God’s grace can manifest in many ways. For three years I have been praying for safety from covid and also making what seemed like common sense adjustments to my life to avoid catching it. It was a bit like what Cromwell said to his troops “trust in God but keep your gunpowder dry!”
I was set on avoiding covid, so when it finally caught up with me I was rather concerned. But my prayers and the prayers of others were answered through the means of medicines. God can and does heal miraculously but he also heals through the wisdom of doctors and in this case by speeding my way through the NHS maze to get paxlovid. I’ve written about this in more detail on my blood cancer website:
I was beginning to feel unwell and took a covid test “just in case.” A very thick black line appeared almost instantly . . .
For me I was very concerned that due to my blood cancer and secondary immune deficiency I would be highly likely to experience severe complications and be hospitalised or worse. I had made zero antibodies in response to the vaccines. And that first day of covid infection, the way my asthma was deteriorating was already alarming, and reminded me of the time in spring 2020 when a simple cold, caused by a rhinovirus, sent me to hospital. I was unable to get rid of that virus for 18 months. If that was my response to a cold then what would my response to this be?
…. Within just THREE HOURS of my positive result I had the three rather large tablets in my hands.
It was just as well since by this time I was starting to feel really muddle headed, systematically unwell and actually had a rigour (significant shivering) and the sense my temperature was about to sky rocket. All these symptoms disappeared almost as soon as I took that first dose of the antivirals!
I was left with my nasty asthma attack which was no doubt part of the body responding to Covid. . . and had a very helpful conversation with a doctor who agreed we should treat my symptoms with an even higher dose of the steroids I take every day.
And so the waiting began. As I say everything except the asthma responded immediately to the antiviral. And the high dose of steroids led to a significant improvement in my asthma as well over the next few days. . .
My girlfriend happened to be around when I tested positive and also tested positive at the same time. And so over the next few days she witnessed the over stimulation a high dose of steroids cause me. She seemed more than capable of managing that. And so when I had come down from that higher dose and was back in my right mind I decided it was time to ask her to marry me. She said yes.
In the aftermath of COVID I had a huge sense of relief. And whilst I do want to try and avoid catching it again it seems I’m likely to be ok if I do so. That changes everything. I have decided to take a few more risks at least over the summer on the basis that I’m likely not to catch it again immediately. I have visited church for the first time in ages. I have booked our wedding for 1 July THIS YEAR. And I’ve even agreed to catch a plane so we can honeymoon abroad.
Was all that shielding worth it? Definitely. As it meant that I caught covid finally at a time the CMDU wasn’t busy, this meant I was able to get the antiviral so quickly which is when it works best. And whilst the antiviral was preventing the covid from multiplying, the donated antibodies now included sufficient amounts to mop up the virus form my blood. Combined with the steroids I was quickly well and tested negative on day six. . .
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