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Testing
I am way behind on posts and now can’t recall things I wanted to post about. So I will start with recent stuff and work backwards, if I can remember.
On Sunday I started getting a croaky voice and a bit of a cough. This just continued over the next couple of days. I suspected it might be allergy related but wasn’t sure. I was at an event on Friday and two others there were also sick on Tuesday so I worried there might be a connection. Anyway, the public health notices say to get a covid-19 test if you have fever or cough or flu like symptoms. Yesterday I was still coughing a lot so I went down to the hospital clinic and got tested. The process was pretty quick overall. My only complaint was there was nobody at the table next to the entry when I got there. I had walked well into the area before I was noticed. I assume this is not the norm for the clinic. The guy who greeted me gave me a mask to wear (the first I’ve worn!) and then another person came up and asked questions before leading me into the waiting area. There were only a couple people there when I arrived. I waited for ten or fifteen minutes after filling out a questionnaire and then was seen by one of the staff. Soon afterwards I had the dreaded swabs of which the nostrils were really uncomfortable. The throat swab didn’t bother me at all. I was given instructions to go straight home and self isolate.
And that’s what I did. I ended up missing work and a luncheon I was supposed to attend but I didn’t want to take risks. I was pretty sure this is allergy and/or reflux-related so I had major doubts about being contagious. Self isolating from the rest of the family went okay, I guess. I still did a few things in the house but mostly stayed in the bedroom the rest of the day and night. This morning I got a text from the health department saying I tested negative. Phew! I was almost totally sure this wasn’t covid-19 but now I have proof. It was a relief getting my results less than a day later. But it’s a shame I had to change my mammogram appointment that was today. There’s no way I could have been sure to have my results so soon though. My mammogram is now on November 17th.
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Sick house
It’s the season for allergies here but it seems it’s extended a bit further to the viral illnesses here too. The Scientist has been suffering from hay fever/ allergies for a few weeks now. Then Game Fanatic started soon after his birthday. Later in the week I started coughing a bit and it worsened with time. Sunday Lego Lover complained of a stuffed throat. He’s used this terminology since he was small and I presume it means it’s hard to swallow and possibly a sore throat. I found one throat lozenge in the medicine cabinet and gave it to him. I didn’t expect much from it because it’s one of the strong-tasting ones. As it turns out, he was quite pleased with it and felt some relief for a time. I promised to buy more on Monday.
Late that night, my throat started feeling like a knife was scraping it. Turns out the Scientist had also developed a sore throat. What a merry family we are with all the allergic and viral stuff happening. Yesterday I started sneezing and that could be the viral thing or it could just be a bit of my usual hay fever. Anyway. I’ve been mostly out of action these days, aside from a trip out to get those throat lozenges. I ended up buying the pharmacy brand and got three packs. We’ve already finished one and several out of the other two packs (different flavors). Hopefully the worst of it is or soon will be past for all of us with regard to the viral stuff and we can hope the hay fever doesn’t last too long this season.
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Latest happenings
I went to give plasma again today and it all went well aside from a bit of blood leaking out from the site of the needle. There’s a high demand for plasma so I offered to go back in a couple weeks but there are no appointments available until next month. So my next donation will be in early June. I seem to have become a bit of a regular at this now. :)
We are bracing for the first major winter storm of the year. Unless one counts that nasty storm that came through in mid-March and left a fair bit of damage around the town. Seems the next few days are going to be nearly cyclonic conditions with heavy rains and thunderstorms and strong winds. So far we’ve only just got the rain with a bit of wind around here. Game Fanatic is kind of happy for the wintry weather since that means it will be good stew weather and he loves his stews.
I was going to go to the gym yesterday since I had my blood donation today…but then I spent a bit of time in our yard and realised a lot of work needs to be done. So instead of spending an hour at the gym I spent a couple working in the garden. I finally planted some chilli plants that have been sitting in our kitchen window for ages. One has grown quite tall and has two chillies on it and another one has some small Thai chillies on it. The jalapeno plants nearly died as small seedlings but they came back to life for a while. I suspect that one might survive…assuming it doesn’t get too battered by the storms ahead. The other plans should be okay as they are a bit more solid. I also planted out mint seedlings into a big pot and assume they will be okay as they tend to be quite hardy. I also did a lot of hacking on some overgrown bushes out there. One is a tea tree that pretty much takes up a huge part of the yard. I’m trying to cut it back and eventually remove it…but it’s quite big at the base so I’m not sure how that will go. There were also shrubs overhanging the driveway and making it difficult to get in and out without them scratching the car…it’s now all clear even though the one shrub looks a bit bare on one side. Hopefully I’ll get out and do the rest some time soon so make it look a bit more balanced…The nice thing about this one (a bottlebrush) is that I can hack it up and it comes right back with no trouble. Then today I went out to check on plants and noticed something growing up into another bottlebrush tree at the back (different type)…turns out it’s a wild passionfruit vine that had found it’s way up the tree. Then I found another one up there and realised we have to get rid of those soon as they will choke the trees out back. They have lovely flowers on them but are truly invasive around here. :(
Also marking the start of the winter season…Lego Lover woke up with a sore throat today. I’m not quite sure how he got it as he hardly ever goes out and he stayed well clear of anyone when we went to a family lunch on the weekend. The Scientist thinks it’s possible one of us has brought something back and he’s picked that up and we haven’t as we are both healthier and fitter than he is. We bought him some honey and lemon throat lozenges and he wasn’t too sure about them but tried anyway…and said they helped even if they tasted rather revolting (my words but his sentiment).
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Winter ills
We are nearing the end of winter here in Perth and it seems our household has finally succumbed to full on illness. A week ago, Game Fanatic came down with a nasty sore throat and cough. The sore throat was gone within a couple days but he’s still got the cough. The good news is that it’s mostly a night time cough only. Not that that’s particularly nice but it’s good he gets some break in there. Lego Lover got the sore throat next and seems to be mostly clear of that now but has some mild laryngitis. He’s had the cough, too, but it’s not so bad as his brother’s cough. There was a time when he’d be on asthma medication at this point but he hasn’t required it. The same cannot be said for older brother though.
While the boys have been passing their germs around, I’ve been under constant threat of acquiring the sore throat but haven’t actually gotten worse than a scratchy throat and some fairly usual ear/nasal/sinus problems. I figure it’s just waiting for me to let my guard down to strike. The Scientist has been been in a similar situation. The two of us have, however, been hit with some sort of stomach bug(s) over the past few days. It got me today and while not incapacitating, it has been rather unpleasant.
We are rather fortunate at this point to have not acquired the lovely H1N1 flu thus far. According to news I heard on the radio last night, 92% of the flu cases in Western Australia are the H1N1 virus and only 6% are H3N?. I just went searching for any news source online for these figures but can’t find anything to substantiate what I heard. Very frustrating! I did wonder how they were sure of the percentages because only a small number of cases are actually tested. I can only presume they took these figures from those who were tested. Regardless of the figures, we have managed to avoid it thus far and hopefully will stay clear of it until flu season is over.