On the 3rd day of my partner’s flu-like symptoms, she started feeling better and we took a walk along Town Lake. Since she had tested negative for the flu three days ago, we both were engaged in a bit of wishful thinking that her flu symptoms were only symptoms of a bad cold.
On the 4th day of my partner’s flu-like symptoms (I’m writing this blog a day late on Tues – not surfing to the future), she started feeling much worse and I also noticed a knot in the back of my throat similar to the symptom she felt the day before she got sick. We went to a different urgent care and they tested us both for Strep and Flu. I tested negative for both and my partner tested positive for Influenza A.
At this second urgent care, I noticed different behavior by the check-in nurse. Once my partner began describing her symptoms, the check-in nurse causally opened a drawer to get a mask to put on. My partner was already wearing a mask. Three days ago, the sign seemed to imply masks were only for possible coronavirus patients.
The doc said that Influenza A could have been contagious a day before symptoms showed up until now and likely not so contagious anymore. He said the incubation period was 1-2 days and so I may have dodged the Influenza A bullet when I was in close contact her before she showed symptoms.
Her symptoms now include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. According to https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/symptoms.html, these are the same symptoms for COVID-19 and may also appear as soon as two days after exposure. Currently, recent travel to China seems to be the only additional screening question to determine if someone has a COVID-19 infection or not. As universes where COVID-19 is a pandemic continue to surround our universe, this “recent travel to China” question will become less and less useful. Her other symptoms are weakness, tiredness, headache, and extreme bone/muscle aches. I believe these are also present with many cases of COVID-19.
I just took dose 1 of Oseltamivir Phosphate 75mg (Tamiflu) as a preventative to help me attract universes where I don’t have Influenza A replicating in my body. The toast (and banana not shown) will hopefully make the medicine go down easier and avoid the nausea side effect that is most often mentioned in reviews of this drug. Within five minutes of taking it, I felt a bit anxious with my head feeling kinda tingly.
I was uncertain about taking Tamiflu (generic). This paper, and encouragement from my partner to avoid Influenza A at all costs, gave me the feeling that it was the decision I felt most comfortable taking.
surfing the universe 
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