I got so sick, it hurt to breath. My lungs filled with fluid but it hurt to cough. I had a really bad fever too, all I could do was sleep. Thankfully, I got some good antibiotics and I was able to pull through, but recovery took WEEKS.
Oh wait, that was pneumonia, not covid.
But there was that time, my whole body ached, and I went from pouring sweat to how hot I was to shivering with cold. Time flew by as all I could do was drink soup and sleep. My head hurt something fierce, and my sinuses were constantly draining. I was sick for LITERALLY DAYS, and even afterwards, I didn't feel right for a week.
Oh wait, that was the flu.
One time I went running and halfway through I couldn't breath, it felt like I was breathing through a straw. My fingers started to tingle and I started to get tunnel vision. I knew I was done for, all I could do was focus on grabbing whatever air I could as I walked home slowly, my run that morning cancelled. When my wife saw me she thought I was dead.
Oh wait, that was asthma.
But covid is serious guys!
I do have asthma and before I had kids, it was pretty bad (I don't know why it got better as I got older but I am grateful).
When I was in my twenties, I basically went to the hospital once a year for pneumonia or bronchitis. It is nothing to mess around with, for sure. Even still, the only time in my whole life I've had to call in someone to help with my kids because I was physically too sick to take care of them was when I had the flu. I don't ever want to be that sick again.
But I don't do the flu vaccine because the only two times I've ever been really sick with the flu were the years I got the vaccine. I know that is not supposed to happen, but what can I tell you?
I also take precautions during flu season -- I wash my hands more often and try to avoid touching my face too much. I cover my mouth when I sneeze and cough and I avoid going out if I am feeling under the weather. I also try to avoid being around people who seem sick and in general take normal precautions to avoid becoming sick and that seems to work for the most part.
It is not fun to be that sick, no one is denying it. And I don't think most people (at least) are saying that COVID isn't real or doesn't make you sick. Sure it does. But so do a lot of things. People die from asthma, flu and pneumonia every year and I know how bad it can be, no doubt. But never, ever, in my life did I ever consider just locking myself at home to avoid getting the flu or pneumonia. Never did I ever wear a mask.
Fearmongering is powerful.
Honestly, wearing a mask makes it HARDER for me to breathe normally, so NOW I avoid going out at all because I can't be out without having a hard time breathing. Well, that and the massive depression I feel looking over a sea of masked faces and feeling like I am in a dystopian nightmare, of course.