It was a Thursday and I was pretty bored. My work assignments for the week were finished by Wednesday and now I was staring at my office desk monitor trying to think of productive ways to fill the rest of the day.

It had been a typical morning, except for the fact that a can of sparkling water had completely spilled inside of my purse. My stash of cloth masks was compromised as collateral damage and was now hanging to dry from the filing cabinet in my cubicle. I threw out the soaked post-it notes from my now carbonated purse and then I received a text from my mom. She told me she had COVID. 

And to take any of the dramatics out of this moment, let me preface this by saying I am guessing this experience is not unique (except for the can of sparkling water, that certainly adds a twist). We are in the middle of the largest COVID-19 spike our country has seen yet. 

But I digress. Back to the story...

There I am, bored at my desk, when my mom texts me that she has developed symptoms and tested positive for COVID-19. Not a call from a friend I had recently hung out with, not a news story of a COVID-19 outbreak at a downtown bar I hadn’t been to since March… Instead, a text from my own mother. Who I had in fact had dinner with the night prior. 

I froze in my cubicle because I honestly wasn’t sure how to proceed. I told my boss, who immediately instructed me to go home. The occupational medicine hotline at my work informed me I was required to stay home for 14 days and if I developed symptoms, an additional 14 days would be added to my quarantine.

Would I get paid for these two weeks? How was I supposed to pay my rent and buy groceries?

When I got home, my boyfriend Austin stood a good 10 feet away from me as we tried to figure out our plan of action. It dawned on me that I would likely have to quarantine from him as well. Medical school does not operate on a very forgiving timeline so Austin hadn’t exactly penciled in “get COVID” for his schedule this month. 

And so my quarantine began. A few days later, I developed symptoms (just about every symptom on the list) and eventually tested positive for COVID-19. On a very unassuming Thursday, my daily and weekly routine had been tossed down the garbage shoot. I reacted how any emotionally fragile 20 something would, with tears and dramatics. I would like to say I filtered it all with perspective and reminded myself of my privilege and recognized that 14 days is a short span of one’s life… but I didn’t. 

Maybe it was the loneliness of isolation, or wearing an N95 in my kitchen and staying 6 feet away from my boyfriend, or losing all sense of smell and taste, but I was pretty dang miserable! 

There were ups and there were downs. My company found work I could do from home, an enormous win that allowed me to thankfully still get paid during all of this. Austin never got COVID, a long term blessing, yet a short term inconvenience for us in our shared 690 square feet. He slept on the couch, we stayed 6 feet apart, the counters were perpetually sprayed with sanitizer. 

The short review on contracting COVID-19? I give it zero stars. Would not recommend it. Especially when you toss in social distancing from your significant other. But honestly, I realized a lot of things through all of the isolation. 19 days later, I have mostly recovered. I still have yet to regain my smell and am terrified of the unknown long term effects of this virus. I am taking it slow getting back into my normal exercise routine and I occasionally wake up in a dizzy fog. But, overall I am thankful my family is back in good health and that we all retained employment and income. 

With COVID-19 on a rampant rise, I thought I would share some of my infected insights with you. Perhaps some additional precautions and information will spare you and your loved ones from experiencing what me and mine did these past few weeks.