Day 8 - Blood Test and Smell Came Back for a Split Second

 Today is Day 8 since my diagnosis last Friday and Day 6 since I arrived at the isolation facility last Sunday.

Today is Friday 17 September 2021.

From Friday to Friday, we have come full circle!

My temperature this morning was 37.6 deg C. It sounds high but trust me, I've never felt better. I don't feel feverish at all now!! The temperature looks high only because it's an oral thermometer, which are supposed to have higher readings than ear thermometers. It's been about 3 days since I have taken panadol.

My sore throat is almost all gone too (but not completely gone). I don't even think taking sore throat pills are necessary now, even though I will just take them.

As for the cough, yes, it is still on-going, but a bit better than yesterday.

There are four highlights for today. 

First Highlight - Blood Test

They came to our room to draw blood for a blood test today at around 12pm. They almost wanted to come 1-2 days ago but said that the test was postponed or cancelled. They said the purpose of the test is to help gauge when my infection started.

So I guessed it was a COVID antibody test and asked them if it was. They replied yes. The results will be out in 48 hours.

Second Highlight - Smell Recovered a Tiny Bit during Lunch

Ok I was unable to smell anything since Tuesday (in fact, I was unable to smell 90% of food since Sunday night)... today's lunch was the first time I was able to smell the meat for a split second.

I kind of got over-excited over this and started whatsapping to my friends that my smell is starting to recover 20%.... (I don't know where I got the number 20% from frankly....) However, at the end of the day, after having dinner which I could not smell at all, I decided to put the number at a more conservative 5%. Smelling the meat for 0.5 seconds doesn't really count as a 20% smell recovery...

I have to put the meat close under my nose and sniff at it to smell it! There was also some indications of the smell when the meat is at a distance from my nose, but I really do not know how to describe it. Proto-smell?

Here is a photo of the lunch where I was able to smell the meat. There were 2 meats: chicken (spicy and sweet, salty) and Wu Xiang. It was the fragrance of the Wu Xiang meat which gave me a lot of hope. (note: the above photo was taken when I had eaten halfway).

I was able to taste the sweetness and saltiness of the meat. Also, eating a slice of onion did sting somewhat.

Remember my earlier post where I talked about 3% of COVID patients who had loss of smell even after 6 to 9 months? Smelling the meat today gave me that bit of hope.

Unfortunately for dinner I could not smell or taste anything. lol. So I guess I don't want to talk about dinner today. :(

Third Highlight - Received Another Gift

It is Great to have friends. I received another gift from a friend today. 

He actually included some TCM (traditional chinese medicine) inside the bag, but the staff at the facility confiscated it. They would return it to me when I leave the facility.

Fourth Highlight - Washing Clothes

Today was the first day I washed my clothes. Had been accumulating dirty laundry for some time, yes. They do not do laundry for you (except towels which they can take old ones and give you new ones). They gave us detergent powder but we had to use our own brush. 

Unfortunately, I cannot even smell my dirty old clothes.

Something about washing clothes is invigorating. It gives you some exercise... makes you feel refreshed.

Some final words about my sense of smell. It wasn't just the meat for lunch which I was able to smell. I was able to smell a bit of my own nose today too. Ermmm the stuff in your own nose. I don't think you want me to go into details about it. It's not that unpleasant but there's nothing much to talk about. You know how the stuff in your nose smells like.... that's it. lol.

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ABOUT MY SLEEPING CYCLE

I have been sleeping in bits and pieces ever since I arrived at this isolation facility. I really don't know if I had slept for more than 6 hours straight. 

This is because I have been a night owl for about the past 2-3 years and so now, I have to adjust to the meal times at the facility which is 8.00am breakfast, 1.00pm lunch, and 6.00pm dinner. 

That means I will just eat my meals and go to sleep right afterwards, (maybe add 1-2 hours for texting on phone). At night, that is when I open my laptop and do stuff on the laptop.

For the first few days, I did try to sleep at night too, since I was more feverish and more fatigued. But usually nighttime is when I get a burst of energy and I want to do stuff.

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Update: 3.41am 19 September

Today I just wanted to add a note to this blog post to say that I was FINALLY able (on the night of Day 8:17 September) to smell the peanut butter biscuits which my brother gave me. It was the first time I was able to smell the biscuits. Even though it was just for a split second.