In my last entry, I mentioned that I was sick with a cold. The day after I posted it, Ben contacted me to let me know that he was experiencing “very similar symptoms: fatigue, runny nose, ache, [and] feeling warm despite not reading a fever.” He used an at-home COVID test and got a positive result. So he was letting me know that I might have COVID too.

I didn’t have any home COVID tests, so I requested some from the Postal Service website. They arrived in today’s mail, and I tested myself this evening.

Positive. I have COVID-19. A very mild case, to be sure.

Now what? I checked the CDC guidelines to find out what I am expected to do in terms of isolating myself. It says that asymptomatic and mildly ill people (that’s definitely me) should quarantine for five days after the onset of symptoms. I noticed the first symptoms a week ago, on the evening of Friday, April 29, so my quarantine period was complete at the end of Wednesday, May 4. (At that point, my symptoms had been gone for a couple of days, and I felt completely normal). CDC also says to wear a well-fitting mask for ten days following the onset of symptoms to limit spread to others. I will do that if I need to go out during the next three days.

And that’s it. After more than two years of living in COVID World, I finally got the virus, and it was so mild that I thought it was just a cold. Kind of anticlimactic, but I’m certainly not complaining! Mild is good.

I had planned to go see Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness tomorrow. In fact, I reserved a seat at a matinee showing. I could go to the showing as planned, and just wear a mask in the theater. But it would be more considerate to wait a week, so I have requested a refund. The movie just opened today, and it won’t be going anywhere soon. I’ll see it next weekend.

This has been an eventful year in terms of my health. First heart failure, then severe lower back pain, and now COVID-19. And 2022 isn’t even half over. But I’m still standing. If Friedrich Nietzsche is right, and anything that doesn’t kill me just makes me stronger, then this year has already made me tougher and more resilient. That’s something to be grateful for.