Buminess. I suppose it had to happen, sooner or later. Although it has taken me by surprise, it’s not such a bad time of year for it. As I uploaded my LFT result, I realised I was adding myself to the troubling statistics. All this means, I have Covid.
On Wednesday evening we had our friends Jack and Helen around for an evening meal. It was a lovely time, we had a sort of spaghetti bolognese, vegetarian of course. The conversation flowed nicely and over a wide range of subjects. By the time they left, I was showing the first signs of feeling one degree under.
As Rachel went to bed, I decided to do a LFT which was negative. Okay, I thought, it must be nothing. Nothing, that is apart from feeling nauseous for the last few weeks, especially at night.
Thursday, woke up feeling awful. I couldn’t face eating anything and much of the day was a complete blur. I knew it was important to keep my fluid intake up, although that sometimes make me feel even more nauseous. So I called the Doctor’s Surgery later in the morning. These days you can’t simply make an appointment, you have to explain what the problem is and then someone decides who will call back (nurse, doctor, pharmacist etc).
Within a few minutes a Doctor called. At first, somewhat impetuously, he asked if I had sepsis. While I knew what sepsis was, I explained I didn’t know the symptoms. He asked whether I had this or that symptom before saying I didn’t need to be urgently hospitalised. He said I need to be seen by another Doctor, since he was working elsewhere. An appointment was automatically sent to me by text for the afternoon.
When I met the second Doctor I explained that I had tested negative for Covid and I didn’t believe I had a urine infection (my usual reason for feeling unwell). Nevertheless the Doctor thought it was wise for these to be repeated, just to eliminate them as the source of feeling so unwell. My blood pressure was okay, albeit on the low side. My temperature was 39 degrees and the trigger for the Doctor to send me home with instructions to take paracetamol and to call the Surgery if I feel worse.
Considering there is so much flack around these days about GPs being unavailable and unwilling to see patients in person, I have to say I was quite impressed at the prompt response. Makes me feel special but then some would say I am “special” anyway….
So then when we got home I took a LFT and sure enough, there was no mistaking that second line.
Rachel looks after me well; this also means looking after herself. So we have agreed on certain rooms and to wear a face mask as we walk through “common” areas such as the hallway or stairs. I don’t like it. It almost feels like we are living apart and feels strange and plain wrong. But it is for good reason and hopefully not for long now.
Other news
- Last weekend my mother came to stay as it was her birthday. She asked if she could go to the village Anglican Church for the morning service and to her surprise the Vicar announced one further matter – Margaret’s birthday. At which point the organist started playing and the entire church sang “happy birthday” to her
- On returning my mother to her home on Monday, we headed down to Exeter to see Becky and her hubby. We stayed the night, saw the house they’re hoping to buy and then drove back home on Tuesday.
- While I’ve had a crappy few days, what with Covid, I suppose the Prime Minister may also feel he’s had a difficult week, especially as he isn’t the PM anymore, or is he a squatter, or perhaps the term ‘caretaker’ PM is the kindest terminology. Woopeee I am so very pleased! Mind you, there’s a few dubious characters waiting in the wings, so let us hope people keep a clear head and the new PM is honest, wise, has integrity, is compassionate and effective on the international stage. The danger is with us having another “populist” PM.