Day 204, Monday
Was in a meeting where folks were discussing their recent increase in meetings… meanwhile, I have three meeting-free days this month, excluding two days for an online conference. None of those include the two new committees I am now a part of, and none are related to the move to remote. If I was working on-campus, I would still be attending the same number of meetings.
Day 205, Tuesday
I took a look at my schedule and realized I had nothing pressing until after lunch, so I grabbed my ballot and headed to the elections office to drop it off. My vote is in. I hope some good comes of it.
Day 206, Wednesday
Off to the ob-gyn for my yearly wellness exam. She also thinks my arm pain is a knot in my muscle rather than something internal, but I’m still waiting on an approval for the MRI…
Day 207, Thursday
And off to the doctor again for my yearly physical. My OBG and GP are a husband/wife pair and both were open about their views on the current administration’s response to COVID and their personal bout with the virus. Both caught it, along with one their kids. His case was worse (he developed pneumonia and fainted several times), but his wife and daughter developed tremors after recovering. It sounded frightening but weirdly reassuring. Like I too might have a chance… Still, he told me, “keep doing what you’re doing if you haven’t caught it.”
Day 208, Friday
Back to the grind… I blocked out a few hours for a pressing project, but it still wasn’t enough. Spent the night reading so I could away from the screens.
My BF reached the let-my-girlfriend-give-me-an-undercut stage of not being a fool in a pandemic. It was my first time using clippers but it went well!
Day 209, Saturday
Mild migraine rolled in with the storm clouds, but managed to head it off with a low dose of advil. I started laying off the advil after I noticed it was making me retain water in a concerning way, but it’s one of the only pain killers that works for me with some success. Managed to get a few hours of writing in before it wore off, but no rebound headache yet fingers crossed
I used to have regular dessert dates on the weekends, just quick trips to a local bakery for treats and coffee, but those stopped at the start of the pandemic. Today, I took a chance and stopped at one of my old haunts for a small cake for myself and cheesecake for the boy. There were two people eating inside but they left shortly after I arrived, and it took less than 15 minutes, so the risk felt less dire than my recent trips to the doctor.
It was delicious.
Day 210, Sunday
Alternated between writing, cleaning, and paying bills/checking my budget. Decent amount of energy too. Days like today me feel almost normal, which is kind of sad if I think about it too closely.
Follow me on
twitter | instagram | youtube | pinterest | goodreads | podcast
marginalia and such 
Your doctors’ experiences sound awful. I recently found out that one of my hiking friends had covid in between the months when it was safe enough to have small hiking groups. She works as a nurse at the jail, which has seen several major outbreaks. Both she and her husband caught it despite all their precautions, but theirs was never bad enough for the hospital. The long term effects are so alarming though. She’s out there hiking now – had covid two months ago – but struggles with breathing heavy and has the hospital checking in on her weekly to make sure she doesn’t ramp up her exercise intensity too quickly.
I just keep thinking about Nat’s family, who all somehow managed to survive covid despite all their underlying conditions. I mean, her father has cancer and a blood iron disorder that’s a non-cancerous cancer (essentially) and is on both oxygen and regular transfusions, and he made it through. So hopefully the rest of us can as well. I know that’s illogical, and of course I don’t take it as permission to do whatever or anything, but it helps keep the panic in check.