Well, today’s the first time I’m being tested for COVID since I was admitted to the isolation ward last week. I’m so ready to leave, friend!?
Wednesday, January 22 – QD13
COVID retest to measure progress
8:01a – I’m feeling pretty excited and good today. About an hour ago, I had all of the tests that I was given on the day of my admission. I was under the impression that I was only doing the blood test but the nurse continue with the NAT test and collected an oral sample as well. all the other tests that they gave me the day I was admitted.
I thought that would be the end of it.
Well, it wasn’t because we had to also have another CT scan, too. Sad, to say it, but that was the highlight of my day because I left this room – even if was only for a few moments.
And although I didn’t leave the hospital, I did sneak outside for a quick breath of “not-so-fresh” air and it was wonderful! ?
The nurse came around the corner so fast!
In Chinese, she told me that I couldn’t be outside and that I had to stay indoors.
I apologized and said I understood. ? It felt so good to be outside though! So instead of going outside, I kindly stood beside the door with my phone to take photos.
You know the little kid that you tell not to do something but they find a way to do it “without doing it?” Yep. That’s me. ?
But I was completely respectful and listened. I promise. It was just such a beautiful moment of being outside of the room.
I’m just really excited because I feel like I’m leaving here soon. I’m going to dare to believe that I am about to leave this place. I’ve been saying this over and over since yesterday…
I am about to be released!
At the moment it’s 8:04 in the morning so I expect all positive vibes for the rest of the day. My test results will come back negative!
Once I finish writing this blog post and working on a few other projects that I really want to complete before the day is over, I’ll consider unpacking my things. I know, I know…I still haven’t touched them yet.
I don’t know. I may actually wait to see what happens with the test results before I touch anything. ?
Another Productive Day
6:27p – I have been in the groove, friend! I have been rocking and rolling all day and I’m happy to say that I accomplished just about everything I wanted to do within a few hours.
Being creative has helped me to stay positive about being here because it’s actually not as easy as I’ve been told I make it seem.
Again I say that I wouldn’t wish this scenario on anyone. Seriously. I have to keep myself entertained just to keep from crying and creating helps me to do that.
Today, I was listening to one of my favorite playlists and started dancing around the room for about 10 minutes. It felt so good to get up and move around, thinking positive thoughts. As I danced around the room, I realized that I hadn’t danced in quite some time and I started remember how happy good music and movement makes me feel.
I believe that the way I woke up – happy and in good spirits – set the tone for my day.
The good news
Now, here is the big news.
Earlier today after being tested, I reached out to the nurse to ask when the test results would return and what would the next steps be. She said that if my test came back negative today, then tomorrow I’d be tested again and then if those results came back negative, I’d be tested again before being released.
So this means that if the first test comes back negative, then you must be tested again for a total of 3 consecutive days with test results showing negative before being released.
When asked what would happen if the results came back positive, the nurse said that I would have to wait another 3 days before being tested again.
I told her that I have faith that the test results are going to come back negative. ?? I know she was probably like, “yeah, yeah, whatever,” because she never responded to the message. ?
9:14p – ? Told ya, nurse!
Friend, listen, I am so excited! I get to do the NAT and oral swab tests again in the morning.
And I’m praying that those test results come back negative so they can test me again the next day and let me finally leave!
I know I mentioned this earlier but I think it’s a wise decision to wait to unbox my things tomorrow or Friday, depending on how well the tests go. Either way, I promise to let you know whether my things are damaged or not.
Since it’s been such a great day, I don’t want anything to mess it up so I’m going to enjoy this moment and get to my things tomorrow.
I’m going to bed knowing that it has been an amazing day. ❤️ What a great day to test negative!
Thursday, January 21 – QD14
Good Sleep & Nasal Cleaning
6:36a – It’s officially been 14 days since I’ve been in China. Last night was probably was the best sleep I’ve had since leaving North Carolina.
This didn’t stop me from waking up in the middle of the night as I’ve been doing every night since my arrival, but the quality of sleep was much better. I made sure to not touch my electronic devices and would make myself go right back to sleep.
This continued until I woke up around 5:05 this morning and felt like I had sufficient sleep. I got up, brushed my teeth and used the nose syringe that they gave me on Monday (which I now realize that I failed to report…sorry, friend).
They gave us a nasal syringe to start injecting water into our nose. At first, the instructions said to use saline but they never gave us a supply of it, so when I asked the nurse about it, she said to just use water. ?
Oh. Ok. ??♀️
I used bottled water because I’m not putting tap water from the sink into my nostrils.
Nah. I like my nostrils.
I’ve only been back in the country for 14 days after being gone for almost one whole year. My body has to readjust to the water again.
So I used bottled water and washed both nasal cavities. Remember, I’m getting tested again for the second results today and I’m excited about it because I really expect for the results to come back negative as well.
Also, I’ve been really considering if I should just leave my belongings alone until I’ve finished testing again but according to one of the hospital doctors, I can’t get COVID a second time (although I disagree with this statement and we’ve even had a strong debate about whether or not this is true).
If this is true, I should be about to touch my things and be straight, right? I guess we’ll find out because I think I’ll start cleaning and unpacking my belongings later this afternoon.
It’s still so early to decide at this point.
7:01 – Daily mask & medicinal soup delivered in the transfer window.
7:20 – Second nucleus acid and oral swab test by the same nurse from the day I was admitted. She told me to relax because she remembers how UNRELAXED I was last week ?. I bossed up today though! ???
12:27p – Canteen Drama
This morning and afternoon have been a little dramatic because I’ve been having issues with miscommunication with the canteen and it’s negatively impacted my experience. They keep giving me soup even though, according to what Google translate and WeChat translate, my orders are for something totally different.
I got my nurse involved and she told me to just get a Chinese friend to order for me in the future.
Guess I’ll just keep ordering takeout. ??♀️ It’s cheaper anyway and their menus have pictures of what the food may or may not look like. This is China. You never know what you’ll get unless it’s a place you’ve been to several times. #Truth
8:03p – Finally unboxed my belongings…?
After a failed attempt at going to sleep early, I decided to get up and open at least one of the boxes that arrived two days ago. I just wanted to see if the box I was opening was my tech gear.
One box led to another and the next thing I know, I ended up opening up everything.
Friend. Look at my STUFF.
I don’t mind how it looks as long as it works right and can be cleaned.
I tested my gimbal, Sony, and action camera. They all seem to work perfectly fine. I’ll check in detail tomorrow.
The good thing is that my action camera was in it’s underwater case and my Sony was turned off so the lens was covered. Also, only one side of the tech was sprayed (the side facing the door).
Friend, they literally ghostbuster’ed my belongings!
I am relieved that it looks like my tech gear is fine but I have yet to check my hard drive, rechargeable battery dock, cables, and cords. Nothing was left behind and it seems like the CDC got everything for me. Overall, I’m at ease for now.
I’m also pleased with the packaging job that SF Express did so that nothing was damaged during transport.
Now that I’m at ease about the delivery of my belongings, I can rest well tonight and tomorrow I’ll clean and reorganize everything. I’ll put anything that I think I’ll need to use in the easy access bag and everything else will stay zipped up in my suitcases until I get to my place in Dalian.
After I reorganize and pack up, I won’t unpack or touch anything in those suitcases until I’m back on campus. Never again will I leave my things behind.
Friend, I promise that if I could teach you anything from this experience, the first thing would be to never leave your things behind. Period. I don’t care if someone says you’re going to be gone for 30 minutes, don’t do it.
ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN.
It’s getting late and I’ve been up since 5a so I’m calling it a night.
Talk to you tomorrow, friend. ❤️