The Disabled Writer

About two and a half months ago I started a hiatus from here. I had just gotten a big promotion at work- I became the new dog trainer and got moved from part-time to full-time. Yes, that’s right, when I’m not trying to be a writer, I get paid to play with puppies. How much better can things get than that? But then, about a month later, just as I was starting to settle into my new job, what I’d been dreading for over two years finally happened. I got sick. And it was COVID.

So, You Got The Plague.

As we all know, I’m immunodeficient. Used to be Common Variable Immunodeficiency, recently got moved to Primary Immune Deficiency. Not a whole lot of difference there, mostly just how things get categorized. And as we also all know, I’m fully vaccinated and boosted and everything. So then if I’m fully vaccinated, how did I catch The Plague?

See, here’s the thing. The vaccine doesn’t actually prevent you from catching COVID. It just makes it so you’re less likely to become seriously ill. While yes, for some people, that can mean their otherwise mild case might leave them as merely asymptomatic but still positive, and someone who otherwise might have been positive but asymptomatic might not catch it at all, for the majority of us it just means that it won’t be As Bad. Less likely to die, less likely to be on a ventilator, less likely to be hospitalized.

So then keeping all of that in mind, what was it like for me?

I’ve Had Pneumonia 5 Times In My Life.

And I’ve never been so sick in my life. At first, I thought it was just allergies- albeit, really bad allergies. Congestion, a sore throat, a nasty cough, and an intermittent fever aren’t unusual for me with allergies. But it just kept getting worse over the next two days. So I took an at-home test. Positive. Went to the local Urgent Care, just to be safe. Positive. Well, shit.

I continued to get worse over the next three of four days. My fever intensified. My cough got worse. I lost my sense of taste and smell. All energy, all the will to do anything, left my body. Instant Ramen became my best friend, because it was the only thing I could almost taste, what with how insanely salty it is.

For fourteen days straight I ran a fever. Doing something as simple has walking up a flight of stairs or walking more than a dozen feet or even trying to string more than a few short words together left me totally winded.

But I was alive.

We Can Never Be Sure How Bad It Could’ve Been.

My doctor theorized that if I wasn’t fully vaccinated, I would’ve been hospitalized and possibly put on a ventilator. By the time my fever broke, she was a day away from sending me to the hospital. She had given my fever until the day after it broke to break before forcing me.

But I’m alive, and I’m recovering. Slowly. Even now, more than a month later, I still get winded from the simplest of things. I’m still more tired than usual. I still have a lingering cough.

We don’t know how much I’ll recover. I’m still seeing a variety of specialists to try and figure that out, and to see if anything was affected that isn’t immediately obvious. We have our theories, but we’re trying to remain optimistic.

But I’m alive.

I’m One Of The Lucky Ones.

If I’d gotten sick before the vaccines were available, I might not be so lucky. I might’ve just been another statistic of another hospitalization or someone put on a ventilator or even one of those who didn’t make it.

Instead, I just got incredibly sick. And I’m glad that I did. Not that I got sick in the first place, of course, but that that was all it was. Because it could’ve been so much worse.

So over the last few weeks, I’ve just been slowly putting myself back together again. Getting back into work. Getting back into life. Recovering. It’s a slow process, but I’m lucky to be able to have that process.

So What Next?

Well, for one, resuming my regular postings here. Getting back to my writings that I lacked both the energy and clarity of mind for while I was sick. I’ve read 17 books over the last month or so, and I’d like to keep that streak going. And, of course, continuing to get paid to play with puppies. Puppies! Doesn’t get much better than that.

Until next time, y’all.

-Nick

Instagram: @the_disabled_writer

Twitter: @disabled_writer

Facebook: Nick O’Brien, Writer

TikTok: @the_disabled_writer