UNITED STATES—Lately I have been hearing about this new strain or variant of the COVID-19 virus. People have called it like a razor cutting your throat. Then I thought, wait a minute, that strain is not new because I experienced something like that when I caught COVID-19 in 2022. Yeah, nearly three years ago!
FYI, I had actually been vaccinated as well, so you would think it would’ve kept me safe from getting sick, but not the case. Do I think things would have been significantly worse if I was not vaccinated? Absolutely, but when I say it was the worst feeling in the world, I mean it.
One day I felt great, the next day I had a hoarse voice. Yeah, just like this ‘new’ variant they are talking about, my voice got hoarse and then all hell broke loose. How so? When I say I had the worst sore throat in my life I mean that. It was not like a razor cutting my throat, it was like glass was in my throat and it was slicing the hell out of it. Literally for three days, I did not eat or drink ANYTHING. The mere thought of just gulping my throat was horrendous.
If I drank fluids or even tried to eat anything, my throat was not numb, it felt like it was on fire, and I was being sliced every single time in excruciating pain. I didn’t get off the couch for days. I couldn’t even sleep for almost 48 hours because the pain was so unbearable. I didn’t find any comfort until I got some throat spray and throat lozenges gave me the slightest relief, but nothing explosive.
The one thing that helped after the first three days was hot tea. That was the only thing I could stomach with honey, and I drank so much tea that I haven’t had hot tea, but maybe two times in the last three years as a result. Not sure why all this talk of the new variant is being discussed now, but it’s not new America. It has been around, it was perhaps in hibernation, or I was one of the people who happened to catch it in January 2022, and no one else did.
Not sure if the talk is to scare people into getting a vaccination for COVID-19 or not, but for those who happen to become diagnosed with this new variant. Relax, breathe and prepare for a sore throat unlike anything you’ve seen because trust me you will not forget it, but you’ll survive it.
