“Don’t worry about it mate, it’s just a cold,” seems to be the most common advice that I hear from people when it comes to COVID, but as a family who managed to avoid catching it throughout the height of the pandemic, encountering the virus at the tail end of 2023 was an experience with all the symptomatic hallmarks of the first waves to cross our shores.
The first sign was our five-year-old, who is on the spectrum, who came home early from school on the Thursday with a temperature and terribly upset, to the point where we took him to the GP clinic at the local hospital that night as a precaution.
Armed with nothing but Panadol, cool showers, and blankets and cuddles for the shivers, my wife and I took turns nursing him and our five-month-old through the night and I put my tiredness and headache on Friday down to lack of sleep and too much exercise.
When I got stuck into a few hours of gym to recharge the following afternoon, rather than feeling reinvigorated, my temperature started to soar and every joint that had just been utilised started to ache – and not just a one or two on the pain spectrum, but the feeling of rusty nails.
My wife had started to show the symptoms of a cold earlier that day and we both showed quickly and clearly positive on the RATs – we had finally succumbed to the virus that we had managed to avoid throughout the ‘health-emergency’ phase of the pandemic.
Unfortunately, this also meant that despite being ‘fully vaccinated’ for government purposes, our last shot had been over two years ago, affording almost no protection and not backed up by a first round of infection while still maintaining some benefit.
The aches and fever progressed to the point where I was awake all night, slightly delirious and waking up the family with my odd groaning and grunting – attracting mutterings of “man-COVID” from the other side of the bed – but by morning, the aches had settled into her joints too, and neither of us was able to stand without experiencing dizziness.
Similarly, all three infected family member’s energy levels had dropped to the point where we either in bed or moving between the couch and mattresses strategically located in positions to amuse the baby around the house and backyard, where we could lie in between feeds and changing nappies.
This persisted for four days and during that time, I lost 5kg, largely through dehydration, for which I paid the price of a headache that kept me awake and vomiting by Tuesday. I also completely lost my sense of taste and smell.
While my wife was spared the fever that incapacitated my eldest son and me, her respiratory symptoms included a highly congested chest and nose and she was equally impacted by the lack of energy, and when our youngest fell sick – with a temperature on the fourth day – caring for him throughout the nights while I was incapacitated took an equal toll on her recovery.
My recuperation was complete by the following Monday, finally testing clear, yet while I regained most of my energy (with a measurable 20% drop in strength and endurance capacity), the others still suffered from tiredness, with the change in my eldest’s normally exuberant behaviour noted by both his therapists and teachers – all of whom informed us that COVID was currently doing the rounds among children.
“Our entire year six group was taken out by COVID thanks to a breakout on their school camp,” one therapist said.
You can imagine my horror dropping him off at school this morning and seeing the runny nose and pale features of a classmate…
My family and I will definitely be getting COVID boosters in future, and while I am unable to influence the behaviour of other parents, this journalist hopes that – without current statistics and lacking accurate tracking – the anecdotal evidence of his cautionary tale will prove a timely reminder for patients that the pandemic still poses a significant risk to their loved ones’ health. – Eric Martin