COVID Postmortem

July 29, 2026

(4 minutes to read)

Fourteen days have passed since the onset of my symptoms, and I'm stabilizing. No more fever. No more headaches. My fatigue is at "I don't need to sit down after showering". And this is my first day testing negative, which is impressive considering my husband (who started showing symptoms four days before me): started testing negative yesterday. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It was our first time catching COVID which, is anecdotally, described as "the worst" one. Various studies indicate that subsequent infections trend toward being milder and shorter (unless a patient has a "severe" case their first time; i.e. they required supplemental oxygen or hospitalization).^[1]

I took Paxlovid immediately after my symptoms appeared, and I experienced a long tail of rebound symptoms. My husband did not take Paxlovid and he also rebounded. The correlation between taking Paxlovid and experiencing a rebound in symptoms is not strong.^[2] It's probably just easier for some to perceive a rebound after taking Paxlovid because of its efficacy.

I usually track my symptoms when I fall ill (and my vitals when I have access to equipment). My initial presentation of symptoms was actually pretty mild the first few days while on Paxlovid. Honestly, I have experienced worse symptoms from bouts of influenza. I developed a cough and congestion after finishing Paxlovid but their intensity was also subdued. I felt like I was getting better on Friday the 24th until around 8:30 PM. I was idly preparing for a D&D campaign when out of nowhere I had this intense hot flash. My temperature shot up to 99.6ºF and suddenly I had fast and shallow breathing (tachypnea, if y'nasty).

I promised myself we'd call an ambulance if it persisted past 30 minutes, but my lungs began cooperating after 10 long minutes of huffing and puffing. It was pretty scary just feeling so fatigued and having my lungs refuse to work like that. I dreaded it was a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in my lungs. Who among us enjoys confronting their mortality after getting markedly older?

I hope this is the extent of the disease. I have comorbidities that make contracting COVID dangerous— in particular lupus related conditions that involve inflammation and clotting. Pretty much my body looks for excuses to let loose with thromboinflammatory mediators like chemokines. And with the first wave of COVID, we saw many people with conditions like this pass away from clotting. Several extended family members pass from this. I haven't forgotten.

Similarly, a friend of mine passed away two summers ago after a preexisting heart condition was worsened from a bout of COVID. I certainly haven't forgotten.

Time will tell for people like me. In the meantime, the one practical thing I've got: if you're going to mask at a con, at the minimum, mask getting there. You're likely to pick up bugs on the plane and public transportation then carry it into the badge line or into a hall with three thousand of your friends in it. I'm going to keep masking in crowds and in transit either way. I can afford two weeks flat on my back performing the mental calculus about how much an ambulance ride is worth. I've got insurance and no shifts to miss. Plenty of people at cons don't. (Or the people who provide service at cons.)

If you decide masking isn't for you, that's yours to decide. Just don't take it personally when I keep the conversation short and drift away. You can tell yourself it's not you, it's me, if it helps.

I just think being thoughtful is cool. And sexy.