My COVID-19 Experience

I had the scare of my life and I felt I should definitely be more cautious. I went to Atlanta for Christmas and New Year's to visit my mutual family. We really did not do the public thing unless we were gift shopping for each other.

When I went to the mall I could not believe what I was seeing. I was seeing people without masks everywhere. It's like they did not get the memo or they did not care. Of course, the babies are not going to have a mask on but I felt that older people know better. Some people were not doing the 6-feet distance thing and that was another frustration that I had. So, my daughter kept pulling at my mask being the curious child that she is. She would pull my mask down and I would pull it back up. It was like a game of tug of war with her. During that time I believe I had gotten sick.

When COVID-19 symptoms began

When I made it home I slept a lot. I was getting tired more. Two days later I decided to come on home. The first thing I noticed is that I could not really smell anything. Then I realized I could not taste anything at all. I was shook for a minute because I wondered where could I have gotten infected from. I had family members that I was around that was going to the clubs and partying. I did not know whether someone else gave it to me within my household.

How COVID-19 affected my lupus

It took a weird turn with dealing with my lupus... I will tell you that. I was extremely tired. I was breaking out into rashes in random places. My joints felt so heavy on my body – or was that just the fatigue? Everything felt swollen like I caught a bad flu. So I took the automatically natural precautions. I quarantined for 14 days.

I am getting a lot of rest and eating healthy. I take the natural precautions being around my family and daughter. I wear my mask and stay my distance. I did not know if I gave it to my daughter or not. She is doing way better than I ever was before I even thought I caught it. I did not even call my doctor because I am currently trying to let her go and get a different doctor, so my next doctor's appointment will be a video visit and I will explain what happened and what precautions we should take from there.

Spicy food to bring back my taste

When I could not taste my food, I found this Jamaican recipe that helped me get my taste buds back. I thought it would not have worked but it did. It's basically, you take an orange and burn it until it's literally burnt black, and then you peel the orange and mix brown sugar in it. Eat it while it's hot and I tell you it worked wonders for me. I did that recipe 2 times for 2 days and it worked for me.

A plea for others about COVID

I am here to say COVID is not a joke. People really need to take it seriously, especially with their conditions. I really don’t go anywhere and I felt that I had contracted the virus. I just didn’t get any strong symptoms, such as diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and more. So, everyone please wash your hands and stay inside. If you can not go outside then don’t go outside. It is not worth it being sick. What is worth it is living another day. Be grateful for the life you have.