TWARS (This Week at Reef Seekers) - October 10-17 [I-Got-Covid edition]

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Ken Kurtis

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Messages
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Location
Beverly Hills, CA
# of dives
5000 - ∞
COVID hits close to home
(please scroll down for details)
In case you haven't seen my other pronouncements about this . . .

I TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID - I think it's safe to say that I've been an advocate for COVID mitigation measures. Get vaxxed, wear a mask, social distance, I support the various mandates, and feel that if EVERYONE got vaxxed and exercised a little common sense/courtesy, we could have put this behind us by now.

So when I woke up this past Tuesday morning with the tiniest of catches in my throat - not a sore throat but like there was a seed stuck around my Adam's Apple that I couldn't cough up - I didn't give it much thought. When it was still there Wednesday morning, I also didn't get it much thought although I contemplated bailing on my normal Thursday Aquarium of the Pacific dive because our protocols are if you don't feel 100%, don't come in. But Wednesday evening at the fabulous Dodgers/Cardinals wild card game, I knew something was wrong and I was getting sick. (Fortunately, it wasn't horrible and I was able to make it through the entire game to see the exciting finish.)

Thursday morning when I woke up I was beat and definitely felt sick. So I let AOP know I wasn't showing up and fell back into bed. Slept off and on most of the day. Typical fatigue, body aches, nasal congestion (but nothing in the chest), and a low-grade fever (100º). I really thought I picked up a mild flu.

Friday morning the fatigue was nowhere near as bad but I still felt sick and decided I needed to know what it was or more specifically, what it wasn't. Because I KNEW it couldn't be COVID since I'm vaxxed, I wear masks, and I try to be careful. There's an L.A. County pop-up testing site a few blocks away so I made an appointment, went over there, stuck the cotton swab up nostril one then nostril two, stuck it in the bag, and left.

When I got up Saturday morning, there was an e-mail telling me my results were ready so I logged in, fully expecting see the word "negative." I was quite stunned/shocked to discover this was not the case as the word POSITIVE stared back at me from my screen. (But it also underscores how virulent the Delta variant is.) After the shock wore off, I decided to get a second test to confirm that this wasn't a false positive and got those results Sunday morning. Ken - 0, COVID - 2. Very glad I've been vaxxed though, because if I feel like crap WITH the vaccination, I'd hate to think what this would be like without.

As best I can tell, I probably picked this up a large (100+ people) indoor event I attended. Because there was eating/drinking, a lot of people abandoned their masks all together. I had mine off to eat and drink. My symptoms showed up about 4 days later, which is apparently typical. The L.A. County Public Health recommendation is to go back two days before your symptoms appeared and those are the folks you could have exposed while asymptomatic. Fortunately for me, that was only three people.

I'm certainly functional. Main symptoms are fever that comes and goes but now seems manageable with Aleve, occasional cough, horrible running/stuffed nose (but Mucinex seems to be helping there), fatigue, occasional loss of focus, little loss of appetite (which is slowly coming back). I'm not sleeping great, which exacerbates the fatigue I'm sure, but last night was better than the previous nights. I'm following the L.A. County protocols which require a 10-day isolation from onset of symptoms and have already had a contract-tracing interview with them as well as with the Aquarium.

And maybe that's the biggest lesson to reinforce with all of this for those of you reading this who still be vaccine-hesitant. (I'm using the polite phrase.) This isn't just about YOU getting sick. It WILL affect others either because you get them sick, or because they need to get tested and then quarantine to confirm they didn't get infected. (One of my three contacts was my sister and although she tested negative the same day I tested positive, today is my sister's birthday and I've managed to ruin it for her because she had to cancel plans to get together with her friends and basically quarantine herself inside until she can get another test done Monday morning. On top of that, she had to sell our tix the Monday Dodgers/Giants game as well. My public apologies Susie.)

Because it's COVID, the personal ramifications for me go beyond I'm-sick-I-got-better-let's-go-dive. The Aquarium post-COVID protocols require me to sit out for the next three months to confirm there's no long-term lung damage. DAN post-COVID recommendations are similar. Although I don't feel like this has gotten down into my lungs (I've had no issues with breathing and my pulse ox levels have stayed in the mid-to-high 90s), I don't know where I am in the progression of the disease right now so hopefully it keeps getting better rather than turning for the worse. (I will consult with my primary care doc tomorrow.) And before anyone can return to diving post-COVID, you want to insure that your lungs have not been damaged lest you suffer inadvertent lung issues or a dive because you didn't realize there was a problem. So the recovery process is more than just, "I feel better now."

For those of you with your head in the sand and don't think you need to be vaxxed, go get vaxxed. For those who don't think you don't need to wear a mask, wear a mask anyhow. For those who think it's totally your business, that goes out the window when your actions affect others. Mine is what I'd term a mild case right now. But it's also not anything I'd wish on anyone else.

It seems anti-climatic at this point to go through my usual news of the week so I think I'll end it here with a reminder that we have Zoom Seekers on Tuesday but I'll send that link out to you tomorrow. Also, many thanks to those of you who have already sent me e-mails of good wishes.

This too shall pass.

- Ken​
 
Glad to hear thus far it’s no worse than it is, but please keep us posted. Like you, I wonder how much worse it’d have been without vaccination.
 
That sucks. Sorry to hear it. I'm glad you were vaccinated.
 
Ken - do you have an update on your condition?
 
Ken - do you have an update on your condition?
Thanks for asking. On the mend. Here's what I posted on FB the other day:

KEN'S COVID UPDATE
First of all, many thanks to all of you who have sent good wishes either here or with an e-mail. I am forever grateful for your support and friendship. At the suggestion of one of my other buddies, I thought I'd give you an update.

I seem to be on the mend. Fever lasted about three days, peaking around 102º. Except for the first day of knowing I was sick (10/7), fatigue hasn't been too much of an issue. Of course, as I've gotten older, I've come to enjoy a little 20-minute nap here and there so sometimes it's hard to distinguish between fatigue and just being lazy because I've got a comfy couch.

Biggest issue for me - and it's been more of an annoyance than anything else - has been nasal/sinus stuffiness and a runny nose. I referred to my nose yesterday as a faucet that wouldn't turn off. That's been somewhat on-going and has improved only marginally. But I also monitor (some obsessively) my vitals including pulse ox, and that's stayed in the 96-99 range which is good. I've had no problems with shortness of breath or breathing at all so my hope is that this all stayed from the neck up and did not get down into my lungs. (Thank you Pfizer.)

No loss of taste or smell to date, although I've had a bit of a loss of appetite, which is coming back. (I've also lost almost 10 pounds, so there's an upside to this too, although I don't recommend COVID as a weight-loss program.) I've also developed a strong affinity for these FABULOUS green Thompson Seedless grapes I've been getting at Ralphs. Sweet, moist, tasty, and really hit the spot. (I recommend them even if you don't have COVID.) 3 pounds of plump grapes in a square clear plastic box.

Wednesday (10/13), I got an infusion of Monoclonal Antibodies. This is the treatment that gives your body even more antibodies to fight the infection, although they're artificially created and are in addition to whatever your body naturally produces. These have received FDA Emergency Use Authorization and have to be prescribed by your doctor. It's also important to get the treatment within 10 days after COVID symptoms have appeared. Three different FDA studies showed a 70-85% decrease in the likelihood of hospitalization among those who received the treatment. In my case, even though it seems I'm on the road to recovery on my own, I'm quite happy to have another weapon in the antibody arsenal.

From a diving standpoint, DAN recommends at least two months out of the water and the Aquarium of the Pacific where I volunteer requires three months, followed by passing a dive physical that will include a lung function test. I will follow and adhere to those. No sense in going belly-up underwater for any reason.

I still can't say with absolute certainty where/how I got infected. But one thing is certain: I didn't give this to myself. Someone else, either knowingly infected and didn't care or unknowingly infected because they were asymptomatic, got me sick. I think I followed all the various protocols for being around people but who knows? Was I careless? Was someone else? Impossible to tell.

But my experience should underscore how we're all in this together and how what one person does or doesn't do affects others. Life doesn't exist in a vacuum and especially with something like COVID, there's no such thing as "it only affects me." Let my experience be a cautionary tale to anyone reading this who thinks otherwise.
 
@Ken Kurtis

Very sorry to hear you’ve got the plague. Get well soon.
 
All the best, Ken (I hope you have recovered in the meantime?)... :like:

I have had a similar break-through infection and now, 3 month after first beeing tested negatively and after careful medical examination (including CT of the thorax), I am fit for diving again. Hope you will be also...




Wolfgang
 
Thanks for the good thoughts. Seems to be in the rear-view mirror now. I just had a chest x-ray and spirometry yesterday as part of a diver-specific long-term post-COVID study through UCSD. Looking forward to getting the medical clearance that will allow me to submerge again.
 
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