Today is (hopefully) my last day of quarantine after I found out I had coronavirus last Monday. I had already been in quarantine because my friend had tested positive after I had been around her. I was still a little shocked when my test came back positive though because, for the most part, I felt fine. I was totally stressed and distraught at first because I was worried about how sick I would get over the next couple of days. Luckily, I ended up only having mild symptoms. I pretty much just had a sore throat and shortness of breath.
The worst part by far has been the loneliness of being alone for so long. I haven’t been around another person for almost two weeks now. In the beginning, it seemed like the end would never arrive. Luckily, I have great friends who reached out and dropped off groceries and the occasional blizzard at my back fence. I have also spoken to my parents on the phone at least once a day since this started, if not three or four times. They’ve had to listen to me cry many times over the last two weeks. The loneliness has definitely gotten to me and there have been times where I’ve felt like I was going a little crazy. It has also been difficult because I’ve had the added stress of end-of-the-year projects. On one hand, I think it has been good for me to have something to do, but on the other, I think it would have been nice to be able to relax without homework looming. I’ve had to learn to give myself something to look forward to throughout the day whether that be a shower or an episode of Survivor before bed.
I was supposed to be out of quarantine yesterday, but the day before, I started to have some difficulty breathing. This was after a few days of having no symptoms, so it felt like it came out of nowhere. I was up all night feeling like I couldn’t breathe, which only got progressively worse because of building anxiety. It was the first time I felt truly scared. After a good night’s sleep last night though, I feel a lot better, and I’m hoping to finally be done soon. It was such a crushing feeling to not be able to be out of quarantine the day I thought I would be able to, but I feel like the end is in sight. This experience has helped me get to know myself more with how much time I’ve spent alone, but I will definitely be glad to put it behind me.