Zombie Pete

~ beetleypete

Still no news about my Covid test results. I have been refreshing my email screen every ten minutes since yesterday morning, but the queue must be too big for the fast service that Julie received whe she was tested.

Meanwhile, I live life in limbo, like the undead in books about Zombies.

I am not supposed to go out until I know the test result. Julie is not allowed out either, which means she is unable to go to work until we know either way.
If it comes back positive, we wil have another fourteen days like this.

I have to take Ollie out. I cannot ask anyone else to do that, as I am not supposed to contact the neighbours. So I head over to Beetley Meadows, scan for any other dog-walkers, and head in the opposite direction. If anyone spots me and comes my way, I wave at them to turn back. They obviously know why I am doing that, as they immediately turn around or go in another direction.

Whatever is wrong with me is still making it hard to get a decent sleep. After going to bed early, I was awake at five, then struggled to get back to sleep again. I didn’t wake up until 10:45, and stumbled into the unexpected sunshine feeling like the day had already passed me by.

Once back after taking Ollie out, I have no energy to deal with anything around the house, and the afternoon and evening seems to drag, with me wondering how early is ‘too early’ to go to bed. I had been trying to watch films to while away the time, but even that lost its appeal. I get up, walk into another room, stand there for a while, and walk back again.

I hope this is all resolved soon. It’s a strange way to live, and I don’t like it.

79 thoughts on “Zombie Pete”

  1. This is a heavy weight to bear. So many people have the symptoms, are tested (and stressed), and find out it is a cold or worse, but not Covid. The worry is a terrible thing. Best to you, Pete.

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        1. There is a saliva test here that gives results very quickly. But it is not widely available so far. No need for swabbing and poking, just dribble into a plastic pot! 🙂
          (The testing agencies are all on fat government contracts, so they are in no hurry to abandon their huge testing sites.)
          Best wishes, Pete.

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  4. Hi, Pete. I was checking to see if you had any news, but, at least at the time I’m checking, it hasn’t been the case (or you haven’t had time to update). The class of the young girl I’ve been giving English lessons to for the last few weeks has been put in lockdown as precaution. I must check but I haven’t heard anything back from her family, although she did not have any symptoms. I hope you hear soon, especially because you’re not feeling well and this is delaying any other treatment. Take care.

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  5. Fingers remain crossed for you Pete 🙂
    Gosia has felt unwell for over a week now, similar symptoms to yours, but has decided against a visit to the doctor as its the default now to request a test. Then she wouldn’t be able her to carry on and do what she has to do. I have to assume its not Covid if only because I’m not suffering from anything other than a cold brought home by the kids, but I can see how it could quickly become more of a problem, if like Gosia, a test would not even be considered as it would cause too much interruption to our daily lives.
    I guess the only thing that would change this is if you can get a test and results the same day.

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    1. I heard late last night that it is negative. Julie can go back to work now, showing them the text message on her phone. I appreciate why Gosia doesn’t want the test, but I wanted to know either way, so I didn’t endanger any of the family.
      Cheers, Pete.

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  8. My son developed fever, chills, headache, dry cough (rather uncontrollable) and full, depleting exhaustion on Sept 21st – was able to get in for test on Wednesday, 23rd – got verbal results of ‘negative’ on Friday, 25th – no written results sent that could be passed to employer to allow him to return to work – first day of waking up with no headache was Sunday, 27th – first day of feeling ‘rested enough’ to stay up and actually get something done (like taking a shower, shaving, etc., for something other than full body hot shower/steam to ease chest tightness) Monday, the 28th – received written results on Wednesday the 30th, forwarded to his boss and returned to work same day, without further veiled threats of ‘milking it’ and ‘ being fired’ – worked his schedule on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday with bits of overtime here and there – was called upon to cover Sunday (usually his day off) and worked 8 hours, then 11 hours on Monday, then 10 hours on Tuesday, and will, if he doesn’t drop/relapse finish out today, Thursday and Friday to ‘show his loyalty and commitment to teamwork for his employer” – oh, and BTW, he has plenty of accrued Paid time Off for illness, or vacation, that he hasn’t taken in light of COVID19 increase in ‘essential service’ needs AND being loyal to his team mates and has been logging OT every week since March of this year – but, that said, since he was ‘negative’ and wasn’t just given the time, and his superior ‘forgot’ to put in his Paid Time Off bennies, he also didn’t get a paycheck last week, for the week prior, for all but the 2 hours work he did prior to coming home sick – – he’s okay and can weather it – didn’t spell disaster, but seriously? The whole show here, on testing, working, etc., rights has me foaming at the mouth over it all, and what folks say they will do and what they actually do – but he is on the mend, and back to work, so doing is part of being a ‘human being whose seen as valued’ and earning his keep for GDP, essential services and taxpayer income – so, in the end, no one cares – overall – here – :). But, hope you get comfy and able to sleep soon – hope your wife can return to work if that $ is needed to keep roof overhead, lights and heat on, and food on the table – and if not? sigh – well, I don’t know for sure who to blame or where to fingerpoint at decisions made increasingly over history, but most notably in the UK/USA fronts during the 80s Regan/Thatcher years and also seen during the Gilded Age of Industrialism/Roaring 20s – before it all came crashing down – I’m not sure what the new, improved answers are, but for me? Same s**T on many fronts, different century/challenges to face – – :). But again – hope you, individually get well/better soon – and survive the machinations of humankind all while also fighting bacterial/virus world, too – 🙂

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  9. Pete,

    I may not have told you but, every 12 weeks, I have to get a blood test because of the medication
    I take for my psoriasis. Last Friday, I phoned my GP surgery and was given an appointment for
    tomorrow. Today, the surgery phoned me to cancel the appointment because the pathology labs
    are running out of chemical re-agents to test ‘routine’ blood samples! You might have seen the news about the pharma company ‘Roche’ and its problems with their supply chain!

    Maybe you got caught up in the system. When my son had a Covid test last month, it took 38 hours
    for him to get the result, even when the system was doing 200,000 tests per day!

    And no, walking into another room, standing there for a while and walking back again, whilst sometimes inexplicable, is not unusual in our family. I do it every day!

    I’m sure that if Ollie farts and you can smell it, you’ll be fine!

    Fingers crossed by all here. Love to you both.

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  10. Oh dear, Pete, I really hope you don’t have C-19. I have been wondering if I’ve had it as I was quite sick and then my blood pressure went sky high and stayed high so I had to have medication and felt awful. Now it has settled back to normal and the exhaustion I had is gone. I was so weird. I’ve never felt like that before either.

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  12. I’m worried about you, Pete, but if you do have it, it seems that you most likely have a low viral load because you have been responsible and taken precautions. From what I’ve been hearing, viral load is very significant in the trajectory of the disease. I’m praying that you don’t have it (we’ve discussed this before and you said you didn’t mind). There’s a product, Genexa Cold Crush and Flu Crush–the 2 formulas are almost identical–that work wonders for me when I have the flu. It’s readily available on Amazon.
    Keep your chin up.
    –Pam

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    1. Thanks, Pam. I am quietly confident that I have normal flu symptoms, and possibly a chest infection. Most of the advertised Covid-19 symptoms don’t apply to me, but being in this strange ‘in-between’ is an unsettling feeling.
      Thanks for your concern too, which is appreciated.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  16. Glad you got to take Ollie out. The latest thinking is that touching things does not give you Covid, just breathing in droplets in the air, so as long as you don’t go near people you should be safe.( or they should be!)
    Our neighbours have offered to shop for us but that one trip to the supermarket breaks up our week and stops us feeling like prisoners.
    I got three books from the library today ( with hand sanitisers and giving details for test and trace) We don’t have sky or netflix so our TV is limited. At least we have each other!
    Best Wishes.

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    1. I have Netflix and Now TV, but I rarely watch either. I prefer to stick with blogging, and some mainstream TV drama in the evening. The supermarket trip is also my main ‘excursion’ out of the village every week, and the only time I drive into the nearest town. It isn’t much, but when you can’t even do that, it becomes a big deal.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  17. Wow Pete, I’m so sorry to read things are still so bad. I can definitely understand how this is so frustrating at the moment😢 I have few words to comfort you, but I can only say that I keep crossing my fingers for you that you will at least get the test results back soon. Even more importantly I just hope you feel better soon. Hang in there Pete, and take care😊

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  22. Fingers crossed 🤞 again Pete. And if you wear a mask when you take Ollie out and keep your distance it should be fine. Though you should try and get an online delivery, not go into the supermarket. Just in case. I think the rules for self isolating are 10 days from when you have symptoms or 10 days from a positive test if you haven’t had symptoms. It’s 14 days for Julie. The NHS website has up to date information.

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    1. Thanks, Jude. We have enough groceries for now, but if the test is positive, I will use online shopping. One of the neighbours has also offered to get the shopping, and leave it outside.
      Best wishes, Pete. x

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