Training Log Archive: Anna

Both tests came back negative, but still have to quarantine in my bedroom for 10 days since first symptoms, bc of high false negative rates. I guess the advantage of testing negative is I don't have to worry about packing stuff to go to campus isolation housing, but the disadvantage is I have to figure out how to meet all my basic needs without leaving my apartment. Luckily I'd just done my laundry and ordered from Amazon Fresh (including nyquil), so that made things easier. And the provider said that I can leave my bedroom whenever I need to use the bathroom/shower/get food, regardless of whether my roomie has someone over or is in the common area, and if she ignores recommendations it's at her own risk.

By this point, I'd relayed all this info in our mediation email thread, and roomie had started taking things more seriously, and I saw her in person a few times and she seems very willing now to reduce to 3 close contacts (edge of my risk tolerance) and willing to believe info I have about social distancing guidelines. (I think she maybe just hadn't kept up with it because personal things going on in her life?)

The provider also got back to me to say I'm allowed to go for walks in our neighborhood (with very wide walkways) if I wear a mask and don't touch anything. Which is another thing I wouldn't be able to do in campus isolation housing.

Some more good news today was that the insurance office (finally) got back to me about the orthopedist office's claim that my referral didn't work for them, and then I called the office back, and they agreed now that it does work for them, and (bc of a delay because of home quarantine), I was able to get an appointment with her on July 27. Being able to get into this doctor means I'll have 0 deductible (instead of $500), and I'm only paying 10% of each test/procedure (instead of 20%). Woohoo!!!

Lowest hr was 59. I think hr influences my tracker's sleep estimates, so I'm not gonna trust the sleep numbers, but pretty shitty sleep in either case.

Followed up w student health AGAIN, phone tree was broken to do the call the nurse option, and we're not allowed to go there without calling, so I called one of the reception desks instead, and she forwarded my message to a nurse who called me back.

Ended up getting an appointment, the first NP went off on my roomie and had this whole diatribe about how the university can't enforce social distancing bc lawsuits, and I should take the alternative housing offer they gave me and not try to do mediation w my roomie.

Temp at student health was 99.9 (consistent w my fitness tracker giving me a temperature warning again), and HR while sitting/chatting/subjectively feeling relaxed was 100.

Was confused why the talking part happened in a room w a NP who was only wearing a mask, while the covid/strep tests happened in a different room where the provider wore full PPE, but then I understood when I coughed from the strep test and sneezed from the covid test (was very gross).

Insanely high lowest-sleeping HR, like this is what it normally is sitting in a chair awake.

First day where the sore throat was unambiguous, coughed a few times, temperature warning from my fitness tracker but technically no fever (temp was 99.4, so not technically a fever, though I often run a degree or two low.)

Called the Student Health nurse's line, and they said they call back in order of severity, and I didn't get a call back.

Roomie had offered to share social distancing responsibilities by this point, then said I could use the common room in the evening, then said her friend was coming by to drop off groceries and was that ok. I said sure, as long as they could leave the groceries outside the door and do a contactless drop. She said that was rude, so she was planning on inviting them inside and having them hang out on the other side of the room from me. (Technically there's a stay-at-home order here that prevents people from having social visits inside, but not enforceable by the university/housing office.) I said that didn't meet my social distancing criteria (which we'd already discussed), and that that was not social distancing. Also told her about my symptoms and that I hadn't received a call back, and that I strongly encouraged her friend not to come inside, but at the very least she should tell them I have symptoms. I think this resulted in the friend staying inside for less time than they would have otherwise.

Well this has been a week! This was Tuesday, when my roomie broke our agreement _again_ to give me a heads up to discuss a new person before she has close contact with them, after she specifically said "It won't happen again." And she was in her room with a taskrabbit person for 2 hours while I was on a meeting, and in my brief break between meetings, I went in to find them both in there without masks on. So the cycling was to find a longer ethernet cable (which I could not) to move my workstation into my room. (Then became a whole big thing when I asked her if she could share some of the social distancing responsibility within the house, since she'd been the one to break the agreement.) Short story is now we're in mediation.

The good news is yay I got out on my bike, and now I have a safe place to ride that avoids fast traffic!

First symptoms right before bed (slight suggestion of a sore throat I thought at the time could be attributable to dust) from rearranging my room to fit my workstation.

I think the timing means this is unlikely to be due to the taskrabbit and is more likely to be due to some earlier exposure (at this point roomie had had 5 close contacts from the 4th of July/other times, and she said everyone at the beach was far enough apart that outside of those 5 people, they were able to maintain distance).

RHR is actually lowest nightly HR recorded from my fitness tracker. 53 is on the high end of normal for me.

last time was a light day, so upped things today! Also took video so I could make sure I wasn't letting my knee wobble inwards (mcl injury prevention). And it looked pretty good! Minus some general wobbling on my skate leg. Happy with my routine now! And saving stuff in gym hero so it can auto-fill and I can stay on top of what's next

- Non-weight-bearing butt/hamstring exercises with ankle weights
- 2 sets knee exercises with ankle weights
- Easy abs
- Attempted up-and-down planks with my legs on a foam roller, and it was hard. I did like 4
- Very few pushups but more dips than last time

Also stretched and foam rolled my hamstrings (tried my IT bands too but chickened out)

General life update: Things are pretty good!
- Getting much better at python and no longer have to google something every 10 seconds
- Everyone else in my lab ran out of data to analyze, so I pretty much get the servers to myself :P And all the stuff I'm currently using uses publicly available data!
- Starting my 5th year of my PhD and started reaching out to potential postdoc advisors early--planning to finish in 1-3 years, and want to be in a position to start a postdoc whenever the perfect one comes along! So far have talked to PIs at UPenn, NIH, Berlin, and Utrecht. It's a range of different topics, but all seem interesting. (Side note: not sure if this is true as a rule, but the European ones seem to have pretty predictable funding.)

C • Life update 2