
After avoiding it for almost three years, the spicy cough checked in on Monday, and by Thursday afternoon, two thirds of the population were seeing double. (double lines on a COVID test)
The symptoms for me kicked in Tuesday evening, and while desperately fighting them, telling myself I was just imagining the aching and the lethargy, I gave in and took a test, only for it to be… negative.
Phew.
Although, surely not. I definitely had it right? My partner tested positive Monday morning. Maybe I managed to dodge the COVID bullet again?
Maybe I just had the flu, and my eczema inspired overactive immune system had fought off the disease, and maybe I had the cure. Not just a vaccine, not a needle needed every six months with “efficacy %”, but somewhere inside me was the solution to this crazy demon that, three years later, still hasn’t been fully contained. Maybe I had THE cure?!
I mean, imagine when Dr Alexander Fleming presented a miracle cure that could fight off bacteria. His nay-sayers would have been like “mate, that’s just mould. stop playing with that it’s weird” but he stood his ground and sure enough, PENICILLIN was discovered.
Wednesday came and went in a blur of naps and paracetamol breaks, tossing and turning, and another negative test.
I am the answer. I am the key!
The roughest part for me was waking up Thursday morning before dawn, exhausted after a fever soaked night, absolutely bored out of my mind, but not having any actual motivation to even roll over and pick up my phone to mindlessly scroll social media, let alone anything productive.
If I’m not positive for COVID, then what fresh hell do I have, and how can I protect humankind with my natural COVID immunity if I’m unable to leave bed.
Time for one more test.
“Babe, how long did it take you before yours showed up with the two lines?”
I asked, impatiently
“Straight away, as the liquid was going up the paper it was there straight away”
Came the response
Hmmm. It had been five minutes, not even the faintest line. At this stage, part of me just wanted the damn line to show up so I had some kind of trophy to go with the aches and pains and constant napping.
Ten minutes passed, still no line. May as well take a shower and get on with the day
Sure enough, after fifteen minutes a barely visible positive line shows

It’s been tough, but I have heard awful stories of others who’ve had it much worse.
Muscle aches meant even readjusting in bed, or reaching for some paracetamol to help with a headache was in itself a pain filled experience.
On Saturday, things seemed a little better, with some motivation I managed to mow half of the tiny backyard before succumbing to exhaustion.
Today, Sunday, I weeded around 2m², before again the urge to rest overwhelmed me.
Later on in the evening, I managed to start fixing a pot plant stand that had been awaiting some TLC for months, but again it’s another job only half finished before my body had enough and needed a nap.
There’s been some changes I’ve noticed, I have a new addiction with hot tea, there is always a tickle at the back of my throat that I just can’t seem to clear, and there are times when I am trying to remember a name, or work out where I have seen an actor before, and my brain is working like a learner driver trying to do a hill start for the very first time.
This COVID thing isn’t over, and the most recent data shows a 20% jump in cases in the past week, I alongside 10,227 other Victorians infected in the last seven days.
In Geelong alone, daily numbers have more than doubled from a low of 44 new cases per day to 97 on Thursday, with active cases jumping from just 266 to 443 as of Thursday, and with data only being released weekly, expect a similar outcome next week.
The Government won’t be making any major health advice changes with an election less than three weeks away, so I urge you, please be careful.
I was pretty proud of being one of the few who hadn’t yet caught COVID, but as this disease continues to teach us, unless we remain vigilant, it will always be lurking, waiting for complacency.
Please do your bit.
Average Rating