10: The Days Ahead

One of Leslie's 4 cakes she got for her birthday says it all for the days ahead for me.

The days ahead in May will tell how my health is doing lately. I've been feeling much better than I did by the end of 2023, but any time you have to go to the doctor, you wonder what will come up.

I have a few things I have to overcome.

For one, Columbia, South Carolina. I last was there on July 13, 2023, when I had Afib. Although I'm over the travel aspects of what occurred that day with COVID and Afib after going to Jacksonville in December, I haven't been to Columbia, even in the vicinity, since July 2023. So, of course, from April 27 until June 22, 2024, I'll have to go to or through Columbia 3 times. Leslie and I will attend the Palmetto Gold Gala in Columbia on Saturday, April 27. Then, my family and I will attend the Nurse's 5K inaugural event on Saturday, May 18, and spend the weekend in Columbia. Finally, we'll pass through Columbia twice on our way to the beach in June as we head to Surfside for a family vacation.

Those will be some big milestones to overcome since the last time I was there was a hospital visit. But I have faith it will all go well. I'm all in on that.

But in addition to overcoming fears, I'll have two big doctor visits.

On April 29, I go for a heart check-up with my Cardiologist, the 6-month appointment to see how things have progressed since November. I'll go for my A1c check-up and another 6-month re-evaluation at the end of May. In both cases, I had good reports in November, with my heart having no blockages and no further Afib, coming off of Eloquis, and then my A1c was the lowest I have had since March 31, 2021, at 5.5. Those results were huge for both my physical and mental well-being. So, naturally, I have mixed emotions about what is to come for the 6-month checkups.

I hope my heart is fine and my A1c remains at the 5.6 level or lower. During these 6 months, though, I've seen my weight increase. I was 204 lbs and 205 lbs at each visit in November. Currently, I sit at 215 lbs. That's not a huge weight increase but concerns my diet and how well I have managed.

Of course, back in January, I had some issues with lower blood sugars, which was a concern. Since then, I've been prone to eating more because I don't want my sugars to be too low again. However, there may also be another factor in weight gain.

During the fall, I was extremely stressed because of my heart. My anxiety was the highest I have ever experienced in my life. This extra stress undoubtedly contributed to some of my weight loss. I actually had to slow my weight loss down to prevent going too low, as I also altered my diet. My anxiety never resolved until I increased my Lexapro and made the trip to Jacksonville. I was incredibly nervous about going on any trip then. But, following the trip, I was back at ease. I felt like myself again, and I was happy. So, now, with the Lexapro firmly in my system and feeling much better, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that my weight has gone back up. I've also eaten a little more than before November, which has contributed. I'm sure my provider will want to check to see if my thyroid could be acting up. Anything is possible.

But since January, I have felt much better, calm, at ease, and peaceful. Stress always abounds, and I let the ploy get to me some, but I also realized it. My blood sugars have also been fine since January too. Here are my entries since the beginning of February:

2/7/2024-82

2/10/2024-72

2/14/2024-101

2/17/2024-100

2/21/2024-94

2/24/2024-96

2/28/2024-93

3/2/2024-95

3/7/2024-99

3/9/2024-84

3/13/2024-88

3/16/2024-88

3/20/2024-115

3/22/2024-99

3/23/2024-90

3/26/2024-110

3/27/2024-99

3/30/2024-92

4/3/2024-100

4/6/2024-95

4/11/2024-89

4/13/2024-90

4/17/2024-90

4/20-2024-100

My blood sugar average since February 7 has been 94, hopefully translating into a solid A1c in May. My blood sugar average from August through November was 90, translating to a 5.5 A1c. Before that, my blood sugar average was 88.6, with an A1c of 5.6. Putting in perspective, the last time my A1c was 5.8 in November 2022, my blood sugar average was 91.1. However, when my A1c was 5.6 in May 2022, my average blood sugar for 3 months was 93.7.

Average blood sugar doesn't predict anything, other than that my A1c will most likely be 5.something, but will it be over 5.6, the same, or below again?

That's the question we'll have to wait and see. For now, I want to lose some weight, keep exercising, and enjoy the next few weeks leading up to the check-ups. 

I'll let you know how these turn out in the next segment of 10: Heart Follow-Up.

10: It's Time

Have you ever just marveled at the beauty of a morning day. When the sun rises, you begin your trek throughout the day to parts and areas unknown or common to serve the greater good as best you can.

The early morning hours are humbling and surreal, particularly on a beautiful day. To me, it's a time when you can feel the presence of God the most, just as you begin to wake up. It's at this moment that sometimes you can hear God speak.

Have you ever thought you heard God speak directly to you?

Now, we all have those moments where scriptures or passages come to mind that feel a calling tugging at our soul to notice what God wants us to see or believe. But have you ever heard the voice?

This is not the voice of a mental health concern but a time when you feel like an audible voice can be heard, particularly in the waking hours of the day. I've outlined a series of dreams that happened to me from 2019-2021, along with a "hug from behind" that happened in between where I felt like God was trying to tell me something. Ultimately, the dreams made sense, leading to concerns over my health and hyperglycemia, resulting in an A1c of 10. Those dreams and sensations helped me cope with the changes to my body and realize that I could succeed as God tried to help me in any way possible.

But in July 2023, this new issue with Afib threw me for a loop. 

When I woke up on July 14, having only gotten probably 4 hours of sleep during the night in the hospital, I was happy my heart was beating normally again. It had been a stressful, arduous day prior, but now things were more peaceful, and I was soon discharged.

I went to my cardiologist the next week to discuss what had occurred. They were now going to put a monitor on me to assess if the Afib might reoccur and determine if any other issues arose. COVID was very much still in my system and wreaking havoc. That first week with the monitor had one moment where my heart rate accelerated to 130 and dropped back to 60 before normalizing. It was a scary moment and made me think Afib was returning, but Cardizem controlled it. After that, I was beginning to get back into walking briskly and starting to feel more like myself again.

After 2 weeks of wearing the monitor, Afib was absent. I did have a bought of my heart staying elevated one night following a rather obnoxious hamburger I ate. I never should have eaten it, but you live and learn. But after that day, I felt much better and progressed to the point that things were normalizing again.

That's when I woke up one night, early in the morning and heard a voice say something.

"It's time."

It sounded like I heard it twice. The only thing I could attribute it to was Christ, God Himself.

When I went to church that Sunday, the lesson was about being Sent. The message was that God wants to reach your world. Part of the message lessons said that the Holy Spirit is talking to you. The Holy Spirit speaks to His people. The Holy Spirit is talking to others. Today's obedience leads to tomorrow's blessings. 

You have to rise and go.

This lesson taught me that blessings were coming for me, but I had to obey. I need to follow whatever Christ was leading me through. This issue with Afib was not as profound as the A1c of 10 had been. It was a season, but it opened my eyes to what I needed to focus on, helping others reach the ultimate goal. The goal of Christ.

I was excited about what this possibility could mean. But I was also anxious about it. The problem was my mindset. I had convinced myself that things would go how I wanted when I returned to the cardiologist. Things had been going well, and I was feeling better, but I was not completely healed. Being sent, in this case, started with my own obedience. I needed to make some changes if I wanted things to be different. You see, my mindset shifted to what I believed I could do alone. I had become a bit fixated on what I could do and not enough on what Christ was doing. Good things were waiting for me, but I had to obey to see them truly come to fruition.

That made the next week so hard as I realized that what I wanted about this Afib issue would not resolve quite as easily as I envisioned. It would mess with my mind and trigger things I didn't believe were possible. But even as a nurse, I should have known it could happen. The next week created an anxiety issue I hadn't anticipated, and soon, I was dealing with a lot more than just a physical condition.

High blood sugar became secondary to a racing heart, but it was still the primary goal to control it. But if I wanted to control it again, I had to listen to Christ and return to where He wanted me to be.

Stay tuned for the next installment, 10: Climbing Ladders.

10: Satanic Attacks

 Have you ever experienced a satanic attack? Movies present grandiose ways that satan comes after Christian and non-Christian people. Whether it's The Exorcist or The Conjuring, they depict terrifying, lethal ways satan interacts with humans. But the reality is much more subtle in ways you might never truly imagine. All you have to do is go back to the first time satan attacked a human, and you'll see why.

Adam and Eve experienced the first satanic attack in Genesis Chapter 3.

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"

"You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Genesis 3:1-5 source: Bible Gateway

I imagine satan looking more like the snake in the pic on this post than some terrifying monster-like presence. This creature had to be somewhat alluring that Eve would even listen. Of course, you know how the rest of the story goes after talking to this creature. Eve tempts Adam, and Adam and Eve partake of the fruit. Then, they are cast out due to their disobedience. 

But it started with something so subtle. Eve thought maybe satan was right.

Another line from a movie that comes to mind is when Darth Vader says, "Your thoughts betray you."

I like to tell my students not to change answers when preparing for an exam. One of the biggest issues students have, myself included, is changing answers on tests. Most of the time, your first instinct is correct, so go with it. But I take it one step further. I tell the students don't even change the answer in your head. The reason is that your thoughts can betray you. Because our thoughts are where both satan and God reside.

Both will tug at you in subtle ways and then slap you in the face at other times with it. But satan really takes it a step further. He loves to just sit in your mind and twist, manipulate, and coerce every thought you've ever had. God doesn't operate like that. God lets you make choices but expects you to live with them.

That's what I was faced with the night of July 13 into the morning of July 14 before I was discharged from Orangeburg. My thoughts were betraying me. The reason was because satan was attacking.

You might think COVID was the satanic attack occurring when you first started reading, but COVID is just COVID. It's just like the apple. All the fuss with the serpent was about a simple apple. COVID is pretty simple, too. It's just a virus. Either you get it, or you don't. Unfortunately, I got COVID, which has sometimes been implicated in causing Atrial Fibrillation in patients. The previous year, I had heart concerns arise before the first time I ever had COVID, so I had a history of potential concerns. Perhaps something was there that was unseen in 2022 but came to be once COVID factored in.

But no matter the circumstances, none warranted the mindset I developed that evening on July 13. That was the point when satan attacked.

"I lies to her, it tells her things only a child could understand."-Poltergeist

Satan took my thoughts and twisted them. In the previous post, I outlined all the negativity going through my mind that evening and what I said to my mother. I was beginning to think, maybe that is right.

But it wasn't.

I wasn't thinking about everything else that had gotten me to this point. It's easy to look back on the last 2 years and think that if I had taken better care of myself, maybe I wouldn't be in the situation I'm in now.

But how do you know? Perhaps something worse might have happened had I taken care of myself better. Perhaps something that might have cost me my life.

God doesn't want us to die. He wants us to live in Him. That's a huge difference between satan and God, with his embodiment in Christ. Christ died so we could live and cherish every moment because it will never come again.

That's something a colleague of mine reminded me of a few weeks ago when talking to them about the Afib concerns. If you do all you can and something still happens, you must give that to God. 

That day in the hospital, I suppose the only things that were "off" were the Afib and COVID. All of my other bloodwork and tests were basically expected ranges. Now was a time for healing and follow-up once I got back home.

But the self-loathing did extend a bit into the next day. I was saddened by the fact my family and I couldn't do the beach trip we had planned. I wasn't going to be able to present at the conference I had planned on attending. But at the same time, health concerns were more important to look at for me and my family. Obviously, we couldn't just go on vacation with COVID. However, additional heart concerns warranted coming home.

On the way home, I still had thoughts creep in. Doubts. I thought about all that had happened the last 2 years, and maybe if I had taken better care of myself in the past, I wouldn't be where I am now. See how that nasty thought creeps back in sometimes. Satan's ploy. It's not right. It's just a thought.

For the last 2 years, I've worked diligently to change my habits and correct the A1c of 10. During that time, those efforts also helped me understand things better and change aspects of my life for the better. Again, what if those things hadn't occurred. Would I be alive today to worry about Afib? There are worse things that could happen to a person.

"For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison." 2 Corinthians 4:17

Also translated, "This too shall pass."

At that time, I didn't completely understand what was happening to me, but I knew it had to be for a reason. Time would bring it to light and help me to understand so that I can incorporate what is needed into my life to help myself and others. That's the real point, in the end, serving others. So, whenever those thoughts creep in, satan's ploys to trick you into something you know you shouldn't do, don't let it. It's easy to believe that no one else will know. But someone will. You will. And Christ will. That's what satan hopes you will do: ignore those two individuals and listen to it. But eventually, the time will come when a reckoning is made, and that's when you'll hear the one true voice of Christ telling you what is next.

Tune in next time for 10: It's Time.

10: COVID AFIB

 

On July 1, 2023, I began the month running. It was the third consecutive year I've participated in America's 5K. It's a fun race to run, as you always get a participation medal and a nice way to usher in the summer holiday week. I ran that race in 30:40, the second 5K of the year around that time, and an improvement from the year before when I ran the race by almost two and a half minutes. In 2022, I was coming off completing my dissertation, and I was just beat. I was really lucky I ran the 5K at all that year.

Besides nagging knee soreness going into the race, I did just fine. The heat that morning did get to me because it was hot. Hotter than it had been the previous two years. I've understood that July 2023 was one of the hottest months since 1880. July 1st was definitely a prelude to the rest of the month. I just remember being drenched in sweat after the race, sitting for a bit to rest, and heading home to enjoy the rest of my weekend, leading to a vacation with the family. No harm, no foul, just heat and a 5K for a hot time of year.

Vacation was, well, vacation. It was a much-needed rest from the grind of the summer. I had been in clinicals and research all summer up to this point. So, heading to Wilderness at the Smokies for a few days was a welcome fun time with the family. We had a ball all week, went to Soaky Mountain Waterpark, ate good food, and enjoyed time together. I rode every water slide the place had at the time. They are currently adding some new ones to the indoor waterpark. 

The next week was back to the grind, but I also had a conference to attend that Friday with the South Carolina Nursing Education Simulation Alliance (SCNESA). I'm on the board for this organization and had planned on presenting my dissertation research there. So, that week was all about prepping for the conference. I even started getting back into the gym to lift weights that week, as I had hoped to help Leslie take the kids there the rest of the summer. Everything was going according to plan, and everything was upbeat and positive.

Thursday, July 13, 2023. I woke up feeling fine and ready to head out to Hilton Head. Mando even slept with us the night before, and I got greeted by him laying his ever-growing body right on top of my head. I felt like Mando didn't want us to leave. Perhaps some foreshadowing of the day. We ate breakfast at Waffle House and planned lunch at The Salty Dog Cafe once we got to Hilton Head. So, we headed down I-26 towards Columbia and branched off in the direction of Charleston to get to I-95 to move toward Hilton Head.

That's when it happened.

A few miles down the road past Columbia, I started having this odd sensation in my chest. It felt a little like the Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVCs) I would have sometimes. I certainly got those when I was stressed, and traffic in Columbia is definitely something to be stressed about. But this felt different. It felt like the PVCs were never-ending. I began to realize these were not PVCs at all. My heart was racing, and it wouldn't slow down.

I told Leslie it felt like my heart was racing. She asked if I was okay, and I said I wasn't sure. It was beginning to unnerve me as I continued driving down the interstate. I was really concerned about driving. It felt like my heart would race out of my chest, and I was worried that I would become dizzy or lose consciousness. I'm driving down the interstate, going around 70 miles per hour in a truck with other cars flying around me. This situation was bad for me, my family, and the other drivers. So, I told Leslie I had to pull over.

We pulled off the interstate on the side of the road, and I turned off the truck. I carefully got out and made my way around to the other side of the truck near the embankment. The whole time, I was walking, but my heart was still racing. Now that I didn't hear the sounds of the truck, radio, or anyone talking around me, I could hear my heartbeat. It felt and sounded like what I would feel running a 5K. It wasn't slowing down a bit. I tried taking deep breaths. That didn't work. I stood there and wanted to sit down on the side of the road, but I was worried about sitting in the grass and maybe fire ants being nearby. I stood there beside my truck on the side of the road, clutching my chest. All I could think was, Is this where I die today?

I guess that would be a natural thing to wonder about, especially where the heart is concerned. If a major organ is having issues, and you don't know why, you speculate about everything. But then the nurse in me took over and helped to calm my nerves. I began to realize, Jason, you have no pain. There's no numbness or tingling anywhere. You're not short of breath. Your heart is just racing, and that is all. You're not dying, but you do need to figure out what this is right now.

With that thought, I got back in the truck, where Leslie was starting to go to pieces. She was scared and felt powerless as I sat in the passenger seat with Abby moving to the driver's seat. I don't think either of my children really understood what was happening. Leslie wanted to cry as she asked me what to do. I told her I thought I should go to a hospital. Neither of us had any clue where the closest hospital was in that area. We were in between locations from Columbia down to the lower part of the state, so I didn't know where to go. Leslie did the only thing she knew to do: she dialed 9-1-1. 

An ambulance arrived within 10 minutes of our location. Once they arrived, I exited the truck and walked up to them. Now, this is a good thing. If you can get out and walk to the paramedics, you're not in as bad shape as you think. My heart was still racing. So, the paramedics helped me into the ambulance and hooked me up to a monitor. The heart rate (HR) read 164 beats per minute (bpm). It also said Atrial Fibrillation (Afib). 

I've seen Afib on patients before, but I never expected it on myself. Certainly, it could happen, but my cardiologist said my heart was in great shape a month earlier, and I didn't have to return for 2 years. Obviously, I would be visiting my cardiologist again very soon. The paramedics said Orangeburg Regional Medical Center was the closest hospital to our location. Leslie followed us there as I took the first ambulance ride of my life. However, I was not emergent, so the lights were not turned on. That, too, is a good thing.

Being in the ambulance got me into the emergency room (ER) faster, allowing me to be seen more quickly. My HR wasn't slowing down a bit either once they connected me to the monitor. 179 bpm was what I saw at one point, but it kept bouncing around in the 140s to 160s, like an infant's heart rate. The 179 reading was the highest it went throughout this situation. For a good while, I was alone in the windowless room of the ER. Leslie and the kids were in the waiting area waiting to see when they could possibly come back. 

The nurses and provider first drew labs on me to get baseline levels and started giving me Cardizem intravenous (IV) push through a syringe in the IV line. During all of this, I still never felt pain, dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, numbness, or tingling of any kind. Just a racing heart that had lowered some to the 130s to 150s. They gave me another dose of Cardizem IV push to try to help again, and by this time, my family could join me in the room. We had been there for about an hour, and the provider said they would start a Cardizem drip on me because my heart was not slowing down much. I was still in Afib. So, the nurse started the drip, and in between, they also gave me an Amylodarone bolus. This actually helped get my heart rate to bounce between 99 to 120. I thought for a minute that might right the ship. But then the nurse let me know another thing from my lab work.

I was COVID-19 positive.

All of my other labwork was perfectly normal. Liver enzymes, complete blood count, and basic metabolic profile were all within normal limits. The only things that were off were my HR and COVID. This would mark the second time I had COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Of course, that probably meant my whole family had it too. There wasn't much we could do at this point, being over two hours away from home. All we could do now was deal with what had been presented in front of us.

The provider then came in to talk to me. With my HR still in the 120s-130s, they said they couldn't send me home and would have to admit me for continued observation on the Cardizem drip. My first hospital stay that didn't involve work. I had spent many nights in a hospital working and caring for patients, but never as a patient myself. This was a totally new experience for me. That also depressed me.

I couldn't believe the situation I was in. I had accepted it, but I hated it. I hated myself for it. Somewhere along the way, I had picked up COVID. Because of my report the month before, I felt COVID was the culprit for this Afib issue. I was horribly disappointed in myself because I thought I was doing all I could to prevent getting COVID. I took all the vaccines to that point. I wore masks and supported leaders encouraging masks. I practiced social isolation for many months early in the pandemic and even throughout. Yet, here I was with COVID causing a big issue. But I stayed calm, all I could do, and worked with the staff there to determine how to help.

The staff at Orangeburg Regional Medical Center were exceptional. They did all they could to help me, ease my concerns, and treat me as best they could. I was truly grateful. They eventually moved me to a hospital room where I could settle in for the night. Once I arrived at the unit, they connected a heparin drip to me to help reduce the risk of a clot forming and causing a stroke. When you have Afib, a stroke is more likely. It doesn't mean a stroke will happen, but they must take precautions.

So, eventually, we all settled in for the night. My family had to stay elsewhere because only one person could have stayed, so I sat in the bed alone.

I did talk to my mom on the phone, who was worried sick about me, to the point she wanted to come down there. I told her there was no point in that, as I was stable and hooked to the drip. I wasn't in any immediate danger. But I was depressed. I told my mom how I felt.

I felt like a failure.

My mom told me I was in no way, shape, or form a failure. I needed to stop thinking like that and think about all that I had accomplished. The loving family I have, the career I've got, my faith, all good things. It didn't change the fact I still felt like a failure. I felt like a failure because I let my family down about the trip. I let my colleagues down about the conference. I didn't take care of myself like I should have for years, leading to my sugar issues now. I didn't do enough to protect myself or my family from COVID. Then I started into how I don't do well enough at work, whether it was Clemson, AnMed, or anywhere I've ever been. Everything that had been bothering me the previous months and years came up, whether it was financial, career, or life. Then I brought up how my mom had told me once that a doctor had told her that because of my mother's hormonal imbalance she had when she was younger, I probably should have never been. At that moment, I said to my mom, "Maybe I should have never been. Then I wouldn't be a burden now."

My mom wanted me to stop that! That instant! She talked to me a bit more, but I wasn't hearing it like I should. I was too busy wallowing in my own self-pity. She prayed with me, told me I needed to pray, and asked God to help me. I needed to stop thinking so negatively and look at all my blessings to this point in life. I was going to move beyond this, too. It would just take time. I heard that last thing from my mom. After we got off the phone, I did pray to God.

I asked Jesus to help me. Please, Jesus, slow my heart down and let it be back the way it was again. Please help me with my mindset. Please help me be positive and believe things will get better. Please help me with my feelings of hate, regret, anger, and focusing on so many negative things, many of which were out of my control. Please just help me, Jesus, I just need you. Like my mom said, you're always there and always guiding. I believed my dreams were from Jesus, trying to help me with the sugar concerns that were to come. I believed He wanted me to do more to help others. I believed he had a purpose for me that goes beyond what I can imagine. I just thanked Jesus for being there with me and prayed for a good rest of the night and rest if I could.

Then, on July 14, 2023, at 12:46 AM, the feeling in my chest was gone. Everything felt "normal." I looked up at the monitor and watched it for a few minutes. All it said was HR 62. There was no Afib label on it. The rhythm looked nice, easy, and smooth, or what we call Normal Sinus Rhythm (NSR). My heart had converted.

All I could say was, "Thank you, Jesus."

Tune in next week for 10: Satanic Attacks.

10: COVID

 

Have you ever had COVID-19? I know we have all lived through the era of COVID, but there are those out there that can say they have never contracted the virus. However, if you've ever had COVID, then you know for certain it is a big deal.

Now, COVID affects everyone differently; it is a confusing virus. I've seen people who were considered high risk for mortality with COVID come through the virus as if nothing happened, and then I've seen people that were perfectly healthy before contracting COVID succumb to it. The virus makes absolutely no sense in that regard, but one thing is for certain if you get COVID, any variant of it, you better take it seriously.

For me, in the summer of 2022, that became the first time I ever contracted COVID during the pandemic. I was fortunate the variant I got was a lesser version of COVID, the latest Omicron variant for that year. I heard about many people's struggles with other earlier variants, but I never wanted to experience those. But even the variant I got was enough to knock me backward.

There I was in July 2022, riding high after completing my Ph.D. and fresh off signing a new contract to work on tenure track at Clemson. For both of those reasons and with it being my 20th wedding anniversary with Leslie, I wanted to take my family someplace fun to celebrate. We headed to Wilderness at the Smokies and specifically spent a lot of time at their new waterpark Soaky Mountain. We had a blast that week riding all the newest attractions and living it up in celebratory style.

Once we got home, though, Leslie told me her throat was scratchy. She also said she was starting to ache all over. All I could think was, oh boy! So, we tested her with an at-home kit, and the result was positive.

I assumed it would be a matter of time before I had COVID myself, after having avoided the virus for nearly 2 and 1/2 years. By the next evening, even after having tested negative at Urgent Care, just to be sure, my throat began to get scratchy as well. By the next day, I was full-blown COVID. 

If you've had COVID, you can probably relate to the descriptions I'll post next. I just felt blah. It was like having the flu at first, although it had been a long time since I had it. I never had a fever the whole time, but the blah feeling and achiness all over was awful. Then came the weakness and tiredness. I was so lethargic the first day. I still attended some virtual meetings online, but I couldn't tell you a thing about those meetings those couple of days when the virus took hold. Fortunately, the meetings were early-stage developmental types, so more robust meetings followed.

I could move around fine. Oxygen levels were fine. I was just incredibly tired. Then the sore throat began. That was the worst part for me. In the past, I've had horrible sore throats, especially with stuff like the Flu. So, this made a lot of sense that COVID attacked my throat the worst. It felt like I was swallowing razor blades every time I tried to swallow. It was so painful. But if that was the worst that happened to me, considering other's worse experiences, I'd take it!

One day after the meetings and feeling tired and weak, I started feeling slightly better. I thought maybe I could go for a walk. Boy, was that a mistake. Number one, it was mid-August by then and hot as fire outside. I decided to go in the middle of the day and walk for 30 minutes around my driveway. I figured this would be a good way to start back. The exercise ring on my watch will only close when I put enough effort into exercising to register on the device. With walking, it takes a brisk pace, 20 minutes or less per mile. That day, it took me 50 minutes to make the 30-minute exercise ring close during an outdoor walk. On top of that, I went in immediately following and showered. When I got out of the shower and dried off, I was still sweating like I had finished walking. It was awful. Even my food that day for lunch just felt like it was growing in my mouth. I didn't have to be anywhere the next day, so I stayed in bed most of the day. The day after that, I finally started feeling like myself again, with still a subsiding sore throat.

During COVID, I watched what my blood sugar did before and after. The day before I tested positive, my blood sugar check was 90, so normal. A few days later, when COVID was starting to simmer down, and I was off quarantine, my blood sugar was 93 and normal again. But during the height of COVID, my blood sugar fasting was 107. Now that's not incredibly high, but it was higher than I was accustomed to when not eating anything. Sick days as a diabetic can be challenging sometimes, so you have to watch your intake, stay hydrated, and prevent concerns related to sugar issues. Like I said though, 107 wasn't horrible, but clearly higher than the days leading up and following.

After having COVID, for me, it was only flu-like symptoms. But it showed me how detrimental this virus could have been. Before COVID, I got both Pfizer shots and 1 booster in the fall of 2021. The only ill effect I ever had from the shots was some mild tachycardia and feeling tired, but the day after that, I was perfectly fine. What the shots did for me was prevent COVID from getting into my lungs. I had no congestion in my lungs. My oxygen saturation was perfectly fine the whole time. No other ill effects took place. Therefore, I received the next booster shot in the fall of 2022 and will always get boosters as needed for as long as recommended.

COVID is a big deal. You're going to see a lot of things out there about COVID, both positive and negative. Although I had what you might consider a mild case of COVID, other people have not been so fortunate over the last three years. Some have developed conditions that never go away because of COVID. Some have lost limbs because of COVID. Unfortunately, some have died because of COVID. The other thing I have seen is people getting repeated infections with COVID, which causes more issues each time. I eventually got COVID again, recently, at the time of this blog. That bout with COVID will be the discussion in a later post.

You need to decide for yourself what is best for you, just like I did. 

The CDC does offer great resources if you want to look into COVID and the vaccines more. I'll include that link here. Otherwise, I encourage you to do your own homework and research to determine the best way to handle COVID for you and your family.

Because I hate to say it, folks, COVID is here to stay.

Tune in next time for 10: Fall 2022.