COVID-19 is Terrible.

Still coughing. Still tired. Still mild symptoms. Energy comes and goes. Nausea and stomach aches come and go. I sniffed some roses sitting on our counter and today I THINK I smelled a hint of rose, but I might have imagined it. I think I am on the mend, but I know a young fellow COVID-ite who was on the mend for a week and then “bam” — he was in the hospital with trouble breathing. So I am trusting God that my symptoms just stay mild!

When I told a friend of mine how my symptoms were mostly mild, he responded, “Oh, so it’s not as bad as they hyped it up to be!”

If only it were that simple! COVID-19 is terrible!

Weird Symptoms

COVID-19, at least for me, came on with a MINOR cold. I thought nothing of it, and I walked around a few days potentially exposing others during that time. One friend has tested positive with a single symptom: loss of smell. The range of symptoms, at least to me, are just weird. Vomiting, diarrhea, toe-blisters, respiratory problems, rashes, eye pain or pink eye, fever, cough, loss of taste, loss of smell, and sore throat are some of the possible symptoms.

What does a toe-blister, nausea, and coughing have in common? Not much – except they’re all possible symptoms of the same virus. Bizarre!

Nobody Knows Much

Since this is a new disease, little is known.

Doctors spend years studying how this stuff works. Lives depend on them. They need to have answers.

Consider what it would feel like to ask your doctor a very simple question — a question that any doctor or even a nurse would be able to answer if it were any other disease — and the doctor just looks back at you and says, “Nobody knows yet.”

That’s a little unsettling when it happens to you, and it happened to me yesterday.

Sickness Aside, This Still Stinks.

I want to break this down to help others understand why COVID-19 is terrible, even with mild symptoms.

When my test came back positive, the health department called me. I had to remain in isolation for at least 10 days since the onset of symptoms, and I could come out after three days symptom free.

I had to back track everywhere I went up to two days before any symptoms arose. Anyone I encountered within 6 feet for more than 10 or 15 minutes should then enter into their own quarantine. Vacations, birthday parties, grad parties, and work have been missed because of this.

If one of them gets a positive test result, that expands the web of people who need to be quarantined. Quickly, my social and support network is diminishing. Anyone who tests positive has to go through this whole cycle themselves!

The moment my quarantine is over, my children’s 14 day quarantine begins. That means I may be allowed to go out, but not much because my children are preschoolers and need care — and nobody else can care for them since they’re quarantined.

So if I’m home sick 14 days, I’m home 28 days. That’s best case scenario… if anyone else in my family gets sick, it all moves back from there. I could be stuck in my home until August! Others — because of me — could still be in their homes by September or later!

So What Should I Do With All This “Stink”?

So far in this blog, I’ve pretty much just complained. I did this for two reasons. First, to help others understand what COVID folks may be feeling. Second, to make a point.

This blog is helpful in understanding our complaints and laments. Complaining can be spiritual!

A third of the Psalms is laments or complaints. This implies that God expects us to frequently experience pain and therefore frequently express our pain to him. God wants us to pour out our complaints to Him!