My COVID-19 Battle Story

I tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after the Obon holidays.

This is our family's experience.

 

My father tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday evening.

I had met my father on Wednesday, two days prior, and we had lunch together at my parents' house. I didn't wear a mask for about 15 minutes. We talked about work while eating.

 

My father started coughing a little on Thursday night. On Friday, he self-tested and was positive, then went to the hospital for confirmation.

The factory was immediately shut down. My father himself had received his fourth vaccine dose just two weeks prior, so he didn't develop a fever and only had a cough.

 

(I had received three vaccine doses, the third being in mid-April.)

 

From Thursday night, the day I met my father, I felt a slight sore throat. (If I caught it from my father, that's a rapid infection, about 30 hours after meeting him!)

I was working from home on Thursday and Friday, so I didn't meet anyone outside my family.

On Friday evening, it was my daughter's allergy clinic appointment day, so I picked her up from daycare early. However, after receiving the positive report from my father, I immediately canceled the appointment and rushed home to start recuperating.

Since the research-use test kit I bought on Amazon showed negative, I thought, "Maybe it's just a common cold." My throat hurt, I had chills, and no appetite, but I was still relatively well at this point.

The following Saturday, I took a second test with the kit, but it was negative again.

Even though my fever was only in the 37-degree range, I had severe pharyngitis, headache, and body aches, so I slept all day. I remember thinking, "If this were COVID, wouldn't it be even worse?"

Then on Sunday, I started coughing a little and, having no painkillers, I went to a Sunday clinic first thing in the morning to get some medicine.

When I told the receptionist, "I tested negative, but I need cold medicine...", they didn't say anything and just stuck a swab up my nose for an antigen test.

I realized how inaccurate those research-use test kits are...

On the same day Prime Minister Kishida tested positive, I also received my positive diagnosis.

 

After my fever subsided, my symptoms included terrible phlegm, coughing, loss of taste for two days, and severe fatigue. The abdominal muscle pain from coughing was also tough. I experienced brain fog, feeling like my thoughts were cloudy and I couldn't think clearly. My digestive system was also sluggish, and I had no appetite, so jellies and yogurt were a lifesaver.

It's not a comparison, but honestly, I found it easier than the mycoplasma pneumonia I've had twice before. (Including COVID's lingering effects, the difficulty is about the same for both.) For mycoplasma pneumonia... if we're only counting the amount of coughing, COVID's cough was about one-fifth!

 

We also tried to isolate at home, but we only have one toilet and two preschoolers, so I was prepared for family infection to be inevitable.

Ultimately, my son developed symptoms on Wednesday, and my husband on Friday.

My son, in particular, had a fever consistently above 39 degrees Celsius from the morning, couldn't eat, and was completely lethargic, so I was incredibly scared of a sudden turn for the worse. He also wouldn't drink much water, so I panicked thinking he needed an IV! But by the evening, he finally started drinking, and I kept giving him a mixture of OS-1 and apple juice (he wouldn't drink OS-1 alone...). My son went to the toilet three times in the middle of the night. That night, despite being unwell myself, I couldn't sleep at all. My husband, who hadn't developed symptoms yet at that point, couldn't take over the nursing, so it was a lonely night's battle. (He slept soundly, didn't he?)

My son cried and was lethargic with a headache during his two days of high fever, so isolating him was easy. But as soon as his fever went down, he would seize any opportunity to dash out of the room and hug his sister, or sneak snacks... it was terrifying. He had a high fever for two days, then a low-grade fever for four days, and finally got better.

My daughter developed a low-grade fever two days after my son. I was worried she would develop a high fever, but she only had a low-grade fever, wasn't lethargic, and was active, so we didn't end up going to the hospital.

My condition had worsened due to caring for them, so I was truly relieved, both mentally and physically, that my daughter's symptoms were mild.

 

My husband recovered faster than me, with only a sore throat, low-grade fever, and phlegm, but he seemed listless and needed to rest frequently for several days. He had an appetite and even took charge of the meals.

 

It was a long 16-day home recuperation for our entire family. We got through it by letting the kids watch lots of movies and TV. I found "The Adventures of Peter Pan," which I used to watch a lot as a child, on Prime Video, and we watched all 41 episodes! (Go! Go! to Neverland! Take me there!) My kids loved it too! Old animations where the villains are clearly villains are so satisfying! (What kind of comment is that?)

 

I still have a bad cough, no appetite, and fatigue, but I learned that nasal rinsing helps with brain fog, and practicing it has brought some improvement. I often have a lingering cough even with a common cold, so I'm prepared for this cough to last quite a while.

During this time, I couldn't participate in an event I was scheduled to exhibit at, and I feel truly sorry for the inconvenience caused. It's disappointing and sad.

 

It seems the isolation period will be shortened from 10 to 7 days! Indeed, 10 days is long, but even 10 days wasn't enough for me to recover... I'm worried.

 

Fortunately, I was the only one infected by my father, and although I passed it on to my own family, I'm truly glad that the infection didn't spread further at daycare or my husband's workplace thanks to the weekend.

 

Also, the hand eczema that had bothered me since April completely cleared up during this recuperation period.

Hand eczema is usually stress-induced, and I think the "vague anxiety about COVID, not knowing when I might get infected" was a major factor. In that sense, getting infected might have brought a sense of calm.

 

I'm worried about how long this fatigue, sore throat, and cough will last, but for a while, I want to prioritize recovering my health by not pushing myself and refraining from new events. The next event, which was decided long ago, is the "Nikko Teshigoto Market" on October 1st and 2nd.

I'll do my best not to overexert myself, with the help of my family!