Nea Fane – Un Biet Român Pripășit în America / A Hapless Romanian Stuck in The US

This post will be updated daily, until I either get well, or I end up in the hospital.
And, as the musical titan Roger Waters once said:
“Goodbye, cruel world, I’m leaving you today / Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.”
So… better not.

August 11, 2023

I’ve got Covid. Third time.
The first was in January 2021.
The second was so mild I didn’t even write anything down, I don’t even remember when it happened.
But this time, yeah… I think I’ll remember this one.

Tuesday, the 8th, I was okay. I was just very tired and I fell asleep twice during the day – sorry, team. My appetite was okay.

Wednesday, the 9th, I woke up with one nostril stuffed and a slight throat ache. Some Nazomer and a cough drop helped. Also, very tired during the day. Once I could breathe, my appetite was OK.

Thursday morning, the 10th, I couldn’t swallow, and my nose was completely stuffed. Headache. I treated myself with some herbal and propolis pills that I brought from Romania. I didn’t walk the dogs. In the evening, I was so confused that I didn’t pay attention and accidentally took the morning pills, including the water pill. I had a slight cough, but it improved with one Himalaya Koflet-H. I went to the bathroom five times overnight (that I am aware of). I was cold and had to take out the winter blanket from the storage. Surprisingly, my appetite was okay, except for the evening.

Friday morning, the 11th, I was feeling like a truck hit me: an insane headache, all sweaty, and my nose and throat all messed up. I didn’t walk the dogs in the morning. They looked at me with a lot of disappointment in their eyes, but a smoked, dry pig ear bought their goodwill. A black cat playing under my office window kept them entertained, barking for eight minutes non-stop, and then running back and forth for another thirty minutes. Being confined to one room, that was the highlight of my day.
By mid-morning, I found a Covid test in the back of a drawer. It had expired only one year ago. I tested myself, and I got two solid lines. The test was good, and I know because the other one I used last year, and it was negative. So, nobody can say that it was one of “those” tests that always give a positive result.

Now that I know what I have, I took out (from the same back of the drawer) the medicine and vitamins I used last time when I had Covid. I said a prayer and changed the bedrooms. My appetite is surprisingly OK, except for this morning when I had to indulge myself with some chocolate butter.

Saturday, the 12th. Overnight, I slept in the office with #ADogNamedGicu. He was a doll, very considerate, letting me in and out of the bed without taking my spot, like his brother from another mother does. I woke up twice, once for me, and the other time for Gicu. I slept well, but the funny-not funny thing is that I have a full-face CPAP mask, and that means that when I cough, I breathe in what I just exhaled. Not smart. I will change it with a nasal mask. Not my favorite, but given the alternative, it’ll do.

Irina set up the thermometer to Celsius, and I had a constant 36.6°C. Being a curious guy with an inquisitive mind, I switched it to Fahrenheit. It showed 99.6°F . Oopsie! Now is back to 97.5 F.

Biosept Forte, Bio-Quecertin, Koflet, Cepacol, Plantusin, Zinc, Water. Of course I lost track of them. I should make a table, or a list, or something.

I am currently experiencing congestion and have a runny nose. Additionally, I have developed a cough, which is concerning since my lungs are already compromised due to a previous condition (or at least this is what my lung doctor said). I just had a televisit with a doctor who prescribed me Paxlovid. However, there is some disagreement within my family regarding this medication. One group recommends Ivermectin instead, while the other has not expressed a preference. It’s important to note that none of them are medical professionals. I will keep you on your toes and not tell you what I take.

I asked my go-to doctor friend from Romania, the one who saved my life some years ago. She said that I should stick with the tested medicine, as the other one is still in clinical trials. But even if it’s in clinical trials, it doesn’t hurt. (?) What a mess!

In the meantime, my appetite is still OK.

At 3:50 pm, I lost both my sense of smell and taste. I remember what I ate, and I believe it tasted good; it was delicious. The pressure and cough are still present.

After my first COVID, in 2021, I developed Anosmia (loss of smell) and then Phantosmia (phantom smells). After 3-4 months, I was back to normal, but it was tough, especially with Phantosmia: I was smelling smoke in my bedroom and exhaust in my garage. It was so bad that I took the car to the dealer. They kept the car overnight and said it was okay. I didn’t believe them and while I was there, I told them that something was burning. They gave me a funny look and said it was fresh coffee. That’s when I realized something was wrong with my sense of smell, so I did some research.

I’m writing this maybe it helps somebody to understand how Covid works [also] in 2023.

Getting back to this year’s Covid, some things have changed in our house, and honestly, I think masks are useless now. The main AC vent is near my room, and the door is always open because of the dogs. If the door is closed, all the neighbors know.

I’m convinced that every time the AC kicks in, about 2,342,561 viruses get sucked into the ducts and then blasted into all the other rooms. Maybe 10–15 of them die on the way, but there’s plenty left.

Going to the bathroom is also a challenge, so quarantine is more of an illusion. And anyway, by the time you think of testing, you’re already on day two or three (peak contagious) by which point you’ve already, generously, shared the virus.

Sunday, the 13th. I slept like a rock and I woke up with the same stuffy nose and difficulty swallowing and throat ache. My left ear is bothering me. The good thing is that I woke up. One nasal saline wash and one koflet later I’m in a decent shape. No fever, oxygen great. Blood pressure 145/95, before morning pills. Ouch! mid-day 114/74, evening 122/82. Atta boy! Fever, oxygen, pulse OK.

The CPAP nasal mask was a disaster, I went back to the full face. Who invented the nasal mask and, more important, who can wear something like this?

I still don’t have the senses of smell and taste … or so I thought … in the afternoon my Lady cooked something and the smell of onions filled the house and my nostrils.

Monday, the 14th. I slept (again, with Gicu, who, this time stole my covers, so I had to pinch him a bit to move his ass. I call him “the little one,” but he weighs a solid 80 pounds, so…) from 9:45 pm until 5:30 am when the alarm woke me up. In the good tradition of the corporate world, I hated it, even though I took the day off from work today. I should stop getting sick over the weekend and take off Fridays and Mondays, as these days are frowned upon, being a sign that you are a party guy and a social butterfly.

I woke up in a better shape, slight throat ache and stuffy nose. One Koflet later the throat was OK, the right nostril in great shape, the left 65% stuffed. A small, annoying cough, just to make me feel uncomfortable.

Vitals: BP 118/78, O₂ 98, pulse 88 , fever 97.8F.

I made my way to the kitchen: as usual, by habit, I pressed the buttons on the espresso machine, and the delightful aroma of freshly brewed coffee enveloped me. I smelled it!!! About the taste, though, still almost none: sweet, salty, and that’s it.

Nothing to do with Covid, in the kitchen, I saw that my neglected summer pickled veggies are done. If only somebody, who has the sense of taste, can eat some, it’ll be great to know, so I can put them in the fridge.

Back to Covid, the digestion also changed in a big, soft, watery way. Enough said, but be aware. Like Covid, it hits you when you least expect it.

It seems that I am on the mend … now let’s get a bit serious, before ending this post:
I’m taking Ivermectin.

Not because I decided to be my family’s lab rat, not because the side effects are less scary than Paxlovid’s (feel free to Google), but because of the interaction with other drugs: two of the maintenance drugs I’m taking for my other “stuff” have to be stopped while taking Paxlovid. No, thank you very much, Mr. Pfizer.

My treatment was (and still is):

• Biosept forte – soft pills, mix of oils …, Romanian Fares brand, very effective for colds and flu
• Quecertin 500 mg
• Zinc 50 mg
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin C
• Ivermectin
• Plantusin – cough drops with propolis, as needed (safe to be taken at night, no choking)
• Cepacol – throat, cough drops
• Koflet-H – throat, cough drops
• Tylenol 325 mg – 2 pills
• Nasal spray with propolis

Tip number 1: saline spray – very, very effective
Tip number 2: Manuka honey and pollen – mix one teaspoon of each
Tip number 3: liquids, drink as much as you can, no alcohol, though
Tip number 4: eat as many unprocessed foods as possible – your stomach doesn’t process food as well as before (and especially, don’t eat spicy chorizo salami for breakfast, you will suffer, trust me)

Final words of so called wisdom

In Romania, we have a saying: “An untreated flu goes away in 7 days; same with a treated one.” Tomorrow, August the 15th, will be 7 days since I started the treatment.

I will call this manCovid – in the same way there is manflu, which is the same Covid, but a man got it. I was looking at my ladies at work when they got it, they pushed thru, they logged in from home, from wherever they were quarantined, they sounded congested, they sounded really sick, it was like a contest who can work more with Covid, but man, they worked! Yours truly, a man’s man: “Shit, Covid, byeeee! See you when I see you!”

Tuesday, August 15th. Yesterday, I wanted to end this post with two deep thoughts, similar to the new wave of Romanian Cinema. You know, those kinds of movies where nobody knows what they want to say, not even the director. I also wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to convey, but even as I re-read it today, it still sounded very insightful, so I’m going to leave it there.

The reason I came back, though, is that I’m not feeling as well as I wanted. Still a bit congested, a small cough, and it seems that the virus anchors itself to every organ it can: the stomach, colon, … I try to get it out through every orifice I have, but it’s an ongoing fight.

The End

I was told, and rightfully so, that I didn’t give final updates:

I’m good.

It felt like a bad cold, a different type of my usual bad colds, but not like a flu. Don’t ask me the difference.