(From one of our founders, posted on Facebook March 24, 2020)
I contracted COVID-19. The main reason I want to tell my community is because I want to encourage anyone who has come into contact with me or those around me to pay more attention to their health and who you now come in contact with.
It is most likely that I caught it somewhere around the beginning of the this month – March. I do not know if I caught it from work or from my daily life. Testing is so minimal and slow but honestly it’s hard to know where it has come from. Socal health departments have now gone from containment to mitigation which generally means they are not trying to figure out everyone who has it and just assume many people do in the community and to treat and isolate as best as possible.
On March 12 for a couple of days I had a light fever and general malaise. I also exhibited a headache. On March 14 I was able to get a drive through Scripps COVID swab and then it took five days to get the results back. My lightly researched opinion is that Southern California has barely done any tests and certainly doesn’t have a lot of those test results back. We should all definitely expect that there are a lot more cases in our region and honestly since we will not be testing enough we will never quite know how many active cases we have in the community. LA County Health just told doctors to stop testing people in hopes of containing the virus and only if a test could change how they are treated. We likely will never know how many people had it.
I’m sure some are interested in my symptoms and process. I had a fever for 36 hours on and off. I’d say my energy levels are about 15% off and I had a headache for a few days. If I did not work in the medical field and didn’t live in an intentional community, I certainly wouldn’t have made the effort to get a test and would have just isolated myself. Overall, I would say my symptoms equated to the most friendly flu I’ve ever had, I feel pretty great.
Before getting a fever, my approach was to expect that I would get it based on all the virus math graphs that are out there. I certainly don’t think that my measures and medicinal choices had as much effect as genetics and lifestyle choices but I’m happy to share what steps I took once I started feeling sick. The 10 days before I got sick I had done a vegetable juice fast for seven of them, which i actually feel exacerbated the come on of symptoms. But honestly I don’t know as it could’ve made me feel better or worse. From the science behind minimizing a virus that grows in the throat and nasal passages I attempted to remove that growth by flushing down into my stomach and letting the stomach acid burn it up. I used a zinc throat spray, zinc losenges, homemade zinc gummies (thanks Jessica) along with attempting to drink something every 15 minutes. I used a colloidal nasal spray about once every couple of hours. High Vitamin C and some breathe easy teas. I took a bunch of elderberry though the science later came out and said no to that and no to ibuprofen. Both Eti Chall and Kyle Shinners supported me with Chinese herbs but I don’t want to tell you exactly what as depending on symptoms and your personal issues you should really get a video medical assessment and your own specific blend mailed to you. But I did have Chinese herbs daily, still do, and will continue for weeks, even though I’m nearing the end of 14 days. I also leaned on Amy Saloner for knowledge on latest supplements to take if you want to ping her. There are a few more products in the photo. In summary I attempted to minimize symptoms getting worse and virus growing so I didn’t get to the stage of fluid in the lungs and the need for hospital support. I don’t smoke, drink maybe 2 alcoholic drinks weekly and I do high intensity workouts regularly. I’d say my lung health is generally solid.
As far as the Stigma of having COVID and preconceptions with living in an Intentional Community – my community has been amazing. We input social distancing before I had symptoms and have continued to have a strong system for isolation. The community also set up deconstructions stations for boots and hands. Pretty amazing when 20 people come together and agree on excellent bio security measures. I’d also like to say how awesome it is when your work reaches out with such great support and offers to bring anything I might need on many levels. My union, benevolent organization, family relations and medical department have all reached out to check on me and offered to bring me anything I need. The department also is covering anybody’s time for sick leave to ensure everyone who has symptoms has no excuses to stay home. So really appreciate my community, my Chinese medicine doctors, and my work colleagues.
My wish for this post is primarily for anyone who has come in contact with me or those I live with since early March to be more self aware. 97% of people show symptoms within 11.5 days (per John Hopkins), so if you were gonna get it you should know. Though there is some talk that 17% of positive COVID people are totally asymptomatic. So basically everyone act like you may be hosting it, shedding it, and do your best to treat any public interaction as a medical mission for everyone’s safety. “That’s just my opinion, man”.
I feel great now and my family seems to be fine. By SD County Health requirements i will be off quarantine in a couple of days. Be safe, no need to forward this post, It’s for my friends. Looking forward to what scientists estimate will be 2 years of antibodies against the virus. 
* I tried to only use public factual info or most understood processes (like 2 years of antibodies). I know there are a lot of opinions on things.
