Fall 2022

Oh where to begin? In the five months since I wrote my last post, infection rates remained high over the summer and after those first two tentative forays into restaurant eating, we've gone back to dining outdoors only. I have gone to the office a handful more times. I spent several days at a conference in Washington, DC, where I was again the only person wearing a mask indoors. 

Over the summer, it seemed like everyone who'd remained COVID-free finally got it - plus lots of people who'd had it before got it for the second or third time. It didn't even seem milder - lots of people had really rough recoveries for a week or more, lingering coughs, or persistent positive tests.

Toward the end of summer as things started to get busy, it finally seemed like maybe we could be comfortable doing more. I had a big birthday and my husband threw me a fantastic surprise party with many friends I hadn't seen in a couple years. We went to concerts, family events, ate out, kids are going back to school, we have lots of plans with family and friends, and it seems like I have a different doctor's appointment every week for the next couple months, that had all been scheduled months ago. We're still fully masked indoors and often seem like the only people doing so.

cottonbro for Pexels

Then the other night my husband was a little hoarse. When he didn't sound any better the next day and was just tired and run down feeling, I suggested he take a home COVID test just in case. It immediately turned positive. So I tested myself, and somehow came up negative. So far so good for me, though I feel like I'm a ticking time bomb waiting to get sick myself. So far he has a fever and cough/congestion, and just wants to sleep which is very unlike him. Hopefully his symptoms improve soon because he is a terrible patient! And hopefully our precautions of staying apart and wearing masks in common areas work and I don't get sick myself - though I'm honestly not sure how I'm not also infected because anyplace we've gone in the last week has been together 😕 We'd just been talking about getting the new booster that targets two Omicron variants, too. So right now everything is on hold - getting vaccines, doing activities, going to doctors appointments, etc. - while waiting to see how he recovers and if I get sick too.