Recovering from COVID-like symptoms during Week 3 has me wondering when I can fully get back to normal. For me, “normal” looks like a lot of movement. At home, I am usually up on my feet a lot, go up and down the stairs, many times, walk very fast, dance to music, do some core exercises, and run a couple of miles per day.

So… when can I do that again? Because currently, I can’t yet.

You’re like Oindree, I did not know you did that much moving. Yeah, yeah, I also eat a lot. So, my muscles lie under layers of fat from my love of carbohydrates.

Eating more normally

I am able to do that more normally, at least, eat. With the shortness of breath that I have kept reporting on, it was difficult to eat. The shortness of breath is still there but better so I can eat a pretty regular meal by the end of Week 3. Indeed in the past, during this illness, I had to remind myself to not eat normally because that led to a lot of discomforts.

I have had a lack of appetite anyway during this recovery but that has improved during Week 3.

However, beware that feeling of being too full because it can cause the symptoms I have talked about to worsen. Same with eating at my regular pace. It’s better to slow down.

Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law who drove from Columbus to bring me home-made, Indian food. Oh, thank heaven. God knows I love Indian food just not making it.

That’s right, unlike other nice Indian ladies who love cooking, I don’t. It’s called being the youngest in the family. Also, growing up in India while being privileged, there are people who do that. I am not totally helpless, I can do it, just summoning that motivation is asking for a lot right now.

My sister-in-law (who is not Indian) cooked me bhaat (rice), dal (lentils), aloo bhaja (potato fries) – my favorite meal of all time. Thank you, friend!!! (She was my friend before she became family). This meal has greatly motivated me to feel less shitty.

Recovering from COVID-like symptoms during Week 2

Getting better hopefully

I do hope that I am getting better. It’s hard to say day to day, sometimes, but I hope I am getting there. On the bright side, I am able to do more now and I have been doing some work. I have been writing more, which always helps to make me feel better in general.

What made me happy yesterday was that I did some math. I was listening to music and doing some math and I felt so happy in a long time that I then proceeded to dance a little. That did not go well.

I felt kind of dizzy and my head hurt. And, of course, got out of breath quickly from the movement. Well, I tried and failed, I guess.

I have also stopped checking my vitals with the pulse ox so much as ordered by the doctor. She thought I had anxiety from that. I have been remembering to drink more water which I honestly recommend to everyone even if you are not sick. You can read about some of my experiments with milk/water and how that affects pulse earlier in this week of recovery here:

The one thing you must not forget to do during this pandemic

Going back to work

I am supposed to go back in to work this month and I am just not sure how that is going to go. Work is doing antibody testing on people and I had signed up to do that yesterday but I did not feel well enough to actually get ready, go outside beyond my mailbox, drive a car, go to the facility, and get the test done. All that still seems like a lot of work to me, so yeah, not everything is normal yet.

It’s one thing to plan on recovering and another to actually recover, please keep that in mind.

I should not expose the technicians at the testing to whatever I had or have if I am not feeling well enough yet. So I canceled the appointment.

Also, my doctor was not a fan at all. See below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Oindree Banerjee (@oindreebee)

Antibody testing

I canceled my antibody testing scheduled at work today because my doctor said it was not going to be reliable and it’s better to stay home for now while I continue to recover. Besides, we still know so little. It’s all ongoing research which I am all for.
She ordered a chest x-ray for me and will figure out getting it done with minimal risk to the technicians. Her advice is to be very smart about every action you take during this pandemic. Mitigate risk nonstop. To yourself and others. No need to jump on every test that comes out. Take a breath (socially distant like) and figure out what is best for you and the community at large.
#antibodytesting #mitigaterisk

To summarize, recovering from COVID-like symptoms during Week 3 has been rather frustrating, I suppose. I hope I am out of the woods, but I am not sure, and that is kind of hard.