Daily Verse | John 10:33
“We are not stoning you for any of these [miracles],” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

Monday’s Reading: John 11-12

Happy Monday. I’ve taken so many pills the last two weeks I could be the poster boy for Pez dispensers.

I wish I could say that I’m returning in triumph like MacArthur wading ashore the Philippines, but the reality is that the Communist Virus is a strange little creation. I’d like to think the worst of it is behind me, but the effects defy easy categorization.

I’ll give you my experience to date, but I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on TV. None of this should be construed as medical advice. This is what I did and it seemed to have helped manage the symptoms pretty well, but your results and mileage my vary. Be sure to consult a real doctor if you ever tangle with the Asian Contagion.

Because we knew the anti-Americans installed in the White House are suppressing knowledge of proven treatments like ivermectin, and box-store pharmacies like Walgreen’s and CVS are not fulfilling prescriptions for it in collusion with Big Pharma, we needed to find a way to not only get ivermectin, but to find a full prevention and treatment protocol that we could follow.

We chose to follow the protocols of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance. We downloaded and used this guide to purchase vitamins and other suggested immune-boosting therapies. We talked to a lot of friends and others who had had Covid-19 and asked them what they used. We purchased nasal inhalers that helped clean out our airways, we bought mouthwash to gargle with and rinse daily, and we also borrowed a nebulizer on the advice of a couple of different friends who recommended it. We also drank an elderberry juice extract that was supposed to help fortify our immune system.

We also monitored my oxygen levels with an inexpensive Oximeter that we picked up at Amazon. You want your oxygen levels to stay above 90. I’m guessing mine stayed at an average of 92 or 93.

We also ordered ivermectin to have on hand should we get infected. Little did we know how soon we would need it.

The one drawback about getting ivermectin is that without a local doctor to prescribe it, you’re going to pay through the nose to find someone who will and then finding a pharmacist or compounding pharmacy or mail-order compounding pharmacy who will fulfill it. We paid the freight and had some on hand when I first started showing symptoms, so I was able to begin treatment immediately.

Realize that the pharmacist is not your doctor. You can get the right dosage (it’s based on body weight) but you’re on your own when it comes to taking the meds you order. You’re basically self-doctoring.

I did talk with my doctor once I tested positive for Covid-19. He is not a supporter of the protocol I was following, but he did say that if I didn’t seem to be improving once I hit 9 days since initial symptoms, he’d recommend that I consider getting a monoclonal antibodies infusion. I eventually did, but we’ll get to that below.

Covid-19 was not at all what I expected. I have friends who told me it knocked them flat on their back and left them sweating at night; that they could barely get out of bed. I have had at least one friend who caught it, didn’t take any action, then ended up hospitalized and died of complications of the illness, not Covid itself.

But my experience was of a milder sort.

Here’s what I didn’t have: I had no runny nose, no throwing up, no persistent chills, aches or cramps, no coughing, no trouble breathing, no congestion, no headaches, no severe diarrhea, no reaction to light, no night sweats — the worst things you’d associate with a flu were completely absent.

What I did get and what marked my illness was a persistent fatigue. Yes, I did have the occasional chills, a cough here and there to clear out some minor phlegm in my throat, and an occasional spot of diarrhea. But it was just being tired that seemed to be the major symptom.

My nights got weird where I’d lie awake a night or two and then as morning was approaching I’d black out until noon. So things felt upside down and inside out on days like that. Once I was up, I just wanted to lie back in my La-Z-Boy and read. Or sleep. Sometimes I’d get up, eat, take my meds, and then go back to bed.

My wife would push me to take a short walk now and then. She would at least get me to walk from one end of the house to the other. Other days I was motivated to go outside and take a short walk across the yard. Fresh air was always good.

The one problem I ran into was that while I was almost through my 10 day quarantine, I wasn’t picking up any new energy. Some days I’d feel fine and bit more awake and able to stay up for the better part of the day, but the next day I’d be back to wanting to just sleep. It was frustrating because the symptoms didn’t stay consistent or show improvement over time.

I just wanted something to cut off the head of the virus for good.

One morning I had to visit the john around 2:45 a.m. I made my way there and sat down, but had an unscheduled meeting with the tile floor to discuss why my brain wasn’t getting enough oxygen. Fortunately, my heart was level with my head at that point, which apparently got it the 0₂ it needed, and my wife and the dog had the lights flipped on and were encouraging me to get up before she called 9-1-1. It took me a few minutes to reorient myself but we eventually got it all straightened out, with a knot on the side of my head for my troubles.

Later that day we decided to talk with a doctor that others had used and who supported the kind of protocols we were following. It was after talking with him, and his strong recommendation that I get the monoclonal antibody infusion, that we went beyond what we had been doing to that point. He recommended that treatment, and also prescribed a couple of other meds that have been effective at knocking down Covid.

That evening we chose a local hospital to get the infusion from, which challenged our trust, since we both agreed the last thing we wanted to do was be admitted. Once admitted, you lose your ability to call the shots and you’re subject to the hospital’s protocols. That’s what happened to my friend who died at the hospital with no one there to advocate for him or to be with him.

But the doctor and we thought my odds of just getting the treatment and getting out were good, which proved to be true. The whole ordeal was about 4 hours long, but the infusion itself was only 20 minutes. The worst part of it was sitting on a bed that was uncomfortable after about 15 minutes and being wired to pulse, oxygen, blood pressure and who-knows-what-else the whole time. My butt was sore and my arm was tired of being strangled by the blood pressure cuff every 15 minutes.

I got Regeneron, which is still an investigative drug. It’s formal name is REGEN-COV, and is authorized by the FDA under emergency use authorization. It took a couple of days to kick in, but I’d say it sort of helped push me past the last mile-marker in my experience with Covid.

I’m still recovering, no doubt, but at least I feel like there is progress.

The last thing I’ll say again is that I absolutely don’t regret not getting the vaccine. Not for even one second. Again, this is me, but having the experience I did, and now having the natural antibodies and the infusion of even more, which will protect me from the Delta variant, makes getting the vaccine redundant, unnecessary. How long I’ll carry immunity, I don’t know. But for the time being, I’m even less worried than I was over the last two years.

And you all know how worried I was (not. at. all.).

Finally, the most important thing we’ve found is to have a Christian community around you. I can’t tell you how encouraging it is to have neighbors who are willing to provide meals, cut the lawn, buy groceries, and pray and call and text. I’m sure it can be done without the blessing of the Church, but I don’t know why you’d want to.