I'm hoping my story can help others with what to expect day by day with
Coronavirus symptoms. I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. Just my story sharing my kids and my COVID-19 symptoms. I'm sure you are wondering if I adhered to the three 'W's'. YES! I truly believed if I did my part and everyone did theirs that I could spare myself and my family from the virus. That's another story.
December 3rd, nothing so far has been fun about contracting the virus. My body feels weird where I'm just uncomfortable. I have a fever that comes and goes and a headache. As you read, you'll learn other symptoms that developed and how we all are progressing. Hopefully, my day by day coronavirus symptoms accounts can help someone prepare a little for this virus. Although, I've had friends that have had totally different symptoms which could be due to age, body makeup, and other things. But whatever it is, the more everyone can share, the more each of us can be better prepared.
Day 1: December 2, 2020 - Night before I tested positive for having coronavirus.
That evening I had a runny nose, been sneezing and my eyes were watery. But I live with allergies, so these symptoms are normal for me. I had energy all day and felt good. I went to bed at 9:30 pm as I was tired.
Day 2: December 3, 2020 - MOM only with COVID
3:00 am - I tossed and turned for over an hour in bed as I was so hot. I actually thought perhaps this was what everyone was talking about for perimenopause. Boy was I wrong.
4:30 am - I finally became so uncomfortably hot that I decided to check my temperature - three times in fact - 100.5, 101, and 100.5. UGH! So many thoughts ran through my mind. How in the world could I have a fever. I don't do anything but work from home. I thought maybe I was just exhausted from working and being overwhelmed with the holiday stress. But then another thought entered my mind, Could I have a coronavirus? I had a really bad headache and my body felt strange. Not wanting to take any chances, I grabbed my pillow and headed to my office to be far away from my kids and husband until I knew for sure.
7:00 am I scheduled a 9:40 am appointment at Atrium Urgent Care to get tested for coronavirus. I called so many places. Almost all were booked up for days. Luckily I found a place that still had a rapid test available.
9:40 am - I checked in and they took me to a room within the urgent care facility. The healthcare practitioner checked my temperature and oxygen levels. Both were normal. They then did a COVID rapid test. In less than 15 minutes the doctor came in and said it was positive. I was numb and in denial. They discharged me with papers and shared that I would get a text from them, which they stressed should join so they could monitor me. I actually walked out and then walked back in, waving down the doctor. She came over and I asked if it could be a false positive. She said no and that I was positive. So many things go through your mind when you test positive for coronavirus. The first is "How?" Seriously, I have been anally adhering to the three 'W's' bitching daily at my husband to be as careful as I was. The second was "Will my kids be spared?" The third was "This has to be a mistake."
My husband and I went into quarantine mode. I moved 100% into our bedroom where I've been since. That day I didn't feel great. I did work, but not energetically. Usually, work will take me away from my worries. Being diagnosed with coronavirus, trumped all my thoughts. From 11:00 am - 4:00 pm, I had a fever of 100.5 - 101. It stayed at that number even with Tylenol.
4:00 PM - My fever shifted to a low-grade fever about 99.5 - 100.5.
I was able to eat and drink all day. In fact, I was soooo hungry all day. I even had a glass of wine before falling asleep at 9:30 pm.
Day 3: December 4, 2020 - MOM only with COVID
7:00 am - Denial Phase. I woke up feeling good. Not great, but good enough that I thought having coronavirus may not be as hard as I think. I had the sniffles (runny nose, sneezing, and really watery eyes). I took allergy medicine thinking that was the cause. Then I reached out to friends sharing that I think my test was a false positive. I felt way too good to have coronavirus. My symptoms just didn't seem really bad. Well, that feeling and thought only lasted a couple hours. By10:45 am, I started to feel weird again.
10:45 am - I felt like crap! My temperature shot up without warning to 102. I was tired, hot and just felt lousy. I took two Tylenol and started to think, maybe I do have coronavirus. But the doubt still existed in me. Being the stubborn triple-A personality, I worked even with a fever.
4:00 pm the fever broke where it went from 102/103 to 99.5 - 100.5. For the rest of the night, my temperature was between 99.1 and 100.5. I didn't feel great but I felt a lot better than I did earlier in the afternoon, so I caught up on work emails. My body felt hot and like I had taken too much Benadryl.
The strangest thing is that I was able to eat and drink all day.
Most of the day my body felt hot and like I had taken too much Benadryl. My chest has felt a little tight. Almost like a piece of food is lodged under my rib cage. Nothing severe. Just a little tightness.
Day 4: December 5, 2020 - MOM and 9-Year-old TWEEN with COVID
8:30 am - Yep once again the Denial Phase struck. I woke up with a very very low fever and I felt really good. I had a slight headache. And those darn allergy symptoms were still lingering around. But my denial and hope were crushed; by 11:00 am I was burning up with a fever of 102/103. I took Tylenol and for the next five hours napped.
4:30 pm - I learned that my 9-year-old daughter had a fever. My 16-year-old daughter found her in her bedroom sleeping and checked her temperature. It was 101. My heart sank when I learned.
5:30 pm - I moved my 9-year old into my quarantined bedroom. She had a fever of 103, a headache and was fatigued. All signs that she had COVID.
All night long she had a fever that was between 102 - 104. I woke up every four hours to give her acetaminophen and liquids. I didn't have my husband take care of her, trying to prevent him from catching the virus.
Day 5: December 6, 2020 - MOM, 9 year old TWEEN and now TEEN with COVID
8:20 am - My 9-year-old daughter's fever went from 103 to 100.5! But she wasn't hungry. She just laid on her bed, looking frail. I did force her to eat and drink a little.
8:30 am - Heartattack time! My 16-year-old daughter who has type one diabetes yelled from her bedroom that she has a fever or 99.8. I know that's not high, but that is the first sign that she may have coronavirus too. My heart sank. She was the one that I had been working so hard at protecting for the past eight-plus months and I really feel like I failed.
I'm scared. Yes, I am scared. No one knows how coronavirus will affect someone with type one diabetes. Prayers. I'm asking for prayers.
My 16-year-old daughter - So far blood sugars have been great even with the fever. Here is what she shared with me:
- She felt weird when she went to bed. (Just like me!)
- She mentioned her throat was sore.
- When she woke up, she said she tossed and turned all night.
- Her symptoms: Fever (99.8), sore throat, and headache.
9:30 am - My 9-year old tested positive for coronavirus. Fever and headache have been her symptoms.
10:00 am - My 16 year old got a COVID rapid test. Shockingly it came back negative, so now we need to wait for the PCR results. There is no doubt that this is a false negative as she has all the signs. Her oxygen level was normal, but she had a temperature of over 99, a headache, and a sore throat. She also keeps telling me she just doesn't feel well and she feels weird.
11:00 am - My 16-year-old came and joined my 9-year-old and me in our quarantined room.
12:00 pm - All of us have low fevers. We ate lunch. My 9-year-old is eating snacks which makes me happy. I was nervous when she wouldn't eat in the morning.
1:10 pm - We all took a nap till 2:30 pm. Well, we all needed a nap. Our bodies just needed to rest.
5:00 pm - We felt hottish and weird again. All of us couldn't get comfortable. We took Tylenol and our temperature has lingered around 99.5 - 100.5.
Since around noon, all three of us have been hungry! We've eaten all our meals and snacks. Our favorite snack is ice cream. It just feels so good on the throat.
I've been blowing my nose and sneezing daily. My eyes have been so watery too.
5:30 pm - dinner. Husband made steak, potatoes, and salad. We all cleaned our plates. And my 9 years old even had a snickers ice cream after.
7:00 pm - It's not late, but I'm getting tired. I just checked temperatures.
- Mom (me) has a fever of 99.8 - 100.5. I checked three times. My throat is feeling funny. I can't tell if it's sore or if it's just because of the nasal drip. My chest also has had a little pressure feeling.
- Teen (16-year-old) no fever. Temp of 97.6 and 98.5
- Tween (9-year-old) fever of 99.6 - 100.5.
My Tween seems to have a lot of energy when her fever goes down or breaks. She becomes her normal self, chasing the cat in the room and talking up a storm.
9:10 pm - We all took Tylenol and headed to bed.
Day 6: December 7, 2020
6:50 am - woke up feeling pretty good. My body felt like it was dead weight and my blood needed to circulate to get it moving. Everything about my body feels heavy.
7:10 am Checked fevers three times in a row.
- Mom - low fever of 99.1 - 100.5
- Teen - fever of 99.5 - 100.5
- Tween - fever of 100 - 102
7:30 am We all ate. So far coronavirus hasn't impacted our ability to eat.
7:50 pm My tween missed her morning call with her virtual class. She said she needed to rest just a little more. Even though she has a low-grade fever, it seems to really zap her (actually all of us) energy.
Both my teen and tween plan on participating in some school today. And I'm going to work. Just need one more cup of 'Dunkin'!
12:00 pm - No fever for my teen and tween. I had a slight fever of 100. My headache is back. And I just can't get comfortable temperature-wise. I swear I change the thermostat from heat to AC almost every 20 minutes.
3:30 pm - I'm tired again, but continuing working. I just need to do something and keep my mind off of coronavirus. My teen has a headache and is really tired. Tween is feeling 'fine' which is what she just told me but she does have a low-grade fever.
5:00 pm - Husband just called to let me know he hasn't been feeling well. He has aches, pains and chills. He said they started last night but he didn't think much of it. (I'M SWEARING LEFT AND RIGHT, RIGHT NOW AND MORE!!!). UGH! Seriously... I'm a pissed off wife as I have two teen boys who still have no symptoms and I've asked everyone if they have any symptoms to let all of us know immediately.
5:30 pm - Teen napped. I tried to nap at 5:30 pm but just couldn't do it. Tween couldn't nap too. Instead, she played with our exotic short-haired cat although I kept begging her to sleep.
6:00 pm - Ate dinner.
6:15 pm - Changed Teens inset.
7:00 pm - Teens' blood glucose is going up fast. We believe it's an inset that failed so I changed it again and then gave her a shot of insulin.
7:30 pm - Teens blood glucose is still high so had her take a shower which normally helps bring her blood glucose down. It didn't this time. She was still high after the shower and hours later. This is so stressful.
8:00 pm, Teen's blood glucose is still way too high. I thought maybe it was another bad inset so I changed it again. It's so hard to think a virus or fever could cause her blood glucose to be so out of control. But it is and it's beyond frustrating that we can't easily fix it! We upped her basal 25% to bring it down, yet it still isn't coming down. On a normal day, 25% increase in
insulin basal rate would make her crash. That's an insane amount of insulin to give on top of her normal amount.
9:50 pm - Tween finally fell asleep. We all feel like we have a form of insomnia. I just can't sleep. So I'm working and catching up on reading.
12:00 midnight - Finally heading to bed. Teen blood glucose just wouldn't come down even having her basal upped 30 percent more for hours now. It has stayed over 300 for almost 6 hours. And my teen stayed up with me. Both of us have insomnia and we feel like crap. My mind says to sleep, but nothing is sleeping. Hating this!
Day 7: December 8, 2020
8:00 am - Day 3 for Teen (my type one). She woke up with a fever of 102. Hating this! I had a really hard time sleeping last night. Our bodies were so hot, yet my temperature was a low-grade fever, but I still felt awful. I'm going to work as it keeps me busy.
My teen boys and husband are getting tested today. This is just a very sad time for us.
6:00 pm - Teen slept most of the day as her blood glucose was high and she had a fever. We had to up her basal 15 - 30% at times. She didn't do any school work as she felt horrible and the fever just wiped her out. Tween seems to be doing good. She has a lot of energy and is full of smiles. Me, well, my chest is starting to hurt. It feels warm inside and there is a little pain. I have a fever that kicks in once a day it seems. I'm able to work, which gives me peace of mind. I do get tired faster. The doctor said that's normal and to rest when I need to.
8:00 pm - This just sucks! It has been hell trying to get my type one's blood glucose lower so she feels better. We have been able to prevent it from going over 300 but the longer it's high the more we need to be concerned about ketones. She's checking her ketones 3 times a day and also if her blood glucose is high for over an hour. So far no ketones. The stress is just enormous right now.
Day 8: December 9, 2020
5:30 am - Teen woke up with a fever at 5:30 am. Her Tandem t-slim insulin pump alarms woke me up as her blood glucose was going up over 200. We upped her basal 20% and gave her two Tylenol. I let her go back to sleep while I monitored her. By 6:30 am, her blood glucose was 195. Much better.
7:00 am - Teens blood glucose is 162. We're still working on trying to get it below 150. I had a slight fever and my chest still feels tight. It feels like bad indigestion right under my ribs. My 9-year-old Tween seems to be doing well.
8:00 am - Tween and Teen are going to try to do some school today.
11:20 am - Teens' blood glucose still high. She's upping basal 15% so it stays more manageable.
3:00 pm - Teen is taking a nap. She gets really tired by this time. I'm not feeling great. Tired and looking forward to begin able to take a nap once the Webinar that I'm chairing is done.
5:45 pm - Teen woke up. No fever and blood glucose is staying around 110 - 130 with the Tandem Tslim. Tween gets a little tired. Both are taking it slow with school so they don't burn out.
9:50 pm - Just learned my husband tested positive. He's in shock as he had a false negative COVID Rapid test the day before.
Day 9: December 10, 2020 - Husband Positive; Twin 16-year-old son and 17-year-old son Negative.
Around 2:00 am, I got a text alert with my Twin 16-year-old son's coronavirus PCR results. I logged into Novant's MyChart and checked immediately. He's negative! How? I'm not sure because he and his twin sister are always around each other. I have to call for my 17-year-old son's results. (Praying!)
7:30 am - Teen's blood glucose has been fantastic all night. She's 109 right now. I'm head to toe excited! Praying again that she's over the rough part and is on the mend.
1:00 pm - Teen boys are negative! So far it's been a pretty good day for me. I'm feeling so much better. I have a lot more energy. My teen daughter had a low-grade fever around noon. She took a really long nap in the afternoon. Tween is back to her normal energic kid-self.
9:00 pm - Husband is bored. He said he doesn't have a fever, but has cramps in his legs and back and is achy.
Day 10: December 11, 2020 - Lost ability to taste and smell
8:20 am Husband said he had bad stomach cramps last night and then mentioned maybe he needs to work out. Hmm... I have to say, working out hasn't crossed my mind yet since my symptoms started with coronavirus. I shared with him that maybe he should rest and let his body fight the virus without overworking it. It's not easy not doing anything. From experience, my daughters and I soon learned that when we did too much we ended up sicker the next day where we were more tired and our fever came back.
10:14 am - We can't smell or taste anything! It really is mind-boggling and such a weird experience. So, we realized it after I gave my Tween a bottle of lotion that I never liked the smell of. She immediately put some in her hands and smelled it. With a puzzled look, she turned to me and said, "I don't smell anything." My Teen took it and smelled the lotion out of the container and couldn't smell anything either. I thought they were joking, so I smelled it and nothing. No scent at all. I then squirted some on my hands and still couldn't smell it. It has Eucalyptus in it. It's such a strong scented lotion and none of us could smell it. Still wondering if this was for real, I took the can of Lysol and sprayed it. We couldn't smell it. It was like clean air. If our dog farts, we won't smell it! Seriously, is that healthy? UGH!
2:30 pm - my Teen hasn't felt good all day. Whenever her blood glucose goes over 200 she feel horrible and is so snappy. We scheduled a virtual appointment with her Pediatrician because her chest really hurts and she's worried. I guess we all are worried. My chest has hurt for days now too.
3:50 pm - We had a virtual doctor's appointment! My Tween feels a little better as the doctor said the chest hurting is a common symptom. She shared that our chest is inflamed and we need to take it slow. She also recommended sleeping on your stomach. My Teen has been doing that and it does seem to provide some relief. I'm finding when I eat, my chest hurts more. However, I feel more comfortable sleeping on my back at times.
8:00 pm - My Teen's blood glucose crashed. It went down to 59. Gave her sugar and monitored. Within 20 minutes it started to come up. She's feeling a lot better now that her blood glucose is above 90.
10:00 pm - Headed to bed. We still get tired early and my Tween has an AP Lang Rhetorical essay makeup exam tomorrow.
Day 11, December 12, 2020
10:00 am - I'm out of quarantine! I'm still wearing a mask and sanitizing everything I touch in the house just in case. But mentally I know I have freedom. It's been such a long grueling experience stuck in my bedroom for 10 days. The only symptoms I still have are not being able to smell and my chest has a little uncomfortableness to it. It feels like a bronchial infection. My sense of taste has gone a little. It's really weird. Sometimes I can taste salt and other times I can't. It's like it comes and goes. Same thing with my sense of smell. I can smell Tea Tree essential oil a little, but can't smell peppermint or lavender at all. Here are some other things I've noticed and are bizarrely funny:
- I can't smell, but when I spray Lysol and I get too close my eyes water up as if it's still affected by the Lysol.
- I actually folded dirty laundry thinking it was clean. It smelled soooo good! My daughter shared that the clothes I just folded were dirty. How in the world am I going to be able to tell if something smells bad or rotten?
- This morning I woke up and my 9-year-olds face was centimeters from mine. Her morning breath is usually nasty. But not now. It smells like fresh air.
10:30 am - My husband said he still doesn't feel great. He mentioned he tossed and turned again all night and just could get comfortable.
2:00 pm - Girls and I seem to be on the mend! No fever. No headache. No sore throat. I do still have chest pain. And we all still can't smell. The funny thing is we can taste a little bit. I can taste lime. It's not as strong. I literally can suck on it and not have any reaction.
7:00 pm - Husband's lower back (around the kidney area) and right behind his right knee still bothers him. The hardest thing about getting COVID-19 is there isn't any consistency with symptoms.
Day 12, December 13, 2020 - I'm out of quarantine!
8:30 am - Girls and I are back! We feel great! Well... maybe not great, but we feel like we are alive again. Going from feeling like you are dieing to having energy and no headache and no sore throat, you feel like a new person. We still can't smell, but we have so much more energy and feel more alive. My chest still hurts. Madison said hers doesn't' any longer. She seems to be doing so much better. She really had me worried.
9:00 am - I talked to my mom. She, my dad, and my 95-year-old grandmother aren't sure they are going to travel from Florida to spend Christmas with us this year. I'm pretty bummed, but understand. Last year they weren't able to come either. My grandmother had slipped on black ice going to get the mail in New Hampshire. (My entire family is from NH - I'm born and raised). For the past couple of years, my parents have divided their time between NH and Florida. When they head to Florida, they stop by (we're in North Carolina) to see us. They didn't do it in October. I was the one who told them no because I was nervous about being able to keep them and my family safe from COVID. :-(
10:00 am - Hubby just texted. He's still having a rough night sleeping. His lower back still hurts and he has some pain still behind his right knee.
7:00 pm - I spent most of the day decorating and cooking for everyone in the house. Having holiday decorations up makes things a little brighter.
8:00 pm - Hubby took Motrin. He shared his back and behind the knee pain feels a lot better.
10:00 pm - So I was relaxing when my 17-year-old shouted to me saying he could smell something strange in the house. I shot up out of bed nervous there was a fire or a gas lead. But when I tried smelling, I couldn't smell a thing. I pride myself on having an above-average sense of smell. But at this moment I couldn't smell anything. He, my twin son, and I walked the house checking everything... outlets, gas. Nothing seemed out of the norm so we all headed for bed. I prayed when I finally put my head down. How in the world would I be able to protect my kids if I couldn't smell danger? This entire experience just sucked and I don't wish it on anyone.
Day 13, December 14, 2020 - Work and School today
7:00 am - My 9 year old has her sense of smell and taste back. My teen daughter and I still can't smell. I have so much more energy. But I'm snappy. It's like I'm on steroids. I don't know if this is part of coronavirus or just me mentally exhausted from everything we've had to deal with over the past 10-12 days. I am snappy and could use a vacation, which I know won't come soon enough.
