In the evening of July 28, 2021 I noticed a cough developing. Within a day, I knew I had Covid. A test the next day confirmed the diagnosis.
We suspect that I might have caught it from a fully vaccinated person whose symptoms started a couple days before mine. My wife who went to the same family gathering also got it. My kids, 3 of whom did not attend the party but shared the same home with us, did not get it. We did “social distance” within our home.
We are not upset in the least bit at the person that may have passed it on to us. We are upset that scientists play God and manufacture viruses in laboratories.
For those interested, I’m going to share here my personal opinions and what I learned from my experience.
My Covid-19 Symptoms
My symptoms eventually included:
- cough and tightness in my chest
- shortness of breath
- extreme fatigue
- back pain
- headache
- eye pain
- fever
- no desire to eat or hydrate
My shortness of breath at one point was a little scary. I considered my fear might be from watching too much mainstream news. I realized that if I chose to get medical help, a ventilator and sedation might hinder my ability to cough up minute amounts of mucous… hundreds of times a day… that would otherwise eventually fill up my lungs. I was probably clearing my throat several times a minute!
Fatigue was significant so much that I wasn’t even interested in eating or staying hydrated. I noticed I was losing weight quickly so I used the scale to make sure I was staying sufficiently hydrated. In a couple weeks I lost 15 pounds! (I gained half back in the next couple weeks!)
My back pain was so unusual that the pressure of clothing irritated it.
Headache was different than any headache I ever had, but I’ve had worse headaches… like when I don’t get my morning coffee blast.
Eye pain was accompanied by blurred vision. It was quite strange to me. I have never had eye pain like this.
Prior to Covid, I have never had a fever lasting more than a few days. This one lasted about 8 days. A few days into it, I over-heated in my sleep. I guess I bundled up more than I should have. Without giving too much detail, I realized at this point, for me, using half doses of a pain reliever / fever reducer would be helpful. Yes… I took OTC medicine!
Should I Have Gotten The Vaccine?
Every day I evaluated my symptoms and decision. I remained in agreement with my choice to not get a vaccine. I desired “Natural Immunity”. I considered that it was possible that covid-19 could even kill me… I mean, it is possible… For me, I was OK with that because of my faith. But, really, throughout the illness I never actually thought it would come to that. I was certain it would only get so bad, and then I would get better. It lasted longer than I thought it would… but it really wasn’t that bad.
I also realized that if I chose to get vaccinated, it would NOT have guaranteed that I would have avoided getting Covid. Furthermore, I realize that for some, the vaccine actually has adverse health effects and some people are killed by it. It likely would have decreased my symptoms. I don’t believe it would have protected others from getting it. That is, being vaccinated and having a mild case I might suspect I merely have allergies… while being a super-spreader. But knowing I wasn’t vaccinated, I was super cautious to the point of even kids living in the same home did not get it. After finally testing negative, for the next couple weeks, I continued to social distance and wear a mask around others “just in case”.
So, FOR ME, the vaccine was not something I desired and having gone through Covid-19, I am happy with the choice I made. As a healthcare professional and owner of HaleyNutrition.com, I consider myself to be a healthy guy. I was a little surprised at how strong the symptoms were. At no point did I feel my life was
Should You Be Vaccinated?
HAVING SAID THAT, there are some that I feel should be vaccinated.
I have friends with significant health challenges that I question whether or not they would have survived what I experienced. For example, I know people that already have significant shortness of breath. Stacking additional shortness of breath could certainly be their demise.
I would prefer that everyone do everything they could to maximize their health. That is, don’t rely solely on a vaccine. If you have high blood pressure, shortness of breath, high blood sugar… what could you do better to change those things? Do you have excess weight you could lose? Could you eat better and start exercising?
Whether choosing to vaccinate or not, improving your health improves your likelihood of surviving this illness.
