I have been really, really good about following my cardiologist’s order to hold off on alcohol – he did not give me a definitive answer on whether that was forever, or just until they figure out what’s going on. And I did not ask. That way I could still dream about opening a bottle of 2001 Chateau Montelena. Sigh.
But after four weeks of abstinence, I decided to try a small glass of wine last night. The results were not what I was hoping for – I did not wind up in the E/R, but it was clear that alcohol is a trigger for my heart to get overstimulated. I’m not going to experiment again until I get feedback from the specialist (electrophysiologist…say that 5 times fast) I’m seeing at the end of May. I’m not overly optimistic about what she will say, since I’ve already had two doctors tell me to quit drinking alcoholic beverages.
It’s not like I’m slugging down shots of Tequila or Vodka every night (although some nights it seems like a good idea), but I do enjoy a glass or two of fine wine a few times a week. And I really missed my apres-activity martini on the last trip – the Lindblad ships have great bars and bartenders. But I did discover some really good non-alcoholic beers, and Jan and I had already dabbled with “mocktails” for the past couple of years. Still, it’s really depressing to think that I may have to become a teetotaler. Bummer.
Now what should I do with all the wonderful Cabernets and Pinot Noirs I have stored in my wine refrigerators? Maybe I should add a wine bar to my home photo gallery.
Born under a bad sign. I’ve been down since I began to crawl. If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all. (Cream, 1968)
Well, maybe not that bad, but it has been a bad run for the past 2+ years. And Cream did not write that song.
I’m now into day four (maybe 5) of a journey I could have done without.
COVID-19.
Crap.
I was pretty much wasted by the time I got home from Alaska but I figured it was due to lack of sleep from my cavitation cabin on the ship, the constant activity on board, and the long flight home. Monday I was OK – just tired, and I even managed to hit the gym. Tuesday was probably the first day – tired, aching, feeling like I had a cold coming on.
Then Wednesday came along – uh oh. I was feeling really bad and had a slight fever. I did a test in the morning, which came out negative…but the test card seemed a bit strange. So I ran another test later and it came out positive. How did this happen? The drunk woman I sat next to on the flight from Seattle was sniffling and sneezing. But it’s hard to say who was the carrier – I was on a ship for 7 days with 89 other passengers and a lot of crew. And two very crowded airports. Could have been anyone.
So what do you do when you are alone, and have a medical condition you’ve successfully avoided for 4 years? Do a Google search of course! And then call a doctor.
I called my UC Davis clinic, which was closed for the day, but they transfer you to an on-call nurse service, which works really well. After describing my symptoms, they set-up a video call with the on-call physician. Since he had all my records (it pays to stick within your hospital system), he told me I could not take Paxlovid, the drug prescribed for COVID – it’s a no-no if you take blood pressure meds. Since I seemed to have a pretty mild case, he basically told me to tough it out – drink a lot of fluid, tea with honey, take over the counter flu meds (NyQuil, DayQuil), and wear a mask if you go anywhere. In theory, it should take about 5 days to get a negative test. And you still have to wear a mask for a few days afterwards to make sure you do not infect anyone else.
I guess my luck finally ran out – Jan and I were so cautious when COVID first hit. We bought home-made masks, stayed home most of the time (boring!) – I still have the board games we bought to keep ourselves occupied. We both played online Mahjong. But we did venture out quite a bit. We decided to move back to Colorado during COVID, and were there when the first vaccines became available. It seems like we spent so much time then getting tests, and trying to find someplace to get the vaccines.
So after all this time without getting infected, I basically forgot about it. I doubt if anyone really thinks about COVID much – you rarely see anyone with a mask. With the majority of the population vaccinated, we consider COVID to be a lot like the common flu – it will make you sick, but won’t kill you. As long as you get vaccinated. And that may become a problem now with the current head of HHS. I’ll stick to the vaccines thank you.
So, my boring life is even more boring for a while. It’s Friday, and I still feel crappy. The fever is gone, but the cough, wooziness and moderate congestion are still there. If the test comes out negative, I’ll go to the store later to get more chicken soup (and other things). But forget about the party I really wanted to attend – my only social activity for the month. At least I had enough energy to bake some bread yesterday.
I was planning on heading out to Yosemite or Sequoia National Parks in the next week or so. I’m thinking now that maybe I should just stay home and find something else to keep myself busy. Like baking bread.
The Traveling Widower 