It’s been a bit of an up and down two days. I felt pretty bad on Wednesday and called 111. They told me to go to a and e, and I did so at 10:30pm. It was really busy there so they made me go and wait in my car with my phone rather than in the waiting room. (That was nice and warm). Eventually I got seen, had a blood test, and then a chest x-ray.

The X-ray was clear, which was good. The blood test showed my lymphocytes were at 0.2 (this is very low. Normal range is 0.8-4). I then had a long chat with the doctor and then the OnCall consultant. I said that I should be given the antivirals as they are very much designed for people like me. The doctors didn’t agree and said unless my symptoms were worse and my blood oxygen was lower than 95 they wouldn’t prescribe them.

I did fight my corner, and pointed out the criteria on the NHS website (covid symptons and extremely vulnerable) but they weren’t having any of it so I was sent home at 4am (that was a fun drive).

The next day (Thursday) I presented at a different a and e in the afternoon as I had started to feel crappy. I also took paracetamol, so by the time I got there my temperature had dropped from 38.5 to 37.2. They, again, asked some questions and then sent me home without drugs saying the antivirals were for people who had more severe covid symptons. .

So anyway it’s now Friday morning and I’m at home. I don’t feel too terrible at the moment, although it does seem to come on in waves, and then I feel better for a while. My specialist is trying to get the antivirals out to me, but no luck yet. (Honestly why bother saying you can get them in my situation, and then not giving them. After all they are supposed to prevent symptons getting worse if you give them early).

My taste has become a bit muted and my temperature spikes up and down but all it feels like is either the flu, when it gets bad, or a heavy cold when it doesn’t. I’ve had much worse illnesses (so far). Let’s hope it stays pretty benign.

It’s odd as well. If I get through this without too much trouble it will be a great weight off my mind. I’ve been really worried about catching covid for 2 years, with loads of rhetoric about how bad people with lymphoma can be with it. Now I finally have it I’m hoping it passes quickly. If it does I will feel much more comfortable about being out and about and living properly again. I don’t want to tempt fate though, it could still get worse but for now it’s not too bad. Let’s hope I just stay a bit snotty for the next few days.