Under the Weather

I haven't had so much as a common cold since before the pandemic.  However, Tuesday evening my sinuses felt scratchy... which is where my colds always begin.  By Thursday, I had a really bad sore throat.  It was so painful that I had a hard time sleeping that night.  I was going to walk to the nearby pharmacy and get some lozenges, but it had started to rain again, and I didn't feel like going.  The next morning the sore throat was much better, but I was coughing a bit.  I took my temperature, and I did not have a fever.

I figured that I just had a cold because that is the progression that they always follow... from the nose to the throat to the chest.  But I decided I should be on the safe side and get a COVID test.  Just a 15-minute walk from my apartment there is a branch of Chopo, a chain of medical laboratories that are located throughout Mexico City and beyond.

(image taken from the internet)

I went to the counter and told the lady I wanted a COVID test.  I had to fill out and sign some forms.  The cost was only 490 pesos (25 U.S. dollars), and I paid with my credit card.  I was told to wait in a separate area, and within 5 minutes a nurse led me into a room where she performed the test.  Unlike some people, I have never found the test to be painful, but this time the swab was tickling the inside of my nostril.  I couldn't keep myself from laughing, and the nurse thought that was rather amusing.   She told me that the results would be emailed to me in about an hour.  

I had left the apartment a little after 9:00, and by 9:30 I was leaving the lab and on my way home.    The email arrived about an hour later, and the result was negative.  I took a long nap, and afterwards I felt considerably better...  just a little woozy from sleeping most of the afternoon.  I called Alejandro who was at the family house.  I told him it was up to him whether or not he wanted to come to the apartment for the weekend.  I didn't want him to catch my bug.  But I am hardly coughing, and not sneezing at all, so I don't think I am very contagious.  It was rather late by the time he arrived at the apartment, so our only option was to go to a "taquería".  I really wasn't hungry in spite of the fact that I had not eaten since breakfast, and I planned to simply order chicken soup.  However, when I started looking at the menu, my appetite came back, and I also ordered a steak baguette.

This morning, I still don't feel 100%, but I don't intend to spend the day in bed.