Robert Gale Ongley

Tag: Pandemic

  • A WAVE FROM THE OTHER SIDE (OF COVID, THAT IS)

    Well, it happened. I came down with a formidable illness and a week later I tested positive for COVID-19. I had taken a few risks since March of last year and skated through. I mostly followed quarantine protocols, though. Christmas presented a couple significant exposures, but it’s really unknown how I got it. I was definitely sick in a way that was different from anything I’d ever experienced before, so the positive test result wasn’t really a surprise, but it was nonetheless a shock. I thought I might have it, but the actual confirmation of being in the throes of the dreaded virus was a surreal development I could not easily accept.

    It All Started When…

    On or about New Year’s Day, I noticed I had chills. I was also coughing more than usual. The fact is, I’d been struggling for months with a mostly morning routine of having to clear my throat a lot and it usually culminated with a less than satisfying cough. So, the increased coughing and dry tendency of it didn’t mean that much. The fever got my attention, though. I had hardly developed a temperature in my life, so that seemed significant. I started taking my temperature at home, but for the first few days it was mainly in the 99-100 degree range. Unfortunately, it persisted and climbed up to 100.7 at one point. I started feeling pretty miserable with very low energy. It felt like influenza, but I have had the flu only a few times and I had received a flu shot as a precaution in November.

    I called the NurseLine provided by my health insurance carrier. I hadn’t really sunk into the depths yet and after a thorough conversation about my condition, the nurse didn’t think I needed further evaluation yet. My temperature was still in the 90s, the cough was still light and no other symptoms had surfaced. After a couple more days, however, my worsening condition prompted another NurseLine call. Now they recommended contacting my primary care physician’s office, who then set me up for a virtual examination the next day. The nurse practitioner there interviewed me and suggested a Covid test. I went in that day, January 8th. On the 10th, a Sunday, the nurse practitioner called me with the results. I was infected.

    Moanin’ and Groanin’

    By that time, my sickness was peaking. I didn’t know that, though. I was feeling plenty bad–that I did know. The fever was over 100. Chills and occasional sweating made me keep wrapped up almost constantly. I was moving slow and with tremendous effort, as extreme fatigue had set in. Sitting down and getting up or sometimes just changing position elicited a moan or groan. My muscles and joints ached. On top of that, my skin felt overly sensitive to the touch. It was as though the nerve endings were inflamed and touch might set my body on fire. A touch of diarrhea, a runny nose and a lack of appetite made my misery complete. Oh, and one more thing. Intermittently, I had bluish-colored hands up to the middle of my fingers.

    What I Didn’t Have

    There was good news in this ordeal. Shortness of breath never became an issue. I was worried that it would be, considering I’ve had some minor shortness of breath occasionally due to atrial fibrillation. My heart and lungs performed admirably while the virus was taking up residence in my body. I never lost my senses of taste and smell either. I was fortunate to be spared a sore throat and headaches as well.

    The Creative Well Went Dry

    Not surprisingly, my daily writing and guitar practice fell by the wayside. I had no energy for it. I gave myself permission to leave the creative work alone. My hopes to finish the first draft of my current novel by the end of January were dashed. Oh well. I did facilitate a memoir writers group zoom meeting the first weekend, but I bowed out of the one the following weekend. I was back on the job the third weekend, though.

    Feeling Blessed

    Our country’s death toll has surpassed 400,000 now and worldwide the related deaths are calculated in excess of 2,000,000. The numbers may be rising faster than ever. We may just now be peaking, so there is still much suffering ahead. Hopefully, vaccines will stem the tide this year.

    I count myself truly fortunate to have survived this virus as well as I did. Considering I am in a high-risk category due to age and prior conditions, I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. Approximately 20 days out since my first symptoms, I feel pretty much 100% recovered. May I be forever immune going forward! And may all of you in this orbit be the same. Now that would be an ideal outcome.

  • FLYING IN THE FACE OF LOGIC (PART TWO)

    Picking up where I left off in Part One, where I finally made it from Tucson to Philadelphia by a circuitous and somewhat improvised route during this perilous pandemic.

    I Came With Baggage

    Since I had missed my connecting flight to Philadelphia, my baggage preceded me. I went to the baggage office for Alaska and found it closed in the early afternoon. A sign on the door gave a toll-free number where I could follow up, but also said I could check at the ticket counter. I jotted down the number and headed for the ticket counter. All the airlines had representatives present except Alaska. I had them paged and no one responded. Their neighbors told me they had their last flights for the day and wouldn’t be back until the next day.

    No one answered at the toll-free number and no message was possible. I called again the following morning with the same result, but they initiated a call on their own which I missed. Their message was that they would deliver the baggage that day to the address our son had provided for them when he spoke to them himself previously. The delivery didn’t occur when promised and the following morning we needed to start our drive to the other end of the state for our family reunion. No answer and no message possible.

    Our first stop in my old stomping grounds was at the home of one of my best friends in this life. He passed a couple years ago, so his wife and daughter were going to include me in scattering some of his ashes in his hometown. When his wife heard my story about not having my suitcase, she gave me some of his unused clothing she was anxious to give away. What a godsend! Buying a few more items set me up for the remainder of my trip. My baggage hadn’t followed me across the state, but it was at our son’s place when we returned. I flew back to Arizona the next day.

    You Reap What You Sow

    We wonder sometimes if our actions that violate common sense and logic will come back to bite us in our hindsight. When the first flight brought me to those snow-capped peaks, I considered how this trip might go awry, but I realized I wouldn’t have seen this majestic sight had I not been assigned such a ridiculous route. I started taking notes on a paper pad I carry with me. I decided to truly see what this coast-to-coast journey ahead was going to show me. A rich feast was set on the table of the North American continent and I will share some morsels with you now.

    Crossing the Cascades revealed mountain villages nestled in the mountain range…northern plains with irrigated farmland…the Rockies with frozen lakes and mountain meadows…more plains across Nebraska, I think, where I start to see wind farms with their giant white blades generating power…our southeastward arc takes us over the Mississippi River…the scattered passengers are quiet as red-eye travelers…lots of windmills across several states…the sun sets and artificial lights begin to twinkle as twilight settles upon the land…big cities, maybe Pittsburgh and Baltimore, appear below before we finally touch down.

    Our son takes me around Philadelphia…the ghettos with masked poor folks on crowded streets…the tour of closed factories…down to Center City with scenic skyscrapers and the art museum where Rocky made his triumphant climb…peaceful protests with police hopefully guarding the peace…a Schuykill River walk…historic sights such as the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and Congress Hall…a bucolic evening nature walk in Tacony Creek Park near our son’s row house in North Philly.

    The drive across beautiful Pennsylvania with Amish Lancaster County…no toll roads for us…Appalachians…a golden eagle soaring east of State College…Allegheny Mountains…thick with trees and leaves looking like drooping faces…my little town charming our son…dear friends and loving family, too close to wear masks…classic “shiny diners” with their food that takes us back to a simpler time.

    The Final Tally

    A whirlwind tour of the country in a week. Looking danger in the eye, I found humanity in its many forms. The virus hasn’t shown its face, lurking unseen who knows where. My trip was challenging and rewarding all in all. I’m back to hunkering down, shooting for two symptom-free weeks. And of course, wishing the same to the cautionary wise, the risk-takers, the country folks and the street people everywhere.

    Rupinaro Church members social-distancing