August 2024

COVID-19 caused me to be behind on calls for The Rotation. So, I scheduled a bunch of calls. I’d take a call, then take a nap. For the last few days, I have taken zero naps. Today, I had a bunch of calls in a row and stayed awake the entire day beyond my proposed bedtime.

I’m returning to being awake all day and working a standard 8-hour day.

I’m continuing to work on uncurling the toenail on my left big toe by filing the nail thinner. It still appears to be working.

Tested positive for COVID-19 for the first time.

Becca and I went to Nashville the first weekend of August to help a friend paint their house. On the second, our friend wasn’t feeling well but was chalking it up to sinuses and not having a lot of ventilation.

Becca and I returned to Louisville on Sunday afternoon. Tuesday evening, our friend texted us to let us know that they tested positive. Becca would wait until Wednesday morning to take a home test, and I decided to take mine Tuesday night, which would give us a stagger between tests.

I was about to step outside for a cigarette but took the time to start the test. Before I stepped outside, the positive line was already starting to show.

I set up the air mattress in the second room.

You might be thinking, “You don’t need to isolate at that point,” and you do you. We decided to do this before either of us got COVID.

That night, WHOOP had me at a level 3 strain for almost the entire night. I was in a level 3 strain on Wednesday for almost the entire day. I took multiple naps and ate ramen because it was easy to digest and helpful.

The funny thing is that I didn’t have any common symptoms. Even though I took multiple naps, I did it mainly out of boredom.

Thursday was the same. On Friday, I spent more time under the level 2 strain. Saturday, I dropped into level 1 a few times but spent most of the time in levels 2 and 3.

My recovery scores for the same period were 7, 15, 2, and 1, respectively.

WHOOP also measures 5 health metrics regularly:

1. respiratory rate,
2. blood oxygen,
3. resting heart rate,
4. heart rate variability, and
5. skin temperature.

All of these, except blood oxygen, were outside my normal ranges.

Sunday, I shot back up to a yellow recovery (64 percent), followed by 5 green recoveries (all above 70 percent) in a row.

I finally tested negative on Wednesday. My highest known fever was 101 degrees Fahrenheit. I did not come and stay out of isolation until testing negative.

Given that I spent so much time in bed, I was expecting some fatigue and loss of stamina, so I’ve been taking it a bit slow.

I started by going back to my full meals and the system integrity check: wake up, do the thing, eat the food (mostly standing), and take a nap. Then, do something else from the list, nap, and so on.

There were a couple of days of all the mucus and sputum clearing, similar to when I had sinus issues.

Outside of that, I don’t think I’m experiencing any of the normal COVID-19 or long-term COVID-19 symptoms.

In other news, the toenail on my left big toe continues to flatten out. The right big toenail is doing the same and seems to have recovered from the severe ingrown deal I had a while back. I’m still working on the fungus.