I am just coming out of my second bout with Covid, and this one was no fun whatsoever.  And, yes, I have had all the vaccinations and boosters.

Four days ago I tested positive for Covid and then it hit me – like a rock.  For the next 2 and half days…

• My ability to take a breath of air was interrupted and shortened dramatically (dyspnea);

• This hesitation immediately became a wheeze, where I am trying harder and harder to get a breath;
• The wheezing eventually turned into a cough;
• This would extend for some time, just to be repeated a minute or two later.

What I am describing takes a lot of energy, every time it happens and it was happening continuously.

While all of this is going on some kind of phlegm or mucus is developing in my lungs, chest cavity, or respiratory system.  I can hear the material gurgling every time that I wheeze and eventually cough.  This in turns brings up some liquid into my mouth which I spit out, enough to fill 8oz. cups three times a day.

In addition to all this my body is aching.  Not just in the chest which is going through this constant wheezing/coughing, but also the rest of the body is sore.

On top of all this my throat is really, really unbelievably sore.  It is sore without even trying to swallow.  When I attempt to swallow just some saliva, it is almost impossible.  It is so painful.  Swallowing is a non starter.

Don’t understand how this all could be happening at the same time.

The only good news is that I don’t believe that I have fever.

The bad news is that this is getting worse not better.  I am having trouble getting a breath without the subsequent painful wheezing and coughing.  It never seems to stop. I can’t get a break.  As a side note, I have some history of adult asthma, high blood pressure and pneumonia.

While all of this is happening, I am trying to reach out for medical advice.  What a joke, trying to get real time assistance from a real doctor.

• My doctor in Seattle won’t talk with me since I am out of state right now and his license does not allow him to “practice” when I am not in the state of Washington. So the best I can do is have an email exchange with one of his nurses.
• My doctor in California where I am right now is unreachable even though I have paid for a concierge like service. the best I can do is ask the doctor’s nurse to call me back when she has a moment. She eventually does and of course says that she will have to talk with the doctor and get back to me. The idea that the doctor could talk to me directly is not even considered apparently.
• Meanwhile my son calls and suggests a virtual medical service that he has used that provides on demand virtual care with a real doctor. At this point I will try anything.  I sign up for One Medical.  Costs me $147 for an annual membership.  I am free to set up a virtual meeting and I do so within the half hour.

I end up triaging the three.  One emails me to get a lot of sleep and take a lot of fluids!

Another one prescribes Albuterol and Paxlovid.  The third one, One Medical, actually talks real time to me and as a result prescribes some cough medicine (Benzonate) and recommends several over the counter items designed to deal with the sore throat and the mucus – i.e, Mucinex, Cepacol lozenges, Chloraseptic spray, and Aleve.

For the next 2 and half days it does not get much better even though I am taking all the meds suggested and applying all the sprays and sucking all the lozenges.

One of the doctors’ offices suggested that I monitor the oxygen levels in my blood by getting a pulse oximeter which I did.  Great little, easy to use device.  I have used it every day just to make sure that my oxygen levels are not dipping below 90% at which point hypoxemia occurs.  The ideal is 95% for my age, and I kept getting readings of 92%.

I can feel that I am getting weaker because I cannot get any water or other liquid down my throat. I can’t swallow. Nor can I get any food down.

On top of this I am constantly just trying to breathe but instead I am fighting constant wheezing and coughing fits that are leaving my upper body shaking.  I am not able to stop this, nor am I able to sleep. Nor am I able to do anything else.

I can barely speak.  My voice is broken, interrupted with wheezing and coughing, hesitant, and high pitched.

But the biggest problem that is developing is the inability to get any fluids, much less food, into my body.  I have now gone two and half days with no water and no food.  I can feel myself getting weaker. I know that at some point I should go into the ER to get an intravenous injection (IV), but I do not want to get anywhere near the emergency room or a hospital.

So I set up another virtual appointment with my new One Medical doctor, and he listens to my situation and suggests that maybe I should consider taking a steroid.  He says that this might make my throat feel better so that I can swallow.  He double checks to make sure that such a prescription does not in any way conflict with the other medicines that I am taking, especially Paxlovid.

At this point I know nothing about steroids, but I am willing to try anything that might make my situation better.  I take my first steroid pills later that day and within hours my throat calms down such that I can swallow and down some water and some hot soup.  Hooray!!!!!  Salvation!!!  I am alive!!!  Hard to overstate what this means.

Before this breakthrough I have to admit that I was getting a little discouraged and psychologically down. This was I am sure exacerbated by the fact that I have been by myself during this four day “adventure”.

From this point on, however, all my symptoms begin to slowly get better.  I am now just completing day 4 and am beginning to get my voice back, beginning to be able to breathe most of the time without wheezing and coughing, beginning to feel OK, beginning to be able to drink at will and eat when hungry.  Still taking Mucinex for the mucus, Benzonate for coughing, continuing with the steroid, and of course Paxlovid.

The bottom line is that I am not sure what was the key to all of a sudden allowing my throat to relax and be less stressed.  It could be the steroid or it could the Paxlovid finally having an impact.  Not sure.

I am not through this completely yet, but I am confident that the worst is over.  Having said that, the worst was really bad.  It was not something that I would want to have happen to anyone else.  The other thing that was so surprising was the stark contrast with the first time that I got Covid.  The first time was 15 months ago and for one day I did not feel good, but that was it.  from then on, I was fine.  This time was entirely different.

There was one positive that came out of the experience – I have lost 10 pounds in the last 4 days!!

The other positive to come out of this harrowing experience is that I discovered One Medical thanks to my son’s suggestion.  it turns out that One Medical was just purchased by Amazon one month ago and that tells me something.  In addition it may solve what I am experiencing in trying to get adequate medical attention – the inability to reach anyone quickly, the delayed call backs, the inaccessibility of the doctor, the delays in scheduling visits, the inability to serve you when you are in a different state, to name a few.

Not a fun story to tell, but one that I hope may in some way help others who may experience or have loved ones who experience the continually changing strands of this virus called Covid.