COVID Report
(Since the previous Twitter post had a character limit, I am rewriting it here.)
Currently, I am in isolation due to testing positive for COVID-19.
It seems that symptoms vary from person to person, but I would like to share a brief COVID report on the progression of my symptoms. I hope it serves as some kind of reference.
At the Tokyo Station underground platform
While I was waiting for the train, I suddenly felt something strange in my nose, and that thing (the coronavirus) had arrived from out of nowhere. It seems that in many cases, COVID enters primarily through the nose.
A few hours later, it quickly occupied my nasal cavity, multiplied within it, built up its forces, and with two days of concentrated attacks, completely destroyed my taste and olfactory cells.
Naturally, I fought back while running a high fever, but I was defeated, and they began their southward advance.
Repeating their tremendous multiplication and launching inflammatory attacks, they expanded their front from the nasal cavity to the pharynx, destroyed my vocal cords, and as a result, caused my throat to swell and narrowed my airway. For me, who had already been attacked in the nose and was unable to breathe through it, I was driven into an even more difficult situation where even mouth breathing was hard.
(Body temperature 38.8°C, SpO2 98%→96%, Heart rate 105-110)
And then
They expanded their front further south.
They occupied the hypopharynx and began to invade the bronchi. For my part, I had no countermeasure other than coughing, and those coughs became deep, gag-filled coughs from the bronchi.
Right now, the front line is in the bronchi, and if this is breached, the front will expand to the lungs, which are my lifeline, and it will be completely over. I absolutely must defend this!
(Body temperature 38.3°C, SpO2 96%, Heart rate 105-110)
After 1 to 2 days of
fighting, their momentum in the bronchi seems to have weakened.
Just as I felt relieved that I hadn't let them invade my lungs, the moment was fleeting.
Turning away from their southward policy, they began to launch attacks aimed at the person's weak points, like missiles targeting a specific spot.
Those with underlying conditions are likely attacked there, leading to a worsening of their state.
They are truly nasty bastards!
My weak point is my eye, which I once had a corneal transplant in, and on the fifth day after onset, I developed conjunctivitis.
For about 10 hours, I felt intense pain, and even though I fought back with anti-inflammatory eye drops, cold compresses, and painkillers, it had no effect. (Generally, it is said that COVID and conjunctivitis complications occur in about 2% of cases.)
(Body temperature 37.7°C, SpO2 96%, Heart rate 115)
However, fortunately,
I had immunosuppressive eye drops prescribed by my doctor on hand, so when I put one or two drops in, the pain vanished as if it were a lie.
What I learned from that is that this symptom was a cytokine storm. In other words, my own immune cells were running wild and hurting me. Needless to say, the coronavirus was the cause, but they just added inflammation and then encouraged the runaway of human immune cells; they are truly nasty guys.
Perhaps this is the point where the coronavirus draws a line between itself and influenza or norovirus.
After that,
their presence became harder to see. However, it is not as if my physical condition has improved yet; depending on the time of day, I have headaches or sore throats, and they seem to be carrying out persistent guerrilla warfare. I have a fever without fail in the morning, and it seems my exhaustion is greater than that of the average person.
Now that more than a week has passed since isolation, I am hunting down the remnants of the enemy and observing the progress of the cells destroyed by them to see how to prevent long-term effects.
(Body temperature 37.5°C, SpO2 97%, Heart rate 82)
By the way, my 97-year-old father-in-law, who was infected and tested positive around the same time as me, had a slight fever but recovered in one night, and he seems to be standing in the kitchen as usual, preparing his own dinner.
……It really depends on the person.
That concludes my COVID report.