Almost exactly one month ago, on August 16, 2022, I was diagnosed with COVID-19. Luckily, my case was very mild. However, I still had to be prescribed an inhaler (which I used diligently), and I had to undergo monoclonal antibody infusion therapy. The doctor who saw me at the Norton's urgent care must have looked at my medical record very carefully. She was concerned about my Factor V Leiden Syndrome. For those of you who don't know, Factor V LS is a blood clotting disorder which causes my blood to form clots more easily than other people. Since COVID-19 is known to cause blood clots, we were a little concerned about that. So far I haven't had any incidents.
The monoclonal antibody infusion was pretty cool, and I think it really helped me recover faster. I went to the Norton Cancer Institute to get my infusion. A nurse walked me back to a room with a large chair and a TV. The chair leaned back and had a footrest. I sat down in the chair and the nurse went over paperwork with me. She was in full PPE. It was kind of a strange experience to be the contagious person in the room. She showed me the vial of monoclonal antibodies and put it in the IV infusion pump. They gave me IV fluids for about 20 minutes before the machine delivered the antibodies. Then I was given another round of fluids. I was probably there about an hour and a half to two hours for the whole ordeal. It was relatively simple. I left without feeling any different than when I had come in. I improved over the next few days.
The weirdest symptom I had was a bumpy rash on the back of my hands. They asked me "the monkey pox questions" at the urgent care. Had I come into contact or been exposed to anyone with monkey pox? Had I left the country? I hadn't. So the rash was a symptom of COVID. But my skin peeled as well for about a week after I started feeling better and my rash went away. It was odd, but I guess that you never know how your body will react to a novel virus.
Sleep Study
I had my sleep study on the 30th and 31st as scheduled. I was plugged up to so many wires I wasn't sure how I was supposed to get any sleep. I had forgotten that they glue the wires to your head and face, so there's this sticky goo in your hair all night (and all the next day for me). I was told dish soap would probably be the best way to get it out of my hair. All we had was Palmolive so I used that. It worked!
I also forgot that they have some tubes that go just below your nose. Sleeping was kind of difficult, and I'm not sure how many times I woke up because I dreamed I was in the hospital. I must've been hungry because I dreamed that the sleep technician had brownies for us. She told me sometimes people dream that she's going to hurt them.
I stayed there all night and all the next day. I was asked to take a series of around 5 naps throughout the day. All I did was watch TV and sleep (covered in wires). When I say covered in wires, I mean they were on my legs, on my chest and side, and on my face and head. Then there was one of those oxygen monitors on my finger. It was a nightmare to try to use the bathroom.
I got my sleep study results back a few days ago. I don't have hypersomnia or narcolepsy, but I do have periodic limb movement disorder. I'm not sure to what degree I have that, but it can cause excessive daytime sleepiness. That would explain why I'm so tired. I have to wait until next month before I discuss it with the APRN.
I did stop breathing in my sleep a few times, but it wasn't much or for very long. Still at normal levels. My oxygen dipped down to 88%. They did note that I snore. We already knew that, though.
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