I Probably Had the Novel Coronavirus

December 8:  I went to Japanese class.  Most of my classmates are Chinese or Vietnamese.  
December 15:  I started on my way to class, stopped to photograph the neighbor’s winter roses and was suddenly overcome by muscle soreness all over.  I rode a couple blocks, turned the bike around and went home.  That night I developed a cough.  

December 16:  I felt awful.  Luckily I was sent home after lunch because that day there were classes only in the morning and meetings in the afternoon.  That evening I video chatted with a friend and told him that I thought I was getting the flu.  The cough got worse.  It was dry and did not generate any phlegm.  I drank warm water with honey and lemon, but it did not give much relief.  I sucked on cough drops, and they did not help much.  The only time I had some phlegm was in the mornings when I woke up and it always had a bit of blood in it.  Was I coughing too hard?  Was I damaging my throat?  This was the strangest sore throat I’d ever had.  

December 17/18:  At night I was trying to sleep and just could not inhale.  I got scared.  Having a stuffy nose is one thing.  It’s quite another to be unable to breathe, as if something is pressing down your chest so your lungs cannot expand. I thought I might die.

December 19:  I worked at School A, the one with the toxic co-teachers.  I got a couple coughing fits there.  The second one was really bad.  I simply. Could. Not. Stop. Coughing.  I know I sounded terrible.  Three teachers were chatting about two meters away from me in the staff room.  They continued talking as if not hearing anything.  The principal and vice principal stood at the head of the room just watching me.  When I told a friend this, he said, “They were waiting for you to die.”  The only one who had some decency was Shibukawa-sensei, the math teacher, who came from his desk all the way across the room and asked earnestly, “Daijobu desu ka? (Are you alright?)”  In three classes Shibuya-sensei, who knew I wasn’t feeling well had me read several pages aloud from the textbook which was totally unnecessary because those selections were all on the companion CD which was cued up on the CD player sitting on the table next to her. Heartless bitch.  

December 20:  The vice-principal at School B seemed genuinely worried when I had a coughing fit.  Somehow I made it through the day. Yay, winter vacation begins!  

December 21:  Went to church.  Was so tired.

December 22:  Mostly slept.  

December 23:  I had planned to visit my old school in Gunma.  I dragged myself out of bed, bought a box of omiyage and made it all the way to Takasaki Station before I realized that I wasn’t going to arrive before the end of the school day. I went back home and slept.  

December 24:  Went to School C because the home economics teacher had promised to let me use a sewing machine.  I had lost my tablet case earlier in the month and needed to sew a new one.  After making the case, I stayed up all night chatting with friends and family and posting Facebook notes. 

  

December 25:  Spent a few hours at Ikea in Chiba. Went home and slept for 14 hours.  Slept ridiculous amounts of time for the next two days only coming down from the sleeping loft when I had to pee.  I don’t even know how I was generating urine when I wasn’t even drinking, just sleeping.  The cough was getting a little better.  

December 28:  At church the choir had a mini-concert.  I told the choir director that I hadn’t been feeling well because I had one of the solos.  He encouraged me to do my best.  I drank lots of water and sang.  It was okay, I guess. 

December 29:  I had organized a craft meet-up in Tokyo, so I went.  We were supposed to meet at Snowy Village in Shinjuku, but the two others ended up at the one in Shibuya.  I didn’t even know there was more than one Snowy Village.  Went home and slept. 

December 31:  I was feeling better, but then my period started.  Enter killer abdominal and back pain.  There were a couple events I could have attended, but stayed home with a heating pad on my belly.  Happy new year! I have exciting plans for 2020.  Can’t wait.

Took it easy and didn’t travel for the remaining week of winter vacation. 

January:  Lists of symptoms started circulating the internet, and it dawned on me that I may have had it.  I’d had all but two of the common symptoms.  I rarely get so much as a four-day cold, so this whole thing was unusual. Thank God I’m healthy and have no other medical issues because I was able to fight it off without going to hospital.  So grateful that the symptoms weren’t more severe. I’m also glad that it happened close to winter vacation, which allowed me to rest as much as possible without any worries. 

It also occurred to me that if I did, indeed, have the novel coronavirus, I may have been spreading it.  I had no idea.  I thought it was a weird sore throat. At that point, only Wuhan had the virus, so why would I think that I had contracted it living in Japan? Had I known, I would have just stayed home instead of going about my business the way I do when I have a common cold or sore throat.

February:  I noticed that all my Chinese classmates had disappeared from Japanese class.  I hadn’t seen them in weeks.  I wondered if they were okay.  I wondered if one of them had infected me.  Of course, that’s pure speculation because: 1) China is a massive country. 2) I don’t even know if my classmates are from Wuhan. 3) My classmates may not be recent arrivals. 4) I could’ve gotten it in Tokyo with all those tourists milling around everywhere. I had already gotten better, so I was more worried about them than anything.  There were reports of Japanese being very discriminatory toward Chinese people because COVID19 had originated there.

April:  Now I’m just trying to stay healthy because I don’t want to experience that again.  I told my brother, but not my parents.  They worry enough as it is.