After nearly 3 years of dodging it, this week, I have succumbed to Covid. I woke up on Wednesday with a headache. I was able to function ok that morning, but when I met my wife for lunch, a wave of nausea hit me as soon as I bit into my first chip.
That night I had aches and pains all over my body, especially in the lower back. Then there was the tiredness and alternating shivers and sweating. Luckily by the next day, the worst of it was over, I was just left with tiredness and a minor dry cough. No issues with taste or sense of smell, although I was looking up tartan trousers on Amazon last night…
The government now says you only need to isolate for 5 days so I could go about my business from Monday, but this does seem a bit soon when we were told for so long to isolate for 10 days. There seems to be much debate over isolation, but some people say you are most infectious in the early days, whereas others say they have cut it to 5 days for political reasons.
As Covid is so virulent and most people seem to have had it at least once or twice by now, you do wonder if there is any point in isolation at all, but to play it safe, I shall be avoiding people this week.
I am sure you all wish me well in my recovery, but I feel slightly embarrassed as I know a lot of people have had it a lot worse than me. I have had to lie on the sofa listening to podcasts and watching the new Lord of The Rings Tv Show on Prime – I have had worse weeks.
If there is any upside to this pandemic, I hope it encourages people to rest more when they get sick. The body does an excellent job of repairing itself, all it needs is a bit of time. It used to wind me up when ‘brave’ people came into work with their coughs and colds sneezing and spluttering over everyone else.
Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is a good read for anyone who wants to up their relaxation game. The internet has made us more wired and stressed than ever, learning to chill more is an essential life skill.
Sickness can be seen as nature’s trip switch. Listen to your body and slow down when needed. Stay well.
I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism, I am not a member of any political party. Oddly for a member of the Slugger team, I am not that interested in daily politics, preferring to write about big ideas in society. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.
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