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I wonder how many people who read this message board/this thread have had a really bad case of Covid, which really scared you or sent you to the hospital, or if you have lost someone close to you to the disease.
I think
it's time for me to tell my story, to make it clear why I became concerned about athletes playing while still symptomatic (and thus still contagious) with Covid-19.
I have had the disease twice since Halloween, and both times,
without much warning (perhaps a bit of sneezing and a runny nose for a day or two that we all have now and then at this time of year),
suddenly, I had an extreme shortness of breath - - so bad that I couldn't breath at all for 20 or 30 seconds at a time.
Imagine that - - you try to breathe, and nothing happens! You know that if you stop breathing, you're going to pass out in a minute or two, and yet you can't get any air moving in or out.
All I could think of to do was to pucker my lips and try to make a super-tiny hole in my mouth and try to draw air in with all my might. That helped a little at first, but then it stopped working - - what to do?
So I grabbed a piece of fine mesh cloth, put it over my mouth, and tried it again, and that got an extremely thin stream of air going in and out, but it was so thin that I realized that I wouldn't be able to remain conscious with such little oxygen.
The amount of air going into and out of my lungs was so small that it felt like it wasn't much wider than the kind of thread that is used to sew clothing. Not even 1 millimeter in diameter.
So at this point, I'm really starting to worry. Couldn't use the phone to call 911, because I couldn't breathe. The only thing that might help was cough syrup.
So I ran all around, looking desperately for some Robitussin, and luckily found half a bottle of it, and somehow, the damned stuff was viscous enough that it flowed right through, and I was able to gasp for air, coughing like h#ll.
At that point, I was exhausted and almost passed out, but I kept myself awake long enough to take 2 or 3 more swigs from the bottle to make sure I got enough in my system. Then I did pass out.
After that I kept waking up at least 5 or 6 times because I couldn't breathe, but I had the bottle right there, and every time it happened, I took a swig and passed out again.
I slept and slept, but finally woke up, and I had the same problem, but kept sipping the rest of the Robitussin and rested long enough to build up the energy to go buy some more from the pharmacy. Thank goodness, they had enough in stock. I bought a few bottles, and for the next 36 hours, all I could do was binge-watch videos with the Robutussin and boxes of kleenex and pseudo-sudafed tablets in front of me to kill the nasal congestion.
It was scary then, too, because every time I would sneeze or start coughing, I couldn't stop coughing - - I was coughing so quickly that I couldn't catch my breath. The only solution was - more Robitussin, every time. That's what saved me.
But two days of that routine wasn't sufficient. I had to go back again and buy 4 more bottles of Robitussin, and for two more days, all I could do was sleep, watch videos, medicate, sleep, repeat non-stop.
Slowly, the chest congestion started loosening up a tiny little bit at a time. You're afraid at first that if you cough, you might go into another coughing jag, and yet if you don't start to cough, you're not going to be able to clear the phlegm at all.
Eventually, after 3 days, I was able to clear my lungs, just a tiny bit at first, but then a little more. Gradually, I could clear just a little more, but my lungs were still full of phlegm or fluid.
This has actually happened to me twice - - the first time back in November, and
as I write this, I am just getting over the second bout, which has been a little more severe than the first one.
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I have been extremely careful about wearing a mask everywhere I've gone and have strictly limited my activities, doing my shopping late in the evening to minimize being around others. I was vaccinated but developed Covid anyway - so my second bout was definitely a "breakthrough" case.
As I write this, I'm still having shortness of breath with congestion that's making me cough, and have to dose myself with small amounts of Robitussin about once every hour.
After almost four days since I suddenly couldn't breathe, I'm still unsteady on my feet and "woozy/dizzy," and I can't take a deep breath yet, but I can take about half of a deep breath, maybe 60%, so the critical part seems to be over.
Not to worry, though. I've been getting stronger and stronger and my appetite came back yesterday. Definitely on the mend.
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I wrote this because some of you may not know what it's like to have a fairly severe bout of Covid, and
thought that it might be helpful to somebody to hear about how I was able to deal with it successfully in a real crisis situation in which I had to save myself.
My best advice, based on my experience is that everyone should have a bottle of Robitussin (severe cough) cough syrup around, because without that, I honestly think I might have died from Covid 3-4 days ago.
You yourself might need not need this kind of advice, but you never know, and maybe it could help someone you know to survive a similar experience, so pass it on. Needless to say, I will always have at least one bottle of Robitussin handy from now on!
By the way, the first time I had a bout of Covid, it was exactly the same. It hit me without warning. The only thing I remember was that I was sneezing enough for a day or two that I took some vitamin C...and then WHAM!
No sore throat, no fever, nothing, just a few occasional sneezes.
I never went to the hospital, because I was so tired. The first 24 hours, I slept practically non-stop, waking up only to sip some cough syrup. After that, I felt a little stronger, and knew in my gut (intuition) that the worst was past - - which was true.
So
I'm one of the unreported cases. No one knows I had Covid except the people who read this post. When you read the statistics, you might want to keep it in mind that there are probably thousands of other people like me who aren't reflected in the numbers, but who came damn close to passing out, unable to breathe;
if I had, there's a good chance that I wouldn't have woken up.
I hope this will help somebody. 
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G.H. players COVID+, "all have symptoms," yet they will play on Wednesday ! (?)
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