In good news, the Quarantine for my family and myself has lifted! My last day was Christmas Day, as told to me by my doctor, based on my testing date and symptoms not surfacing. The school nurses from the Beacon City School District have been amazing, calling in every now and then to check on the kids, even though one tested positive, and the other did not (also no symptoms for that one).

I hadn’t intended to write another entry about COVID, but after seeing a news segment tonight from a family who had lost a daughter-in-law, it seems people are wanting to know how to prepare once they test positive for COVID. This family had made a COVID-Kit with helpful things in it, with intentions on helping people know how to deal with the symptoms. So I decided to continue posting, in case it helps to give you direction and comfort.

Most importantly, always call your doctor with questions, and to get guidance. Be persistent with your doctor if you are feeling discomfort or not well. You know your body.

Additionally, the Mayor of Cold Spring, Dave Merandy, who has a son who is a nurse and who got quite sick with COVID but pulled through, thought the media wasn’t doing a good job covering COVID. Perhaps I’ll reach out to Mayor Merandy to learn what he wishes to see, since it’s all many in the media talk about, but in the meantime, I’ll share some symptom related items.

Get The Oxygen Reader - The Pulse Oximeter

When I first got the positive result, of course I wanted to know what to do to help myself and my family manage through the symptoms. What to do? There wasn’t much advice, except to take Vitamin C, D, and Zink. Fine. Done. My mom told me to get an oxygen reader. She’s been watching the news, was up on Chris Cuomo when he had it, and we are an asthmatic family. So we have had this oxygen reader pictured here (the pulse oximeter) on our fingers in the doctor’s office before. It’s easy to get. Find it at Target.

You want the oxygen number to be between 95-100. Anything below that, the doctor encourages you to call them or call in an emergency. One early morning, my oxygen hit 94, and I texted my neighbor and my mom, and then my sister wanted to hop on a plane to get here to watch my kids. I didn’t allow any of this to happen, but we kept monitoring.

My pulse is usually in the 60s-70s (it’s how I stay so calm, cool and collected, of course), but you want to watch that too, and track what is a high number for your normal.

Asthma, COVID, and Essential Oils

If you are going to be one of the people to say: “Put these essential oils in your diffuser… this is all so overblown,” I will warn you now to step back. I have used the essential oils, as an allergy-induced asthmatic. The last time I did was 3 years ago when I was pregnant with my 3rd (and final) child. My asthma got triggered worse with each child. By the time I was pregnant with him, my very pregnancy made me have asthma. Want to know what helped? The Grandma’s Pizza at Brothers. That pizza has so much garlic, which is an anti-inflammatory, that it actually opened my lungs.

Yes, food works. Oils work. I eat sautéd garlic and spinach every morning, with lemon water. I’m a fan of these homeopathic methods. My great grandfather was a homeopathic doctor! But this is nothing in the face of COVID. Ok? Ok. I have a lot of food quirks. I won’t humor you in the details this round, but know that I do value the magic of food and fitness. With COVID, however, I want an inhaler by my side, and an oxygen reader. Because COVID has its own mind inside of your body.

When pregnant with my 3rd child, in December 2017, my asthma was so bad, that my midwife, upon hearing me speak to her, told me to go to the ER. She could tell that I was having trouble pushing through the words. For me, I thought nothing of it. I was whispering to my family, but I thought I was just tired.

Upon driving to the ER, and arriving, my lungs began opening. As I was sitting in the ER, my asthma lifted. Why? Because I had a real Christmas tree at the house, and it was permeating into my lungs. A year’s long problem that I forget about every year. When I was out of the house, I was away from that pine. We finally have a fake tree now. It’s only taken 43 years.

Point is: asthma is usually not alleviated until the thing permeating into your body triggering the asthma is gone. In the case of COVID, it’s crawling all around your body. So it’s calling the shots.

Asthma and COVID-19

COVID-19 is in part a respiratory disease, it is giving people who do not regularly have asthma a hard time breathing. People speak of tightness in their chest, having shortness of breath, and having a low oxygen read. If you are not one to normally take an inhaler, consider talking to you doctor about having an inhaler.

There are mainly two types: the “rescue” inhaler, and the long-term steroid inhaler. The “rescue” inhaler usually uses Albuterol and is used when your chest first begins feeling tight and/or you are weazing, or you are coughing (you could have one without the other). The Albuterol goes into your lungs and opens them up for a bit. When I was a kid, my mom would listen to my chest to see if she heard “ghosts.” These are wheezing sounds of lungs being inflamed.

There- are pros and cons of taking this inhaler, including making your heart beat faster. I usually warn those around me that I have just taken my inhaler, and to forgive me if I am snappish. Usually this mindfulness keeps me in check.

The longer term inhaler is usually known as Prednisone and is used for management of the lungs, if a person is using the rescue inhaler for days in a row. There are pros and cons to this as well, including an immunity suppressant. You should Google this to look for articles on how and if doctors are using this to treat COVID-19 patients.

For long-term asthma coughs, my kids have used Singulair. This is a daily pill that is a management of asthma or asthma cough. For my kids, their asthma cough was worse when they are younger, and can at times require days in a row of nebulizing (air-pumped Albuterol to calm the lungs and stay ahead of the asthma cough from getting too bad).

As asthmatics, in normal life (as in, pre-pandemic) we are trained to take the rescue inhaler right away and consistently, to stay ahead of the asthma. If we do not, then the asthma gets worse, and our chances of going into the ER increase. This is usually discussed during with us during flu-season.

Please ask your doctor any questions. This is just my experience from our medical treatment over the years.

Women’s Cycle Triggered By More Than One Woman

I am excited to report that I have heard from other local Beaconites, that other women had their cycles triggered when they first got COVID too! This is only a theory, but if estrogen is helping calm the immunity storm, I’ll welcome it!

“This Is Like Being In Labor! I Can’t Tell What’s Going On!”

As friends texted in to see how I was doing, and how my symptoms were, I answered back: “This is like being in labor! Aside from me having really annoying cramps right now. But I don’t know what signs to look for! This is like being in labor for the first time when you don’t know what a contraction feels like. ‘Is that it? Was that pain a contraction? Or a Braxton Hicks? Was that the mucus plug that just dropped? What does a mucus plug even look like?!?!?!?” I never did learn the answers to some of these questions. With all 3 of my pregnancies, my water never broke. I never had that right of passage. I also so far have not lost my sense of smell or taste, and I never had a fever or runny nose.

For COVID-19, I did (and sometimes still do) have chest tingling. Is that tingling in my left arm a sign? Is that random pain in my left collar bone a sign? Is me breathing in and feeling a pain a sign? My partner’s best friend did end up testing positive and having a heart attack (he’s doing well with a stint) the week we were symptomatic. So a person wonders these things.

Deep Breath = Strange Soreness In Bottom Of Lungs

Sometimes, there is a soreness in the bottom of my lungs when I take a deep breath. Not all days, but some days. I am a runner, and on some days, I need to pause mid-run from being tired or tight. Not all days. But some days. I’m still running. And stretching!

Getting COVID Again - Yes You Can

So…it’s ideal to think that once you get COVID, and have antibodies, that you won’t get it again. Sadly, friends of mine have already reported that friends of theirs who got it, have gotten it again. Symptoms seem to be inconsistent, meaning, some of those friends had the same symptoms, some less severe, and some worse.

My doctor told me that I might be immune for 1.5 months to 3 months. And I don’t know if that includes the new strain. I am pursuing the antibody test.

So I’ll still be social distancing, wearing a mask, and learning about the vaccine to see how it works, and when my family and myself can take it.

Wishing you health and safety.