Getting sick just 36 days before I leave…

Talk about a series of unfortunate events, this happens every spring.  I see a lot of people I don’t normally interact with during the Spring, so naturally I get sick.  I never thought of myself as sickly, just that I have a small tightknit group of friends.  We all hang out at the same places, and see the same people on a regular basis.  Our interactions with the public have been somewhat limited in the past.  But without fail, every Spring I catch something that is going around.

The last two times, it has been Covid.  I have had Covid three times, and each time is very hard on me.  By now Jackie knows the drill, I text him that I tested positive.  He wipes down his desk at work, and takes some time off.  It is unavoidable. Last time I tried Working From Home while sick with Covid, and just as Jackie was getting ready to head to the office, I collapsed in a heap on the floor of our living room.  We went to the ER, and spent hours there, to be sent home with the Doc telling me to take it easy.  Take it easy, just like the Eagles song, don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.  I know I do that, so I wanted this round to be different.

Jackie seems to miraculously test negative, but he stays home anyway to monitor me.  I try to stick to just one area of the house, turn off all the lights, and get the heated blanket.  That is something I can’t stand about Covid, the feeling of being so cold.  It is like a cold that seeps into your bones, and you shiver and shake uncontrollably.  I spend my days in the dark warmth of my room, binge watching Rom Com’s, downing gatorade, and trying to sleep it off.  We go through bottles of nitequil and dayquil.

As I was starting to feel better, I realized that with tax season in full swing, the political atmosphere, my MBALaunch program starting up, and my coding classes coming to an end, that I had completely dropped the planning for the AT.  Jackie asked me last night what I would do if I got sick on the trail.  I told him if I got Covid on the trail it would be bad.  Just hauling my gear from my closet to the living room for a final check, and a repacking this morning winded me.  But I didn’t want him to worry too much, so I told him I was a bit more worried about giardia or nurovirus.  At least on the trail you can social distance.  It is hard to believe that in almost a month, I will be on a trail, thousands of miles away… that gives me about a month to recover. 

One thing I know for certain though, I am definitely taking a mask with me on the train ride to GA.