I Got Covid Before Taking My Booster

A day after Valentine’s Day I got a “gift” from the virus that keeps giving, and it was Omicron. Dun dun dun!

Symptoms first manifested as coughs, sore throat, runny nose, and when I got the headache I immediately suspected it was Covid since that is a very characteristic syndrome of the Omicron variant. I went to bed with chills, but I tested ART negative.

It was on Day 2 I got a positive result, and by Day 3, I was getting body aches along with the other symptoms. I went to my nearby clinic for a confirmation of the results, and I was indeed tested positive for the virus that has plagued humanity for more than two years now.

I was placed under the Home Recovery Programme (HRP), and that meant I had to isolate at home for at least 72 hours. If I test negative via a self-administered ART after that period of time, I’m actually free to leave home! Otherwise, I am still automatically discharged on the 7th day from my positive result, and I must say I was quite surprised at how short the whole isolation period was.

I felt generally fine on Day 3, thinking that this illness wasn’t that terrible after all. Alas, night came and I felt a lot worse, and the headache wouldn’t really go away even with Panadol. Thankfully, all I got was feverish chills without the actual fever, and the headache wasn’t the most acute of pains… somewhere like 6 out of 10. But it was really persistent and made me unwell enough to do nothing but sleep and watch shows. Not the most terrible of predicaments to be honest.

Woke up on Day 4 morning feeling as bad as I was on Day 3 morning, and I feared that this illness was going to be a prolonged affair. Fortunately, things looked up towards the evening, and I felt 80% well by the end of Day 4. I could even work the next day, teaching my lessons online, and I felt almost completely fine by the end of Day 5.

Endemic!

As far as illnesses go, this wasn’t the worst I have felt, although it did take longer to recover than the common flu. I managed to bounced back without much issue, although fatigue and some brain fog persisted for more than a week after I recovered. Knock on wood, I hope that there’d be no major long-term adverse effects on my health.

With some luck, Omicron might hopefully signal an endemic future to come really soon… but I’ve just jinxed it, haven’t I 🙃

Lessons learnt

It goes without saying, but I think falling sick this time reinforced the belief that health trumps wealth. Without good health, it’s just difficult to pursue one’s wealth. I had to cancel lessons, and couldn’t update my YouTube channel and site for a while because I simply wasn’t well enough to work.

On the other hand, having wealth certainly helps a lot in times of poor health. It doesn’t take away the suffering, but money does provide some comfort and conveniences. I’m thankful that I managed to move out, and living alone meant that I could self-isolate a lot more effectively and not transmit this virus to my aged parents.

Having savings and alternate income streams also alleviates the stress of falling ill, and I’m thankful I can count on my savings, as well as my site and YouTube channel to provide some ongoing income while I lost income from my main job.

If anything, I think I’m more determined to retire early now than ever before.

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