Day 19 - Governor Newsom reinstates the mask mandate in California

The Omicron Chronicles…much sicker…

1/3/22. Monday 

10:00 – 10:30-I crawl out of bed because somebody has to take the dog out.  I’m not exaggerating when I say I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck. My body aches, I can’t stop coughing, I’m extremely congested.  I feel…bad. L.’s bedroom door is shut and I have no idea if she’s even alive in there. I take the dog out, make a cup of coffee, and start to revive. 

10:30-11:30- I break down and email my Mom.  I tell her everything…that L. is sick, that B. infected me, that I’m afraid I’ll die, and that L. refuses to text me.  I ask my Mom to check on L. and then text me updates because I know L. won’t ignore a text from her grandmother. While I’m worried about L., I’m more worried about myself. L. was vaxed with Pfizer – both doses – and she’s young. 

12:00-1:00 – Shower, and I sit down and lean my head against the tiles. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform. Light make-up. Since L. and I are quarantining, she texts that she is going downstairs to the kitchen, but I ask her to wait because I’m leaving for my booster appointment at Walgreens and I need to pack my lunch bag. L. asks how I’m feeling, after initially blowing me off when I told her I was sick yesterday. I’m experiencing fatigue like I’ve never experienced before and I’m not sure I possess the energy to drive to Palmdale…but I tell L. that I have to try.  She doesn’t respond.

1:00-1:20 – I pack leftover Penne Chicken from The Junction, along with apple slices and carrots…then I leave.

L.’s friends and boyfriend continue their Door Dash vigil, dropping off food for her throughout the day. 

1:20-2:30 – Driving.  I continue listening to podcaster/host Lisa Woodruff because she feels like a friend. 

2:30-3:00 – I’m late to my booster appointment, but the Walgreens pharmacy staff doesn’t seem to mind. A Walgreens employee processes my paperwork, makes a copy of my insurance card, then takes my Vax Card. She also takes my temperature. I fill out the health questionnaire and truthfully circle “Yes” to the question “Do you feel sick today?”  The circled “Yes” stands out on the paperwork because all the other responses are “No”, yet nobody asks me to elaborate on my “Yes” response. The employee is bustling about getting ready to call a pharm tech over to administer the booster, when I finally point out to her that I marked “Yes, I’m sick.” She looks up and says, “You’re sick?” Yes.  Can I still get the booster?  The employee says no, that the booster will make me even sicker, and to come back when I’m feeling better. She turns me away. 

Leaving negates the point. What if I don’t have Omicron?  What if this is just a bad cold? Then shouldn’t I get the booster now, before I contract Omicron in the future?  Or, let’s say I do have Omicron…shouldn’t I get the booster while time is of the essence?  I contracted it 3 days ago…I’ve heard anecdotal information of patients who are sick with Covid finally relenting and opting for the vaccine while in the hospital.  If I don’t get the booster today, doesn’t that put me at a greater risk of death?  

And finally, after reviewing my childhood Immunization Card [later, after I return home] and the numerous vaccines that I’ve been administered, I realize that I’ve never received a warning or admonishment that the vaccine I’m about to receive may interfere with an infection I might currently have. In the past, kids lined up at schools and were administered vaccines, similar to an assembly line, while parents looked on. And yet today I’m told by a Walgreen’s employee, with no identifiable name tag and title, that the Moderna vaccine (booster) will, somehow, negatively impact the infection I’m currently suffering from and  increase the severity of my symptoms. Out of all the vaccines that I’ve had administered, I have never received this disclaimer/warning before.  In fact, I’ve never been asked, before ANY vaccine that I’ve received, “Do you feel sick, today?”  Never.  And the Covid vaccines are touted as “revolutionary”? 

First things first…I need an “at home” Omicron test ASAP to establish, once and for all, if I have Omicron. Maybe I can administer the test in the car…if I have some other infection, like, say, a bronchial infection then I’m willing to press the issue and demand the booster in order to avoid contracting Omicron from L. , which would almost certainly happen. As I turn to check the aisles for an at-home test, I see the cardboard sign propped against the pharmacy pexi-glass: “Sorry, we’re out of Covid tests.” 

I leave Walgreens, dejected, and prepare to die… 

3:00-4:00 – Driving

-En route and my Mom texts me an update on L. It appears that L. is feeling terrible and I’m very worried about her.  I’m so glad Mom texted me L.’s condition…at least I know.

-B. texts me for an update as I’m driving.  I respond that L. is very sick and I was just turned away from Walgreens with regard to the booster shot. B. then calls and offers to text L. for updates on her condition since she REFUSES to text ME, but I tell him that L. is at least responding to my Mom’s texts. B. also offers to take L. to the ER, but this doesn’t seem like a viable plan.  B. concludes the call after approximately 60 seconds and I don’t hear from him again for another 20 hours.

-I eat my leftover pasta en route.  The hummus I previously packed is bad so I eat dry carrot sticks and a few apple slices with almond-cinnamon butter. 

4:00-7:00 – By the time I arrive home, I. am. sick. I can’t stop coughing and can barely move. I bring in my trash cans and, after that, all I’m able to do is collapse in my chair and write blog posts.  I can’t muster enough energy to do anything else. 

-I go downstairs and make a spinach salad. I add a tiny piece of garlic bread and two of L.’s cherry-size potatoes that she made in the Air Frier a few days ago, before she got sick.

And this meal becomes one of my last meals…as my appetite silently, almost without notice, slips away…  

-I talk to my parents and they are very kind and supportive… 

7:00-12:00 – I alternate between reading Everything I Have and writing blog posts.  I follow some of Cal Newport’s Deep Work principles, but mostly I keep writing because I’m afraid I’m going to die and maybe my writing will stave off death???  This is magical thinking, I know… 

12:00-12:00 – Nighttime routine. I try to sleep