![]() ![]() It will also help you prioritize things that you need to get done in a short window of time to prepare yourself for potentially being sicker a few days later.Īfter your initial bout of symptoms, when you are feeling slightly better-possibly around day three or four-think about what you need. Knowing this timeline may prevent you from overexerting yourself on the days that you feel better but may not be well enough to resume normal activity. “Day seven or day eight is when people who have more severe illness tend to deteriorate.” She added that on day three or four the fevers tend to break, but the shortness of breath sets in later, usually by day eight. It’s on day seven or eight that you end up feeling really bad,” Dr. However, preliminary clinical research is starting to identify a common trajectory of the illness. There are so many degrees of illness severity and a wide range of symptoms. Ask them for their support and assure them that you will keep them posted if they’re needed. But also select people you know would be willing to keep their phones on at night for an emergency call if your health declines. Choose people who live nearby and, if needed, could bring food or supplies to leave at your door. Immediately contacting people I know and trust not only alerted them to the need to check in and look out for me, but it also helped me admit to myself that I was sick and needed to stay put. Reach out to three friends or family members ![]() Helpfully, most medical centers in the country have set up telemedicine urgent care specifically for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients, and many practices have shifted to virtual care. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance prioritizes testing for essential workers and patients who are older or have preexisting conditions), you need a clinician who can follow your illness for two weeks to make sure you’re getting better. Regardless of whether or not you can get tested (right now, the U.S. ![]() We had three video visits and exchanged a handful of emails through the clinic’s secured system during my illness. Lalita Abhyankar, a family physician at the Institute for Family Health, who put me on her calendar immediately. In fact, if you don’t have a primary care physician, it would be a good idea to establish care with one now (even if you’re well) so you’ll know who to call in case you do get sick. You need a doctor who’s able to practice telemedicine. You’re sick and there’s not much you can do about it, so now you need to get better and avoid exposing other people. At the beginning of your illness, the symptoms are most likely to be manageable at home, so do not leave until you speak with a doctor-even if you’re equipped with a mask and gloves. However, you should keep in mind that your risk for hospitalization and severe illness increases with age and if you have any preexisting health issues. Remember, most people who get this virus have mild symptoms and don’t require hospitalization. I hope you don’t get sick with the coronavirus, but here are my tips for how to prepare and cope if you do. Since I recovered, I have been thinking a lot about what I did right and what I could have done differently to make those days alone more manageable. Thankfully, I managed to come through to the other side of what my doctor describes as a mild-to-moderate case of COVID-19 without any visits to the hospital or complications. For the roughly 36 million Americans like me who live in single-person households, knowing what to do-and when-is critical. But being sick with COVID-19 requires next-level self-care. I floss, make healthy food to fill my freezer, exfoliate once a week. I never showered or changed out of my pajamas because I didn’t have anything clean left that I could wear. But then, on the seventh day of my COVID-19 quarantine, it was scary as hell.Įarlier that evening, I forced myself to eat two slices of pizza that I ordered through no-contact delivery because I couldn’t muster the energy to scramble eggs and put bread in the toaster. It felt like something could explode internally if I breathed in too deeply. My head was throbbing as if I were suspended upside down in the air, and my chest was heavy. The thermometer hadn’t strayed from 101.2° Fahrenheit since 11 p.m., which was when I arranged myself in bed in this position, staying very still. Wrapped like a burrito in my heavy comforter with another blanket draped over me, I was still cold. Nighttime is usually quiet in my Brooklyn neighborhood, but not in recent weeks. and I was lying in bed listening to ambulance sirens. ![]()
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