For 33 months I had been so extremely careful not to catch any illnesses. I had nearly made it three years without becoming sick with any kind of cold or flu. Unfortunately this year on January 14th, I tested positive for the current Pandemic flu. It was estimated that on January 7th, 2022 for when I contracted the COVID-19 Corona virus Flu and started feeling symptoms. It was in one of the least expected places.
I had caught COVID-19 by going to my dentist. How do I know this? Well because my appointment was the absolute only public place that I visited and therefore is the absolute only possible source. Normally it would be a process of elimination by determining what places I visited but the noteworthy evidence that there were no other places visited before, or after just completely and utterly keeps pointing at the fact that it was from the Dental Office. I work from home so I went directly from home, to the dentist, and then back home again. No other stops or locations were visited at all.
Usually Dental Offices are known to be quite clean and sterile. This leads me to believe that somebody either knowingly infected or unknowingly infected, came into the office and left some of their germs within the vicinity where I was being treated. Perhaps he/she did know they were carrying a mild version of a cold and assumed it would still be okay to go to the dentist.
There's so many surfaces I could have contracted it from. Was it the entrance door handle? Was it the dental chair or maybe the bib? Was it a single instrument that might have been missed for sterilization? Was it the fancy computer touchscreens or keyboards, that the hygienist kept touching with her fingers and hands? Was it the Debit card machine, and the publicly touched number pad? I was trying to let it go but having my careful 1000-plus day health record broken so easily by someone's reckless behaviour still bugs the shit out of me.
I knew I was sick so I wanted to find out if it was COVID-19. I live in the Greater Vancouver Area and I registered to get tested at one of the registered test sites by using this website for Fraser Health. (https://fraserhealth.secureform.ca/index.php). From all of the instructions and demo videos, I had the notion that I was going to be tested onsite with the PCR test which involved swishing a saline solution in my mouth and then spitting it back into a test tube. However, when I showed up to the test site, they were not allowing anyone inside the facility and instead were handing out Antigen Rapid Tests for taking home. I asked why and they said it was due to the number of outbreaks and this test was safer to take at home. If I tested positive, I was instructed to quarantine at home. I took the rapid test kit home and used it. It involved using a long Q-tip device to swab up and into my nasal cavity for both nostrils, then dipping it into a solution. Then I would drip the solution onto the testing unit that looked like a pregnancy test, and after 15 minutes, it ended up testing positive with two-lines displaying on the unit.
I suppose another reason, is that I'm still upset is because of how badly this COVID-19 flu hit me like a semi-truck and made my entire body suffer. Here is the timeline and list of symptoms I experienced which were pretty terrible.
- Day 1 - mildly itchy throat, almost like a very slight allergy.
- Day 2 - mild sore throat, came and went throughout the day.
- Day 3 - more sore throat, slight cough came and went throughout the day.
- Day 4 - very evident cough, constant headache for the whole day.
- Day 5 - constant migraine, extreme chills, fever, sweating, fatigue.
- Day 6 - nausea, fever, chills, sweats, massive fatigue, sore muscles.
- Day 7 - cough and nausea dissipated, fatigue, fever and chills present but less extreme.
- Day 8 - most symptoms gone, first day of normal feeling.
I am very fortunate and thankful that I have had 2/3 vaccinations against COVID-19. It definitely reduced my chances of being mortally sick and I did not have to go to the hospital. It saved me from having breathing problems, and it saved me from losing my sense of taste and smell.
It did however cause me to spread the sickness to my family at home, even though I tried my hardest to quarantine myself in a private room in my house for days. Eventually my wife Marie and my 8-year old son Xavier soon also caught COVID-19 and each suffered their own set of significantly bad symptoms.
Since all of us are now infected, we are quarantining together. We aren't leaving the house, and we have found ways to order our groceries, ordering food for takeout, and overall, just comforting each other and spending quality time together. We are hunkering down, staying warm, eating snacks, and watching lots of movies and television shows together. Sickness can be much more comfortable when we are all there for each other. Even our dog is a bit out of it because he is still recovering from recent surgeries as well.
The sad irony of it all is that about four days into my symptoms, I got the government notice that I was eligible to book my third booster vaccine...talk about kicking someone while their down, or rubbing salt in a wound. GEE THANKS A LOT!
