On Sunday, I developed a cough. I felt like some bug had flown into my mouth and taken up residence at the back of my throat, somewhere near where the trachea and the esophagus intersect, and I kept trying to cough it out.
By the time I went to bed, I was wheezing a little when I breathed.
The next morning it was worse, but I still walked the dog and fed the chickens. I had energy; I wasn’t sore and achy, but I was worried that it might get worse.
Before noon, I called my doctor and told them I was coughing and wheezing and I wanted to get checked out in case I was developing bronchitis. Before I could even finish listing my symptoms, they said I had to get a COVID-19 test in their parking lot before they could see me.
I didn’t think I had COVID. I still had my sense of smell and taste. But when you look at the symptoms of the delta variant, I could see why they wanted me to get tested before they let me in the clinic. They scheduled me for the next day.
I did not think I had COVID, but they had planted a seed of doubt. Now there was a niggling concern in the back of my mind that I might have COVID-19. I couldn’t figure out where I might have gotten it. Walmart? That was about the only place I had been in the past week.
The Big Test
Tuesday afternoon rolls around and I headed into town where I waited in line with six other cars and got the inside of my nostrils swabbed. Twenty minutes later, they came out to tell me I had not tested positive for anything. Anything? What else had they tested me for? Turns out they tested me for the flu as well as COVID-19. Both turned out negative.
The good news is that I could go on with the rest of my day, but the bad news was I still was congested, coughing, and had a runny nose. Diagnosis: I probably had a cold. I left with an inhaler to help stop the wheezing and the promise they would call in an antibiotic if I hadn’t turned the corner in three days.
I am glad we are stocked up on Kleenex tissues because I am going through them at a ridiculous rate.
If I don’t post as much over the next couple of days, it’s because I’m resting up, drinking chicken noodle soup, taking vitamin C, and going to bed early because I’m zonked out on cold medicine.
