It's a holiday Monday here in these parts and though I am retired and it might be said that all days are holidays, I still make a point to celebrate in some way. In years past, this day has often brought a trip into the city of my birth, Toronto, the city which John Graves Simcoe agreed to make the capital of Upper Canada back in 1793. The little garrison that lay along the shore of Lake Ontario between the Humber and Don Rivers originally named Fort Toronto became Fort York and then in 1834 the citizens of York successfully petitioned the government to have the name changed back to Toronto (1834).
Today, I could head into the city I love to visit . The CoVID-19 restrictions have been eased to allow Stage 3 openings, but I'm still a Stage 2 kind of gal.
I'm not ready to be where lots of people are, people I can't be sure are as careful as I am about virus protection and prevention. It is a matter of trust and I'm not there yet, especially given that last week I had CoVid scare. I had chills, I had an upset digestive system and by day four a low-grade fever arose. With fingers slowed by reluctance I tapped through the online self-assessment. It told me that I had to get a swab done and away I went.
It wasn't an awful experience but surely not one I'd want to volunteer for on any regular basis. Twenty minutes after getting out of my car I was getting back into it, swab done. The staff at the hospital were very clear that results would be available online in 24 to 48 hours and if positive, I would get a call from public health. Getting through those hours was the tough part. Logically, rationally, the most likely result would be negative. I had ZERO respiratory symptoms. My tastebuds and sniffer were as acute as ever. And I'd had no unprotected social intercourse in months. Still, there is that doubt, that ominous "but" that hung in the air and grew bigger and darker with each passing hour after the swab. A "but" that caught in my throat any time the phone rang.
The test was done Tuesday at 1:12 pm. At 8:00am Thursday I logged in to the patient portal for the umpteenth time since Wednesday noon. The results were in: NEGATIVE. I don't know how to describe the relief I felt. There was a bit of a happy dance but any wild abandon was held in check by the fact that I was still feeling quite unwell. In a telephone visit with my doc Thursday afternoon we came up with the most likely culprit - the return of a painless yet insidious dental infection that plagued me back in February (the land before CoVID!). There are antibiotics for that. Also, a dental appointment booked for later this week.
Though I won't be celebrating this holiday Monday in the city of my birth, I will be making it a special day in small ways. I am feeling better - my lights are coming back on - and August has debuted with a wonderful deluge of much-needed rain (for the record: 30mm which is 10mm more than all of July). As clouds threaten more rain, it's an indoor day, perfect for simple things - some muffins, some tea, some humble gratitude.
Together Apart - Life is still good.
Stay safe. Stay sane.
©2020 April Hoeller
Good to know you were negative. We had a friend who had the test done at MSH and got the results in less than 12 hours. Impressive. She was also negative! Our son Pere is currently working on a political campaign in Romania. He is in Bucharest. As he is working for the government as he is managing the campaign of the Mayor of Bucharest he gets Covid testing twice a week. He said this would be useful in case he needed to escape via Hungary. Hungary requires that you have 2 negative Covid tests done in the last 7 days. WOW! we are not requiring anything like that here as far as I know.
ReplyDelete