“The life which is unexamined is not worth living.”©Plato

Part 6

I think I had the corona virus from our New Year’s Eve our cruise.

We’d left on December 28  and returned on Jan 5. I was sick the following day. We’d both been feeling strangely achy the last two days onboard.

Hubby had taken two anitbiotic prescriptions. I had taken three. They didn’t help nor did over-the-counter meds before we went to the MD. Hubby was better after two weeks. I was better after six weeks but I do have autoimmune health issues which cause me to heal slower.

The cruise line was an Italian line. The ship had just arrived at Port Everglades directly from Italy. It was the first time this cruise line would be sailing the Caribbean. The ship was the Costa Luminosa.

The ship wasn’t clean. The staff looked unkept. The passengers were about 80% European, French, British and Chinese. There were a lot of children. 

One morning, we’d awakened too late to make it to the dining room for breakfast. I’m not a fan of buffets. I think the food always looks unappetizing. There are too many choices. It’s overwhelming to watch people mound huge amounts of food on their plates. You viewing gluttony at play. But, I take a med that requires food and it has to be taken early so we made our way to the buffet. I gathered my small bits of food and coffee. Hubby was on a search for a banana. Yes, he enjoys a banana everyday. I went to sit in, what I thought, was a quiet little area. 

A family, parents and small boy, sat across from me. I smiled at the boy. His hair was sticking up like a cute little porcupine. It looked like they’d done this hairstyle on purpose. He had big round dark eyes, super red chubby cheeks and a runny nose. I looked around to see if there was another table further away that I could move to. My feeling was that if he had a runny nose he might have a cough too. I located a table but as I stood up it was too late. He coughed right at me. He coughed several times. He sounded like a barking dog. It was deep and raspy.

No hand over his mouth … No cough in a tissue … No cough in the bend of his arm … Just a straight at me cough.

Since I was up and heading to that other table, I decided to talk to the parents. I told them their son looked sick and shouldn’t be in a public area with his cold. I said their son coughed in my direction and that I could get sick. I said if they could show him how to cough while covering his mouth with his hand or in bend of the arm. They looked at me like I was a crazy person. Perhaps, I was. I have a very weak and easily compromised autoimmune system. I just cann’t see parents taking a child out in public when they aren’t well. I suppose the red cheeks were from a fever.

The ship didn’t have any hand sanitizers anywhere. All of the criuses we’ve been on have them everywhere. There are times staff will come up to you and spray some in your hands. This ship was minus hand sanitizers.

The cruises have staff cleaning public areas all the time. The elevator buttons, hand rails, chair backs, door handles, just about anything people touch. This ship didn’t have anyone cleaning … ever. I remember commenting to my hubby that the children must be playing with the elevators button because they were very grimy. I’m a bit of a germ panic person so I always have tissues or hand wipes and sanitizers. I never touched the elevator buttons without a tissue. It was very bad.

Did I have COVID 19?

I couldn’t say a definitive yes. When there’s a test to see if you’ve contracted the virus, I will get it in order to definietly know. I had a lot of issues happen that could’ve brought on the virus. According to some articles I’ve read COVID19 started in Italy in November. 

My travels on an Italian ship started the end of December. The people on the ship could have been carriers or had it and not known. The cooks and staff could have had it or been carriers as well.

The man who coughed on me on New Year’s Eve could have had it or been a carrier. The little boy, who was Chinese might have had the virus and not a cold. Hubby had the virus for two weeks which is the time frame they’ve talked about on updates. 

I do know that I’ve had the flu in the past but this didn’t feel like the same thing. I feel if this was COVID19, it was the worse thing I’ve ever gone through. I’m hoping because I’ve been through it I can’t get it again. And, I might have built up an immunity to it. 

Thank you for reading 🙏🏻

May you have a safe journey during these difficult times. 

Isadora 😎

Part 1 – COVID19 and Me

Part 2 – COVID19 and Me – Part 2

Part 3 – COVID19 and Me – Part 3

Part 4 – COVID19 and Me – Part 4

Part 5 – COVID19 and Me – Part 5