My COVID Diary

At the peak of this omicron surge in Massachusetts, I tested positive for COVID.

It all began with my partner getting what we thought was just a common cold. We did one at-home COVID test on him and he tested negative, so we thought it was probably simply a common cold. Later on when I developed symptoms, I also tested negative for two consecutive days. We did not come into close contact with anyone that we know of who had COVID, and we both had three doses of the COVID vaccines as well as the flu shot. So this was quite a surprise.

So here is my story...

Day 1 - "I feel like I'm getting sick..."

On Saturday evening, I began to feel fatigued and went to bed early in order to get some sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night with a sore throat, the first signs of an infection.

Day 2 - "It's probably just a very mild cold"

When I woke up, my throat was no longer hurting, but it was just a tad scratchy. I was just plain exhausted for the rest of the day. I decided to cancel all activities and rest. I video-chatted my parents telling them I seem to have caught a cold from my partner, but it seemed very mild and I would probably sleep it off. I did a COVID test at home and it came out negative.

Day 3 - "I have a full-blown cold..."

I woke up with a full-blown sore throat, runny nose and cough. I developed a low grade fever by the afternoon. I did another COVID test and it came out negative. Apart from eating, I just slept pretty much the whole day, evening and night, hoping this would speed up my recovery. I scheduled an appointment for the CVS clinic the next day as my throat started to hurt more and more.

Day 4 - "[Swallow] OUCH!...", "I tested POSITIVE!"

My body was drenched in sweat when I woke up. I had a sharp pain in my throat and throbbing in my ears every time I tried to swallow. This sore throat was the most excruciating in my entire life so far. My throat hurt like someone was slicing open a fresh wound. I nearly went to urgent care, but opted against it since I already had an appointment at the clinic that afternoon. Every time I had to swallow, I had to stop and consider whether the agony was worth it... I also had a fever. I really thought I had tonsillitis caused by Strep. I also had to take a shower in the afternoon, because I was filthy from sweating so much throughout the night and during the day.

In the late afternoon, I finally went to the clinic.