D. None of the Above: Living with general cold symptoms, but no specific diagnosis
By Daniel Dunaief
Uh oh. I started to feel sick more than a week ago.
What could it be?
Let’s see: I had a headache, my nose was running, I had a low grade-ish fever, although my thermometer was much more like a magic eight ball than an effective way to determine my temperature, and I was much more exhausted than usual.
Of course, I had…. well, what?
I mean, these days, one person’s virus is another’s bacteria is another’s combination of things.
I went to the pharmacy and picked up a collection of over the counter flu treatments to reduce the symptoms for everything.
You see, the problem is that I know that I had only three or four days to get to a doctor to get a definitive diagnosis.
I felt too sick to go to the doctor and hoped my vague, general symptoms would leave me alone.
Nope, they barnacled their way into my system, leaving me, day after day, wondering what I had, how contagious I was and whether I should see a doctor.
After muddling through four days, I went to a local drug store, where I picked up a test for Covid and the flu.
After receiving negative tests for both, I scheduled a doctor’s visit. I wasn’t sure what she’d be able to tell me, but I was hopeful that she could give me a magic pill or a definitive diagnosis.
After explaining all my symptoms to the nurse, I went through the same routine with the doctor.
“Well, you should be getting better in a few days,” she shrugged. “There’s really no point in testing you at this point.”
“What can I take?” I asked.
“Advil? Tylenol?” she recommended.
Hmm. I felt as if I were hearing the old “take two aspirin and call me in the morning” advice.
I racked my brains trying to think about what might have made me sick. Was it the money I touched? I rarely handle cash, but I didn’t want to pay the extra 3 percent credit card fee for a food purchase in the days before I got sick.
Was it traveling on an airplane? Probably not, because I still wear a mask to keep my hands away from my face.
Was it the guy at the gym who was exhaling hard in my direction while he race walked on the nearby treadmill? Sometimes, when I can smell someone’s breath at the gym, as I did earlier last week, I figure that’s a sign to move to another apparatus, but those dang endorphins were kicking in, making it hard for me to give up my treadmill before working through my routine.
Much as we might wish that we could return to normal now that Covid is gone, normal, as we might recall, still includes the passing along of all kinds of disagreeable illnesses with their persistent symptoms.
Perhaps it’s the extended winter. After all, usually by now, we’ve had some respite from the lower temperatures and strong winds. We might be spending more indoor time with other people.
Yeah, people can be great, because they can make us laugh, commiserate with us when things don’t go well with our kids or at work, and can share entertaining and enjoyable outings to concerts and sporting events.
And yet, those same people are like walking petri dishes, with their own sets of flora and fauna that can threaten to keep us from feeling completely healthy.
Despite being a bit obsessive compulsive about germs, I am not antisocial and I don’t generally try to avoid people.
I do, at times when I’m feeling sick, wish that I had an app on my phone that’s akin to finding all my friends. Instead of searching for people in my network, this app might warn me about entering a room with a preponderance of viral or bacterial particles.
Maybe this app could be like a GPS with a safety feature.
“No, that bathroom in Grand Central Station is a bad idea. The knob is covered in virus A and the paper towel dispenser has virus B.”
Being sick saps some of the fun from each day. If misery loves company, I suppose I have plenty of friends with stuffy noses, dull headaches, and mild to moderate congestion.
