My COVID odyssey - part 2. [View all]

Thanks to all for your good wishes and thoughts in this thread I posted yesterday (wow, lots can happen in 24 hours) -

https://www.democraticunderground.com/114229839

Just after I did that post, my wife drove me the few miles to the doc office, where a nurse came out to the car and did a nasal swab (it felt like she swabbed my brain - that was deep). In an hour, I got a ping in my inbox - negative for flu A, flu B, RSV - and a big ol positive for COVID. I then had a videoconference with my doc (actually, my wife's doc - we go to docs in the same practice - both are excellent) a few hours later. She strongly suggested, due to my being over 65 and slightly overweight, to go with the Paxlovid - particularly in its seeming ability to reduce chances of long COVID. She called it in, a few minutes later my wife went to grab it at Walgreen a few minutes away - I took the first dose (three pills, two different drugs) at 4 PM.

Had dinner, resumed our binge of the Great British Bake Off (our second time thru, on Netflix) - I headed to bed at 10 (much earlier than typical for me) in the spare bedroom. My wife and I are trying our best to do some distancing from each other (she's OK for now) - I slept through to 8 AM and already felt better - no cough, less congestion, less sneezing, no temp. Took the second dose before breakfast - no sense of taste or smell (but as I type this I do get a faint sensation of the metallic taste noted as a side effect of the Paxlo vid). My energy level is not great - but at this point I feel like I have a mild head cold. Absolutely no other side effects at this point.

So - I feel very fortunate for Medicare and the Supplement and the Part D, for my doctor - the whole efficiency of the process to go from positive home test to confirmation to medicating. Mostly, my caring wife - as I hear her sneezing, I fear she will be next - so we will get to nurse each other through this. Also thankful to my DU friends for your concern and kind comments.

I wanted to share this just as an FYI to anyone going through similar experiences.

Off to start planning my 2023 garden!