I've waited quite awhile to post my experience all while watching this thread. I've waited because so many people seem have their mind made up on how serious this is, but also because I didn't feel like I had a resolution to share. Also, I didn't want to whine about something I am determined to beat. I have been feeling good for the last few weeks so I thought I would share my story so that it may give someone else hope.
I would start by saying I'm 29 years old. I haven't ever smoked, chewed tobacco, drank alcohol or done any recreational drugs. I've never had any medical issues outside a broken hand and grade 3 shoulder separation that I suffered playing high school football. Both of which I proceeded to finish a game with I might add
. I have no known allergies. I'm not a gym rat but I did/do try to exercise regularly by running a few miles a day or taking weighted pack walks. I have a pretty cushy office job but I also have a small farm to take care of and that helps keep me active. The point is; while I am no Cam Haynes, I am a relatively fit, healthy, young person. I also rarely take any form of medication, choosing to suffer instead of even taking ibuprofen for simple headaches.
I tested positive for COVID on Dec 22 of last year. My wife, who is a nurse, was the first to get it. The day we got her test result I took my kids (5, 3 and 6 months) to get tested as well. We had decided that my wife would quarantine if the rest of us tested negative. Unfortunately we all tested positive, including the baby. I am extremely thankful that none of my children had any symptoms outside of a runny nose and a few hours of acting abnormally tired. I am also very thankful that my wife only had mild symptoms (loss of taste/smell, congestion, headache, fatigue). She has rheumatoid arthritis so we were unsure as to how the disease would affect her. Luckily she took it like a champ. Unfortunately, it hit me a little harder.
After a few days I lost my sense of taste/smell. I developed a terrible headache, got a fever and had the usual; chest pains, difficulty breathing, fatigue, everything you read about. I never felt like I needed to go to the hospital, although I will admit there were a couple times I came close. I was in bed for about a week before the symptoms started to reside. "No big deal, I'll push through this and be back to normal in a couple weeks" I thought.
I realized I had a problem when I decided to take my bow out for the last day of archery season on Jan 15, about 3.5 weeks after I tested positive. I was starting to feel a little better and I had missed almost a month of hunting so I figured I'd get one last evening hunt in to celebrate getting over COVID. Can't be that hard to set in a deer stand for a couple hours, can it? Wrong. My closest stand is a quarter mile from my house. I barely made it there. My chest hurt and I couldn't seem to catch my breath. I couldn't even bring myself to try to climb the ladder. I just sat down at the base of the stand. I truly thought I might be having a heart attack. I sat there for 15 min and then called my wife to come pick me up.
After that I started having other issues that I had never suffered before COVID. I had chest pains that woke me up in the middle of the night. My legs swelled up to about twice the normal size one morning for no apparent reason. I would get horribly, horribly dizzy all of the sudden at random times (this still happens). Severe chest tightness and fatigue if I tried to exercise at all. I suffered through this for about a month before I finally knuckled under and let my wife take me to the doc in mid February. By the end of March I had gotten all kinds of tests done that I never even knew existed. Stress test, EKG, chest x rays, echo cardiogram, CT scan of heart and lungs, Hida scan for liver function, and several more. I was still having issues any time I tried to do anything physical. My heart would race and I'd feel like I was going to pass out. The tests were all inconclusive outside some minor chest cavity swelling. Thankfully I showed no evidence of permanent scarring in my heart or lungs.
Regardless, I still had these issues if I tried to do anything physical. If I tried to push through it, then it seemed to knock me down for 4 or 5 days. It took a couple months, but I gradually started to figure out how far I could push myself. I couldn't walk a half mile with a 40 lb pack but I could do a 1/4 mile with 10lbs. So, I started there. Every day I'd add a little weight, or I'd go a little farther, or a little faster, or increase the incline. I started that in March.
I was a little hesitant, for all of the normal reasons, but I also decided to get vaccinated in May. The lack of full FDA approval concerned me but somebody rightfully pointed out that a lot of the wild game cooking I do doesn't conform to FDA standards either. Also, a lot of the supplemental crap people wolf down on a regular basis isn't FDA approved (think Mountain Ops). So in the interest of doing whatever I could to avoid getting COVID again, I got the shot.
I have no idea if it's correlation or coincidence but I started to get a little relief from some issues within a week of my first dose. My sense of smell finally came back and I stopped getting severe headaches and chest pains. I continued to push my exercise regimen and eat healthier. Gradually, I managed to work myself back to a level that I can say feels "normal" for me. I'm finally back up to 50 lbs over a 2 mile incline or can run 3 to 5 miles at a reasonable pace. I'm looking forward to hunting season this year and I have a pretty easy set of hunts planned from a physical perspective. Back during application season I wasn't sure what I'd even be capable of so I applied accordingly. I'm really looking forward to taking my 6 year old on his first deer hunt this year.
I'm very thankful that my family was not impacted more than we were. I don't know if the vaccine helps at all, but I do know that I will do anything in my power to never to have to deal with this stupid virus again. Unfortunately I doubt that is a realistic goal, but I'm going to do whatever I can with that goal in mind. It helps I have family/friends in the medical field who I trust and can rely on to give me sound advice. Some people get lucky, like my wife's 75 year old grandmother who only lost her sense of smell for a few days. Other's like me deal with issues for 8 months or longer. In the end, I pray everybody out there stays safe and hopefully this post will help someone that is dealing with these same issues stay positive.
www.spokesman.com
www.cdc.gov
www.mayoclinic.org
coronavirus.jhu.edu
