I've been looking forward to two full days on site at the Broad last Wednesday and Thursday for weeks: in-person meetings with colleagues; food trucks; improv, mindfullness; getting out of the condo!! I waited until lunch on Wednesday to get my self-swab test done, popping into the testing room right before grabbing Thai chicken for lunch with a friend. I blew off checking my PCR results until just before I went to bed that night, even though I'd gotten the text hours earlier (probably about the time I was eating dinner together with Nyiri at our small-ish dining room table).
I was completely unprepared for a red "Positive for SARS Cov19" notification on my phone screen. I looked at my phone for a full five minutes before telling anyone. I wondered if it was possible this was a false positive, that the Broad's PCR test was wrong.
Denial is understandable when you feel fine
Truly, I had zero symptoms. I only discovered I had Covid because my work is still testing everyone weekly. Not many places are. I am betting at least half the people who think they haven't had Covid yet actually have had it at some point. They just don't know it, and never will.
I did do the obvious things: donned a fresh N95 mask from the bathroom drawer, reached out to Novavax to let them know, cancelled my Thursday in-person meetings.
But I was not as cautious as I could have been. Because for me, it's been no big deal all three times I've had it. In fact, my symptoms have gotten a little easier every single time. To the point where I didn't actually have any symptoms this time around until Thursday when I was a bit tired by the afternoon.
I was treating Covid like a cold.
Until my daughter asked for space when I got close to her washing dishes in the sink and I realized how awfully casual I was being. I backed away from the sink and headed upstairs, opened all the windows I could (glad that the weather was decent) and moved my stuff into the guest bedroom and guest bathroom.
Novavax trial acute visit
I emailed my study trial contact and sent a screenshot of my positive PCR test. Interestingly, there's no protocol for flagging asymptomatic people. But because I had a positive test result, they called me in Thursday morning, and I got to meet with the study PI. We chatted about the ever-changing Covid, and how hard it is to keep study protocols current.
I learned how important it is to be hyper aware of small, incremental differences from baseline: that tiny hint of a dry cough, that slightly runny nose, is actually a symptom. Note to self: rapid test even when you think you're just tired, have a cold, suffering from allergies.
You never know how it will be for the person you could infect
I've I quickly pivoted, but I wish I'd been more proactive right away. I wish I had thought about my daughter first. She's home from college and has managed to avoid infection so far. It's not that hard for me to isolate - I work from home and home has plenty of space. I was feeling fine and it didn't really register that I could hurt her or others.
I'm glad she had the sense to put me in my place, so I can be more careful until I rapid test negative twice (hopefully in a few days).
