Got a COVID story to tell? Now’s your chance to share it with us

Christmas Day was miserable in my house.

I was sick and spent the day lying around on the bathroom floor, on the bed, anywhere to try to feel more comfortable.

In between bouts of sickness, I found myself reading and re-reading the list of COVID-19 symptoms on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

The website notes, People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. Anyone can have mild to severe symptoms. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:

Fever or chills

Cough

Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Fatigue

Muscle or body aches

Headache

New loss of taste or smell

Sore throat

Congestion or runny nose

Nausea or vomiting

Diarrhea

Then, of course, comes the kicker, “This list does not include all possible symptoms.”

I had some of the listed symptoms and others not listed, and that only added to my anxiety.

Was this the big one? After nearly two years of living in the pandemic, had the coronavirus finally found its way to me?

A couple of days later, when I was able to drive, I made my way to a testing site in a covered parking lot on Devine Street. I beat the rush and was soon on my way. Two days later I got the results - negative.

Talk about a sigh of relief.

Then it hit me. Pre-COVID I would have just accepted I was sick as a dog, maybe had a flu or a stomach bug or something equally unpleasant, alternated between NyQuil and Alka-Seltzer, and coped.

But these days, when every cough, every sniffle is suspicious, the fear of contracting COVID-19 and what that might mean for the short- and long-term is nearly overwhelming.

As case numbers rise and the omicron variant does its damage, Island Packet reporter Sam Ogozalek reported that Dr. Brannon Traxler, the state’s director of public health, is concerned that some residents, however, “are numb to the data.”

That’s why our team wants to hear from readers like you about your own COVID-19 experiences and how you are coping in these very strange and uncertain days when half of us have masks at the ready and the other half operate as if it’s business as usual.

You can use this form to share your story with Sam and let others know that they are not alone.