This new COVID variant is no joke.
I should know. Battling the bug is how I spent my holiday.
I don’t know how I contracted the virus for certain. Between multiple concerts at area schools, even as I practiced social distancing where applicable, there were numerous times I was at a superspreader event.
And so, when I started coming down with a head cold Monday, Dec. 21, I figured it was my usual “I cut my hair because it was irritating me this weekend” bacteria I sometimes encounter.
In retrospect, I should have chosen to work from home the week before Christmas when my cough started, but I thought it was just a head cold.
By Thursday evening, while I never had a headache or fever that I could detect, this cold was now contributing such pressure to my sinuses it made my right ear hurt. That should have been my next clue – it wasn’t a traditional cold.
It seemed to crux with a bout of symptoms that Friday/Saturday that were really similar to a head cold on steroids, and I thought I was on the waning end. I just knew I wasn’t going to visit my sister or cousins who were asking my holiday plans.
Christmas Day I woke up and realized I couldn’t smell anything. Not the gift I wanted this year. And my sinuses were draining again. That symptom finally forced me to break out a home COVID test. And it was positive.
When I let office workers know on Tuesday, they also tested positive. So yeah. Not a great week.
Dec. 26 through Dec. 28, I tore through three small boxes of Kleenex (I probably would have torn through two big boxes of Kleenex easily). My nose has been raw from all the virus and wiping.
It sucks. Yes, it is a mild case. I still wouldn’t wish this on anyone. It is not fun.
I will tell you that having no sense of smell and as such a reduced sense of taste is a nightmare of it’s own. So many meals taste just completely bland, off or not quite right, and that is likely going to take a while to return to normal after the virus has stopped ravaging my mucous membranes.
COVID didn’t go away, and it now strongly mimics the common cold. If you come down with a cold this winter, opt to stay home. I’m so mad at myself for who I spread this illness to because I dismissed it as just a cold.
Sunny Side – COVID mimics the common cold now
January 4, 2024
About the Contributor
Nathan Countryman, Editor
Nathan Countryman is the Editor of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.