Personal Health Reset: Day 2 of 30

Yesterday, I wrote about needing to reset my health and well-being and that I was going to seek to improve my health by 10% over the next 30 days. 

Today is day 2 of 30.

Everyone in my house has officially tested positive for Covid-19 and we are all symptomatic. I don't feel great, physically, but this is far less severe than every prior Covid infection I've experienced, thank goodness! I do have a fever, however, so I will not be going to work tomorrow (fingers crossed that I can go to work on Friday!). 

I attribute part of my not feeling as awful as my last few Covid experiences to simply how the virus has evolved over the last several years, but also because I've been consciously paying attention to my energy levels, hydration, vitamins, supplements, and medication needs. 

Before I go on, I do need to remind you, my dear reader, that anything I write here is NOT medical advice. If you feel ill or have concerns or questions about your well being or anything discussed in this post, please seek the advice of your own healthcare team. 

I am surprised that I am emotionally pretty upbeat today considering how horribly I slept last night. Despite being in bed at a reasonable time, I had a difficult time sleeping and ended up wide awake much of the night. I also had an episode of severe acid reflux that meant trying to sleep in a much more upright position than normal. 

Today, I started the morning with water and my morning medications and supplements, some deep breathing exercises, and moving verrrrrry slowly when it came to taking my dog out for her morning potty break. 

I drank water alongside my morning coffee, and I snuggled under a heated blanket with several books for quite a bit of my morning, napping when I felt the need. When I had some energy, I did very small chores around the house, making sure to not over-exert myself. 

Have you ever done this: you're sick, but you suddenly have a burst of energy so you do as much as possible and then collapse? 

I knew if I expended ALL of my energy, I would end up feeling worse, so I kept my tasks tiny and easy. I tidied my living room end table, picked up next to my bed, and put away some shoes that I'd left out recently. 

My household also agreed that everyone would spend a few minutes at a time working on cleaning the kitchen and doing dishes. The last time we all were sick at the same time, the kitchen quickly became an out of control beast of a mess. So far, we are keeping it under control and no one is overwhelmed by dirty dishes. I'm hopeful we can keep the kitchen under control and get back to our assigned kitchen chores schedule soon. 

Today, I really have been prioritizing the following for my well-being:

1. Staying hydrated--drinking a bit more water than usual and drinking water before I drink anything else.
2. Taking numerous breaks to do deep breathing exercises--I have an uncommon form of asthma plus a narrow trachea, so I am extremely prone to respiratory infections. Deep breathing helps keep my lungs clear.
3. Use my flutter valve device regularly throughout the day--along with regular deep breathing, I'm using an asthma tool called a flutter valve to help keep my lungs clear.
4. Rest, rest, rest!
5. Nourishing my brain--I've been reading A LOT while also listening to my favorite music. You can check out my reading blog HERE, although I'm far behind in updating it!
6. Repeated the physical therapy exercises I performed yesterday.
7. Taking all of my daily, routine medications, vitamins, and supplements on time.
8. Taking meds for my Covid-19 symptoms as advised by my doctor.

I also bought a new thermometer that was delivered today. I follow Jen Hamilton, a labor and delivery nurse, on social media and she recently talked about the Kinsa thermometer and app. She was not sponsored or paid to do so, but her whole family has also been ill recently and she was signing the praises of this thermometer. Ours arrived today and I'm a HUGE FAN! We've gone through a number of poorly designed thermometers over the last several years, but the Kinsa is pretty incredible! It's soooo simple to use and you can add everyone in your family to an app that also guides you through symptoms and deciding if you need to see a doctor or not. I set up the app, added everyone in the family, and then took all of our temperatures. It was so much easier to use than any other thermometer we've tried! We all have low-grade fevers, as suspected, and our symptoms match with Covid-19 per the guide on the app. 

You can check out the Kinsas thermometer on Amazon HERE (this may trigger a small commission to me, but I think this thermometer is worth your time and money, and the commission to me will cost you nothing extra!).

Check back to see how I'm doing on day 3!