Covid and Bloomin' Banana Bread

When you have Covid there is this constant worry of not knowing when you are going to feel better again, because nobody knows.  I know this blog is about my Thyroid but bear with me here…it will all make sense at some point, I hope! Each time I started to feel better I would then wake up the next day feeling worse again and it fell into this pattern for a couple of weeks. Eventually I started to feel a bit more normal, logged onto work in my new office space which was now the dining room table with a background of CBeebies and life in lockdown began.  Like everyone it was hard working from home, taking care of a 3-year-old, and feeling isolated in our little bubble.  We walked a lot, we painted rocks, sorted the garden, exhausted the picnic (I never want a picnic again) and baked loaves and loaves of banana bread.  I didn’t dislike this new way of life, we had slowed down, I wasn’t racing around anymore…life took on a new, slower pace and we were getting outside, walking, and immersing ourselves in nature.  Even Timmy was happily hopping along on long, leisurely walks amongst the trees after a day at work and despite the uncertainty and wondering when we would be able to see and hug our friends and family again, I felt pretty content.

Until I looked in the mirror…

With Covid I had also embraced the new lockdown image of loungewear, no make-up and messy hair. But one day to give myself a boost I decided to put on a bit of make-up and blow dry my hair.  As I did, I noticed that one side of my neck looked more swollen than the other, it wasn’t a lump just a raised area that looked a bit different.  I showed my husband Janne, and he could see it too but suggested perhaps my glands were still swollen after having Covid. He was probably right but I made a GP appointment anyway just in case.

The GP appointment in itself was an experience.  With no longer being able to attend face-to-face appointments my GP phoned me, and we had a chat before he sent me a link to carry out a video call so that he could visually examine the swelling.  I panicked…I had not been prepared for this…I had been wearing the same hoodie for perhaps a week now and there were visible sightings of breakfast on the front.  Add to this my lockdown hair and lack of make-up I cringed as I clicked on the link and my GP appeared before me in the spare bedroom. It’s amazing what tech can do, and my GP could see the swelling clearly and was certain it was indeed what Janne had said, a swollen lymph node…my body was clearly fighting off the virus and reacting to it. He summoned me for some blood tests and told me that unless I heard back from him, I was to monitor the swelling and go back if it was still prominent.  I wasn’t worried, I was pretty sure it would just go away on its own.