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| A cartoon rendition of me, a chubby brunette-with-grey woman in blue, wearing a smiley-face mask and the caption "WEAR YOUR MASK" in light blue and pink. |
Naturally, there will be some overlap, as I am in fact part of the world I'm ranting about. But I'm going to try, at least.
And although this particular post is mostly about me and Liz and our outing today, it is colored by the fact that I was on tenterhooks most of the morning because of pending Covid-19 test results. Again, part of the world here; complete separation is neither healthy nor practical. Note: I am fully vaccinated (Moderna) as of April 16 (and that's including the two weeks). I was able to get it that early because I work in K12 education. For anyone new here, I work as a McKinney-Vento driver for the school district in which I live; there are details in the link.
Anyway, so Tuesday of this week I had what seemed to be a migraine. When health-checking (online) into work, I was reminded that a new headache is cause to check with a doctor. All righty, pretty sure it's a migraine, but I'll check for safety. I work with kids, after all, some of whom are not old enough to be vaccinated, and school starts this coming week, so best to be careful.
The consulting nurse said that if the migraine responds to the usual treatment (in my case, Tylenol, icepack, caffeine, and a nap), it's likely just a migraine, no worries. It did, and I stopped worrying.
Thursday I started feeling wheezier than usual, a little lightheaded, a bit of ear pain, nasal and chest congestion. You know, cold symptoms among the asthmatics of the world, the usual. But it's been about twenty months since I was sick last (I know, it's like masks and stuff work or something!), so again, let's play it safe. Even though I can smell the blessed, blessed petrichor so I'm pretty sure I'm okay.
I went in, double-masked, had a visit with the urgent care doc, told her my concerns, and she examined the salient bits. Good news - no fever (98ºF even), reasonable O2 level (97%). Not so good news - wheezing, nonproductive cough, general malaise, congestion, blah blah blah. Seems like a cold, but who knows? Then it went like this: "Okay, Jenn, given your history and current symptoms, this sounds like a classic allergic sinusitis and asthmatic bronchitis to me. I’ll prescribe you a Z-pac in case it complicates into an infection, and you can use that if you need it, here’s a better over-the-counter cold medicine (Coridicin) that won't affect your blood pressure, and we’d better do a Covid test just so if you do have residual symptoms next week you can show them a negative Covid test and people won’t freak out."
So that's what we did.
And all the way back on Monday, I had promised Liz a last outing of the summer before school starts next week. Great. But now we can't be sure I'm not contagious, so... Okay, here's the plan. I will double mask, and I will stay in the car. We hit the drive-through at the bank and at Value Village to donate old clothes Liz has outgrown. Then I sat in the car in the parking lot while Liz took separate jaunts into the dollar store, the store part of the Value Village (the drive-through donation area is in the back), and the bagel bakery to get lunch. While she's in the produce market, I get notified that my test is negative, hallelujah. I mean, I thought it probably was - like 98% sure, but there's that niggling little doubt, you know?
So now we're home, 13yo Liz has done some shopping (toys and sweets at the dollar store, shoes and purses at Value Village, and assorted fruits at the produce stand), and I am wiped out. But I have that negative Covid test to show anyone who looks askance at my coughing/wheezing/sneezing, ad we got to have our outing, complete with Liz gaining some real-world shopping experience and a sense of accomplishment for Taking Care of Mom.
It was a nice day.
