A lot of people have suffered and many have died in my country, the USA, over the past 18 months and more from Covid. I want to state up front and very clearly that this story does not begin to approach the level of tragedy that Covid has created for so many. The experience I relate herein has given me an appreciation and a profound respect and grief for those who have truly suffered.
This story is about a still-serious but different Covid experience that has elements some may find to be of interest. Some may have had similar experiences. I've come to believe that Covid has far more reach and effect than most people think.
To set the stage before diving in to the tale: 2019 had been a terrific year for Anne and myself. Having retired at the end of 2018, we had worked through the mechanisms important to a new way of life. Social Security, daily routines, replacements for full days without the old and long-standing way of filling the hours of a day. We'd also had a really great start to our plan of frequent travel of the kind we'd never done before, including a 3-week river cruise in Europe with old friends just a couple of months before, in September 2019. Anne and I had planned heavy travel, as my eyesight was and is a resource with a short fuse. We wanted to get our retirement world travel largely done in a 3-4 year window. By the end of 2019, we had a great start, were settled in to the retired life, and looking forward to more of the same. We had a lot of celebrate for the New Year.
There is another stage to set, the "health stage". I'll relate some information about the pre-Covid state of my health. I probably started out in a "high risk" category for susceptibility to the virus: Diagnosed with diabetes about 20 years ago; legally blind (from hereditary macular degeneration, not diabetes), and too rapidly approaching sixty years of age. I was overweight pre-covid (and post-Europe) - not morbidly so; carrying 15+ extra pounds; this condition made worse since then by Covid inactivity as will be seen.
My tale starts on December 31, 2019 in my home town of Edmonds, WA. As many will recall, Washington State was among the first, and possibly THE first landing place of COVID-19 in the United States. The first patients were treated in a hospital 10 miles north of our house, and the famous nursing home where so many were lost is 10 miles to the south. I've learned that there were many cases in Edmonds well before we knew what Covid was, possibly as far back as November 2019.
On New Year's Eve, Anne and I and two of our close friends attended a New Year's Eve part at a local bar that we had come to frequent (as much as Anne and I "frequent" bars, which is not much). We had been to the establishment a couple of times in December before New Year's Eve.
During the evening, as attested by pictures that were taken, I experienced what I believe was my first symptom of Covid: My THIRD attack of Bell's Palsy.
Yes, I must begin the tale of my encounter with one disease by introducing another. Bell's Palsy is a condition that largely paralyzes one half of the face, typically the left side. It was first recognized and diagnosed among truckers and military drivers, with some connection to the cold wind blowing on their face when the driver's window was down. The exact causes are not known, but include stress and VIRUSES of unknown origin.
The paralysis can be mild or quite severe, with facial drooping, dry eye issues, drooling and difficulty speaking, and other symptoms. The first time I had an attack was 20-25 years ago; the second was 10 years ago. According to my doctors, there is almost never a third attack. I had been fortunate in my experiences; the attacks were noticeable but relatively mild. The first one went away by itself (i did not see a doctor). The second one took longer and required steroids. The attack that started 1/31/19 was the most severe but still not extreme, but it is still with me almost two years later.
The reasons I believe that this third attack was the start of my Covid experience? One, because of the rarity of three Bell's attacks. Two, because Bell's can be triggered by a virus (and the other two causes did not apply to me at that time). Three, because of the other symptoms that will unfold, that had nothing to do with Bell's.
Additionally, we learned later of the cases of Covid that started as early as November-December of 2019 in Edmonds, and even learned that at least one staff member of the establishment may have had an extremely severe case in mid-December. I'm not saying the name of the bar for obvious reasons, but in any case nobody had any idea what was coming at that time.
The timing of getting Bell's again (and that's all we thought it was) was terrible, because we had two trips planned for January and February: A cruise to the Caribbean starting only 3 days later, and a trip to Mexico after the cruise. I literally did not have time to get to the doctor for steroids to treat the recurrence. I was somewhat nervous about this, but my previous two experience had not been severe. This could have been a costly error.
I do not recall any additional (non-Bell's) symptoms starting before we left for the cruise. I was dealing with the preparations for travel and also the Bell's - not much to deal with, besides coming to grips with the fact that "Crap, I DO have it again" - and watching to see how bad it would be. However I started dealing with additional symptoms soon enough once we got to Barbados, the launch point for the cruise.
The Cruise
We left Seattle for Barbados on January 3rd, 2020. We were staying in Barbados for 3 days, then getting on the cruise boat for the Caribbean. The only symptoms I can recall in Barbados (aside from the facial paralysis) was pain in my jaw and behind my ear on the left side. I have not experienced this before with Bell's, at least not to any great extent. However, this is a documented symptom of Bell's. It was not severe, and not as bothersome as the paralysis.
Once we got on the cruise boat, things started to move much faster. I began to have severe upper respiratory problems. This included very stuffy sinuses and real difficulty breathing. I had to sit up in bend several nights to be able to breathe. Additionally, the pain increased conxiderably and spread to include the back of my head - like an intense and stabbing headache, of a type I had not expereienced before. I was not getting a lot of sleep.
During the day the symptoms would subside somewhat, but the pain remained intense and the overall symptoms certainly impacted our enjoyment of the cruise.
Looking back, I should have been more alarmed than I was, especially about the repiratory issues, but I simply thought it was Bell's. Some doctors might way to this point that it WAS just a more severe case of Bell's, but I don't think so.
When was got home from the cruise, I did make it to the doctor. My GP wanted to schedule an MRI, but he consulted with an Ear/Nose/Throat specialist who (for whatever reson) nixed the MRI and wanted to see me instead - but couldn't do so for weeks. I wish I'd had the MRI.
So, we headed off to Mexico.
What occurred in Mexico
We travelled to Zihuatanejo, Mexico in the first part of February 2019. I was still experiencing the symptoms from the cruise, but as yet had heard nothing about Covid.
It was our second trip to Zihuat, a place we really enjoy. We were t traveling with family and friends, who were staying for a week, while we stayed a few days longer.
All of my symptoms intensified during the trip. I was either mouth-breathing or actively pressing on my cheek to meep a sinus open to breathe. The pain was not as intense as the curise but was still with me.
I lost my sense of taste and smell on the 3rd day in Mexico. I was so confused by what was happening in this regard that I really did not track it very well. I think there's a funny thing about losing your sense ot taste: Your brain remembers the taste of food, and the food still has texture, mass, and even sound in your mouth as you eat it - so I'm not sure you fully figure out your taste is gone for a while.
My sense of smell changed before it largely disappeared. Strong smells still registered, but were completely different.
At this point, I started to feel that something was really wrong. I also gradually started to not feel well, but we were having such a great time with our group that I shrugged it off and tried to keep up.
On the 7th day in Mexico, our friends left. I told Anne I as really not feeling well, and that night I had a very high temperature that lasted a couple of days - pretty much until we left Mexico. I still had severe upper respiratory issues and highly reduced sense of taste and smell. Half my face was still not working.
Looking back, I'm glad we did not hear about Covid for another month. It would have been pretty scary to have all of those symptoms knowing it was Covid. As it was, I was too dumb to be scared.
By the time we left Mexico, the pain had largely subsided and the temperature was gone.
In the weeks after we got home, I got to the doctor (still before Covid was known) and got some steroids. They could not explain the symptoms, beyond the normal Bell's symptoms. The steroids relieved the paralysis, but unlike my pervious bouts of Bell's they did not completely clear them up. The left side of my face is still partially paralyzed and may always be. It would have been better to get the steroids sooner.
We all soon learned of Covid, and over the next months as I learned more and more I realized that I'd probably had it. Unfortunately I could not get an antibody test until August. When I did, it showed no antibodies - but word was (then) that the antibodies only lasted a few months. Hence, I can not be positive that I had Covid.
Almost a year later, one last thing occurred that I lay at Covid's doorstep. I returned to swimming after a long hiatus due to the closure of our health club. Two weeks later, I experienced an extremely bad infection in my left ear - something I had not had since I was a young child. The pain of the infection was the most intense I've ever experienced. It was diagnosed as Swimmer's Ear - which is an actual bacterial infection. I'd been swimming in that pool for over 3 years with no issues. This could be a coincidence and I admit I do tend to lay a lot at the feet of Covid, but I think they are related.
The end of the tale?
I believe I did have Covid; that it did cause a third recurrence of Bell's Palsy. Nearly every symptom I experienced over a six-week period fits Covid, and as a virus it could easily have been the cause of Bell's.
Covid is mean and opportunistic. It''s effects and side effects are many. It attacks weaknesses. Given my heaths status (even though I feel I enjoy sickness-free and pain-free life otherwise), I think I am lucky it was not much worse. I
especially think about what would have happened if this all occurred six months later. If I'd known about Covid, would I have gone in the hospital?
Two years later, I still have partial paralysis on the lft side of my face. My sense of taste and smell are still very impacted, but may be creeping back a little. I'm trying to dump my Covid extra weight. I am leery of swimming - I definitely don't want an infection like that again!
As stated at the beginning, this is not a Covid horror story as so many have experienced it. I wonder how many people out there have had an experience more like the one I've related (maybe without the Bell's).
I wish you well. Take care of yourself. Get vaccinated.
