My COVID-19 Timeline

March 27, Friday:  First symptom, coughing up yellow.

March 28, Saturday:  Noticed a little more of the same that afternoon.

March 29, Sunday:  Woke to headache, bodyaches, and likely fever.  Much worse than should be expected for the drinks I had the night before.  I had my first thoughts that I might have this.

March 30 to April 3:  First full week working from home.  Thought I felt normal, coughing up less though shortness of breath worsened day by day.  I grew more concerned as the week went on.

April 4, Saturday:  Like a ton of bricks.  Everything.  All doubt was removed from my mind that I had this terrible virus.

April 6, Monday:  Informed work, said I would work normally as nothing else to do.  Put in a full day and it was apparent I overdid it.  Contacted my doctor's office, they had advice but it was pretty clear I was not going to be tested unless I got much worse.

April 7, Tuesday:  Relinquished all work duties but one.  Let them know I was very sick, would continue to do what I could.  Put in part time hours through Thursday but looking back it was still too much.

April 9, Thursday:  Contacted my doctor again, let them know I felt the same and requested a note for the hours missed at work.  Received note and comments, more on this later.

April 10, Good Friday:  Holiday from work.  My first real appetite since the Friday before and all symptoms, even breathing, seemed to be getting better.  I finally felt I was getting over the hump.

April 12, Today, Sunday:  Day 17 since my first symptom.  Feeling much better, I am surely on the mend.  Coughing less and breathing better, but still tired.  I have to build up my strength and stamina again.  If I had to say, I'm probably about 80%.


If you missed it, I also wrote in more detail on April 5; I Have It, and April 8; Virus Update.

There are a few things I haven't mentioned yet.  Working from home I've been wearing my Fitbit all the time rather than just for sleep, and it shows my resting heart rate went from 59/60 when I was healthy to 70/71 while I was so sick.  And the dreams I had were just outrageous.  Maybe during or caused by fever spikes while I slept, but I've never had such vivid and off-the wall dreams.  This is definitely not a normal 'flu,' and while my symptoms would be considered moderate, I can certainly see how this kills people.

My doctor's office seemed to agree that I had all the signs, and mostly they wanted me to monitor my symptoms and if my breathing got too bad to go to the hospital right away.  Thankfully, it never came to that.  On Thursday my doctor responded:  "Sorry you are not feeling better yet, but from what we are seeing, this typically starts out mild, gets more prominent, and then will calm down over another week.  Typically, people are 2-3 weeks before they feel back to baseline."  This made a lot of sense to me as that first week I mostly was fine, then it really got bad and lasted almost another week like that, and now I'm slowly getting better.

I would like to again thank everyone for their well-wishes and offers of assistance.  I hope this is my last post on my personal experience with this virus.  Stay well, everyone.  Please.