Isolated with Covid for the first time

Last Thursday I came home from work early due to uncontrollable coughing. I didn't feel too bad otherwise, but it seemed like a good enough excuse to bail on the workday, which is something I'm always on the lookout for. Two weeks prior I started having coughing fits, and I had subsequently tested negative three times over the course of several days. When I was leaving work early I said to our warehouse girl "I'm not sick but I can't stop coughing so I'm going to head out early."

My wife was pleased to see me when I got home. She's always thrilled to see me home early as it means we can get a head start on our evening festivities which include (in order) walking the dog, cooking, eating, cleaning up after dinner, spending time with Roxanne, cleaning Roxanne's cage, showering (sometimes together), and then cozying up on the couch with some ice cream for one of our shows before brushing our teeth and heading off to bed. Roxanne is a bunny just in case you wondering if we were keeping an innocent person named Roxanne caged in a corner of our kitchen.

This evening went a bit differently. I tested myself for Covid. The test came back positive, so I tested again, and it came back positive again. My wife's name is Anne. I'll call her Anne instead of my wife from here on. I sat with Anne and we picked out some Chinese food on Doordash. When it came we sat at the dining room table together and shared some sort of dumpling and fried rice with tofu. I remember the tofu being a bit dry but I appreciated that it was crispy. We were in denial.

After dinner it was decided by Anne that we would wear masks around each other when we had to be near each other, but I was relegated to sleeping in the guest room. So far I think this plan has worked well because I don't think she's sick.

I was asking to get sick. Not literally, but I was using my avoidance of this disease as a talking point when put in situations requiring small talk. The pandemic is not anyone's favorite thing to talk about anymore. Most people have moved on and would like to not be reminded, but I would inevitably bring it up. I'd say something like "I don't know how, but I haven't gotten it yet." I was proud of this because I put myself in lots of situations where  I should get sick. As a stand up comedian, I sometimes spend upwards of 4 nights a week in a shitty bar room telling jokes to strangers through a microphone shared with folks I wouldn't normally associate with if it weren't for our shared love of comedy which has bonded us together as an unlikely family. All of the comics have gotten it. Why not me? "I'm just better than everyone" is something I would never have said or consciously thought, but subconsciously I feel like my ego would make hints at the sentiment.

As soon as I finished the Chinese food that night I started getting chills and aches and I knew that the Chinese food had nothing to do with it. I went to my new isolation quarters and slept for two days. It wasn't too bad. Yes I had a fever of 103, and yes I was sweating through the sheets, and yes my stiff body ached, and yes it hurt to peel out of bed and saunter down the hall to use the bathroom, but I also liked that I got to sleep for two days.Anne has been my guardian angel. She would bring me herbal tea and meals even though I had no apatite. She would force me to check my temperature and to take Advil and to drink plenty of water.

My other nurse has been Otto, who is a 12 year old weenie dog mix that came with Anne to our relationship. I have adopted him as my own son, but he's always been a mama's boy. Otto knew I was sick be fore I did, and would only leave my side to use the bathroom or eat a meal if Anne pleaded with him. He cares about me. He wants me to get better. I think I am getting better because he recently left my side and returned to being a mama's boy. He knew I was feeling better before I did.

I finished two books while isolating with Covid. The first one was the memoir entitled Save Yourself by comedian Cameron Esposito. I was glued to this memoir from start to finish. I found it both encouraging and relatable. Yes, I am a straight man, but the experience of personal growth and self discovery coming into conflict with previously entrenched religion is something  I went through as I transitioned from my teenage years into my early twenties and always appreciate reading about.

The second book I read is called Dumb Luck and the Kindness of Strangers by John Gierach. It is a collection of essays about fly fishing trips. I didn't think I was going to make it through this book but I found it to be a page turner that really got me hankering to go on a fishing trip of my own.

Now I'm at the point where I feel healthy again, but I am still testing positive and so I am still isolated from people, which is depressing.