That's right, I ended up becoming a statistic . . . despite having been both vaccinated and boosted, I ended up testing positive for COVID, which means I'm among the number of people across the globe who have ended up with what the disease experts have been calling "Breakthrough Cases." How is that even possible? Well, one thing to keep in mind is that even Dr. Anthony Fauci had said before that vaccinations and boosters do not guarantee that anybody will be completely, 100% immune from COVID-19 or COVID-related illnesses, rather that the vaccines and boosters can greatly reduce the severity of the symptoms associated with COVID should you test positive. Even so, I am glad that that was the case, because even though I ended up coming down with a mild case of COVID, the symptoms I did have were definitely enough to really do a number on me.
So, despite being vaccinated and boosted, how did I even manage to come down with COVID in the first place? Well, as it turns out, I ended up getting COVID from Toto and Journey. Okay, that's not to say that either of these two bands are the ones who gave me COVID, but I did start feeling sick after attending a concert of theirs back in February. It started out with little concern at first: I had a dry cough . . . that's not too unusual for me, especially around this time of year with changes in seasons and weather . . . but as my coughing became far more persistent and even a little violent, and I began to experience a drop in my strength and energy, a trip to the doctor's office and two tests later revealed that my flu test came back negative, but my COVID test came back positive. Immediately, medication was prescribed that I had to start, one medicine specifically to fight COVID itself, and another to try to settle my cough.
The fatigue was bad enough, but the worst symptom that I dealt with was "COVID Throat"; it was the most horrendous sore throat I had ever endured in my entire life - everytime I tried to swallow anything, it was a new adventure in pain, and of course, I needed to try to stay hydrated, but even drinking water was highly excruciating. It also didn't help that it turned out that I was also diagnosed with a case of acute bronchitis on top of COVID, as that only contributed to my increasingly incessant and violent cough . . . which eventually also turned excessively bloody as well. So yeah, despite the need to try to stay hydrated and take my medication, COVID Throat made it nearly impossible to stay on top of either of these things.
All things considered though, it really could have been a lot worse: had I not been vaccinated or boosted, I could very well have ended up in ICU, hooked up to respirators, and fighting for my life, which thankfully, I was able to avoid all of that, so in the grand scheme of things, a lack of energy, a painful sore throat, and coughing up blood were small potatoes in comparison. . . . But, this is also a wakeup call that, despite what normalcy we may still be trying to return to, COVID is still alive and well, and doesn't appear to be going anywhere any time soon.
