a high risk person who has not had their shot

when we go to mr hudson we always wear our kn95 masks and keep our hands washed and sanitized
we dont allow him to have any exposure to anyone not vaccinated

we soon will get together with our motherinlaw in her apartment for the first time in over a year
we will all wear our masks even though we are all vaccinated
cdc says you dont need to mask in this situation but we do since we want to protect mr hudson

we look forward to going to eat at our favorite indian restaurant the last restaurant we ate at almost a year ago

we look forward to traveling when its safe again to do so 

in the next several months especially if enough folks get immunized we will know for sure what things we can all safely do

this has been a long long year and i am looking forward to a better year

listen to the scientists not the politicians

keep wearing your masks
keep washing your hands
keep a safe distance from others but hugging is in your near future
keep getting your vaccinations
keep avoiding large gatherings

we are oh so close to getting through this 

organicgreen doctor