My adventure started with a scratchy throat on a busy day. It was Thursday, June 9, and I spent more than four hours behind the wheel that day, driving to the MSHSL state softball tournament in North Mankato in the morning, then heading from there to St. Michael-Albertville High School for the 4 p.m. session on day one of the state track meet.
It was a glorious, 12-hour day, watching high school
kids and teams compete on the biggest stage. For me, one of the best parts of
such days is seeing friends that I don’t see often enough and making new
friends; it’s not rare for someone to see me walking around with an MSHSL
credential hanging around my neck and asking very nicely, “Are you John?” That
always leads to a friendly chat.
On Friday I spent the day at the track meet. My
throat was not a lot worse, but it wasn’t better, either. I had that feeling we
all know: “Uh oh, I’ve got a cold coming on.” That night, I opened an at-home
Covid test, just to be safe … and the result was negative. Thank goodness.
Saturday was basically a normal Saturday for me
during a state tournament week. After five days of state tennis, softball, and
track and field, I was tired and I knew it. Honestly, the biggest health concern
I had was the sun. I’ve been literally burned before at such events, so I
applied and re-applied sunscreen each day. I came home Saturday with
no serious sunburn but I was even more worn out than usual. I’m 63 years old
and I have diabetes, and I have been very Covid-aware since the pandemic started.
You just don’t mess with this disease.
It was hard to sleep Saturday night. My sinuses were
clogged, I had a nasty headache and I took Tylenol. I felt much worse Sunday
morning, which was a special day. June 12 marked exactly 40 years since my wife
Beth and I were married. We had planned to leave Sunday for a brief North Shore
getaway before another week of state tournaments (baseball, golf, lacrosse) began.
I took a second Covid test Sunday morning and that’s
when everything came crashing down. I was positive for the virus. We quickly
scrapped our North Shore plans (I’m grateful to Grand Superior Lodge in Two
Harbors for allowing us to reschedule our trip at no further charge).
This was uncharted territory. Neither Beth nor I had
tested positive for Covid before this. We’re fully vaccinated and boosted,
because we’re not stupid. We trust the medical experts and cannot figure out
why some people, from the highest levels of government on down, think these
vaccines and treatments are some weird plot. That’s beyond ridiculous.
All three of our children and both of our grandkids
have had Covid and recovered. They immediately offered support, based on their
experiences. Stay hydrated. Rest, rest, rest. Have your doctor prescribe Paxlovid.
I did some reading. I learned that Paxlovid is an
oral treatment that can be taken at home to help keep high-risk patients from
getting so sick that they need to be hospitalized. It has an 89 percent reduction
in the risk of hospitalization and death. During a video visit with a physician,
I mentioned Paxlovid and she nodded in the affirmative. Beth picked up the
pills at our pharmacy and I took the first dose on Tuesday afternoon. No horse de-wormer, no bleach, no UV light ... just actual medical tools recommended by medical experts who do this for a living: vaccines, boosters, Paxlovid.
My goal since testing positive was simple: Keep your
butt out of the hospital. I also hope that I see no long-term effects from Covid,
but that’s down the road. Right now (I’m writing this on Thursday evening), I
feel better than I did early in the week. There were rock-bottom times when I thought that
if my health took even a minor turn in the wrong direction, I might end up
hospitalized.
I never lost my sense of taste or smell, but I sure lost
my appetite. Beth has been a saint, making sure I ate, but it wasn’t much. A bit
of soup for lunch, some mashed potatoes later in the day. My wife also must
have superhuman immunities, because she has tested negative throughout this
process. She’s done all the household chores, she mowed the lawn, she has taken
care of everything. The doctor told me to do absolutely nothing, which I
discovered is pretty easy when getting out of bed is no simple task.
The headache is still there, but it’s not as bad as
it was a few days ago. Breathing is easier, too; I’m sure the vaccines and
boosters were a great help in making sure the virus didn’t take root in my
lungs. I have experienced body aches, sore joints, a major lack of energy. I
told a buddy that I now know how it must feel to be a very slow-moving zombie.
I also had bouts of minor mental confusion (to which some of my smart-aleck friends
would reply, “So what’s new?”)
The doctor said someone in my situation needs to quarantine
for 10 days, so I’m locked into the home front for a while longer. I’ve walked
the dog a couple of times, which seems pretty normal but was unthinkable
earlier in the week. This morning, Beth and I sat on the deck to enjoy the
summer breeze as it blew softly through the trees in our backyard; I’ve never relished
that simple scene as much as I did today.
People I grew up with have died from Covid. In every
case, I learned that they had fallen into internet and/or TV rabbit holes and lost
all sense of, well, sense. I will never understand any of that. My friends lost
their lives, and their families lost loved ones. For what?
My experience with Covid has made me think back to
March 2020, when the pandemic began and the MSHSL and other groups across the
country shut down all events. I never doubted that this was the proper decision,
but having my own Covid encounter has really made me understand how important
it was to stop gatherings in those days before vaccines. I cannot imagine
contracting this disease without vaccines and boosters, and having to face the
serious circumstances that so many people dealt with. More than a million Americans
have lost their lives to Covid. It’s not a hoax.
Timing is everything. If I had tested positive one
week later, Beth and I would have been able to take our little vacation on our
actual anniversary, and I wouldn’t have missed the final week of MSHSL
tournaments for 2021-22.
I’ve been tightly tied into the Minnesota high
school sports world for decades, and this is the first time I’ve had to stay away
at such an important time. Of course, my attendance isn’t vital. The games go
on, with kids and teams competing on the biggest stage.
And that’s what’s really important.
Be well, friends.
--MSHSL media specialist
John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for
decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with
John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org
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