Tina shares her experience of COVID-19

One of our Ambassadors shares had experience of getting COVID-19 for the first time after shielding for three years.

After three years of being a clinically vulnerable person and shielding, radically altering my lifestyle, mask wearing, on Monday 6 February 2023 I tested positive for covid for the first time. 

In the run up to my illness my behaviour had not changed, so I do not know where I got it. On Friday I went to bed feeling ok, I had no feeling that I was coming down with something the few days prior, as I would usually do when I get a cold or sore throat. On Saturday morning, I woke with a dry, sore throat, a very painful right ear, alternating feeling hot and cold and feeling exhausted. I spent that, and the next six days in bed all day, and then slowly started increasing the amount of time I spent up, with long lie ins in the morning, early nights, and in between an afternoon nap. 

I would describe what I had as being worse than a bad case of flu. The sore throat was nasty. However the earache worsened and spread to both ears. It was like the sharp pain you might get when a plane is descending, there was no medication, steam inhalation or comfortable position which eased it, it was relentless and made me feel miserable and unable to think, read or rest. The alternating hot and cold was terrible. There were times that nothing would take the feeling of cold away. The hot sweats were more acute than the ones I had when I had womb cancer (and at the time I thought they were bad).    

The worst thing however has been the debilitating fatigue. As a Spoonie (low spoons = low energy), already due to my mobility impairment, I already find many daily tasks tiring. There were days when I felt too exhausted to have a shower, prepare food or even get out of bed to get a drink and take my medication. I had to break tasks into manageable chunks, with a lot of resting in-between. While most of the other symptoms have lessened the fatigue has remained.

My workplace has been very supportive, as after a week on sick leave, I asked if I could work the second week with reduced hours at home. My free time that week was spent sleeping. After two weeks and two negative covid tests, I ventured out beyond my front door for the first time, as I live in a communal block of flats. My mobility was reduced and I took a slow walk to my local park, sat on a bench for a while and then came home. After two and a half weeks, I returned to my workplace for the first time. I felt wrecked after the getting up early and the commute, but after a rest on arrival and taking it at a slower pace, I was glad I made the decision to go in, as it was nice to have the routine of work and catch up with friends.

What has been interesting since this has been the few casual comments from people who now assume that since I have now had covid I will no longer choose to wear a mask Yes, I will continue to wear a mask, as nothing has changed. I am still clinically vulnerable and I do not want to be ill with covid again, and possibly have a different variant with more serious symptoms or long-covid.

For me wearing a mask has never just been about looking after myself, it has always been wider than that. It is about community responsibility and looking after others. I am the only social worker in my office. If I go off sick there is no one else who can do my job, that means delays for people who need my help. However, there is the wider community too, all us clinically vulnerable people and our families, who have been forgotten and abandoned by our politicians, media and society. We have created a divided society those who think covid is all over and those who know that covid can have serious consequences for them or others. I wear my mask as a clinically vulnerable person, in solidarity with our clinically vulnerable and disabled communities. Regardless of what others say, think or do, covid is not over and I will continue to take protective measures as I have no wish to possibly infect others. 

Tags: ambassador network, blog, Voices of COVID, covid