On the BBC they have questions sent in by viewers about Corona ..A chap phoned in today to ask if he was particularly vulnerable to this virus because a bit ago he’d had a viral infection and only just recovered from it. At its peak he said that his CRP rate was 350. The doctor on the telly said that the CRP was a measure of inflammation inside the body, and that indicated that he must have been really ill, and that to be normal your CRP rate has to be under 10. He was told to be very careful not to contract it.
About 15 years ago I went to Africa to do a canoe race. A week after I came back I started to feel unwell. My symptoms were fever ( felt really cold but had a high temperature ) and confusion. I got myself to a hospital in Staines and said I thought I maybe had malaria. They tested me and said no, but I should go straight away to a specialist hospital – the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London.
I recall getting myself there, in a bit of a haze, with a thick coat on with the hood up, despite it being a hot and sunny day. I remember lying down in the waiting area ( because I just needed to… ) and then a lady asking if I had an appointment. I said I didn’t but thought I needed to see a doctor. Eventually I did, and they took some blood and then saw me again about an hour later. The doctor seemed surprised that I told him that yes, I felt wiped out, but that I had was alone and had got to the hospital by myself. He examined me and talked to me, asking questions about where I’d been ( Africa ) and why I’d been there. He looked sort of bemused and then told me that my CRP rate was over 950. I asked if that was high and he said yes, it should be under 10, adding that he couldn’t believe I was still able to function at all, implying I should be dead I think. He said that I should definitely be in hospital. I asked him what the point of that was, as in what treatment I’d get. He said that they’d just watch me, as there was nothing they could do, since they didn’t have a diagnosis of whatever strange virus I had. I said that if they weren’t going to actually do anything then I may as well just go home and go to bed then? He laughed and said that that was my choice, but that he thought I ought stay.
Not being exactly in rational at the time I said I’d go home, where I spent 3 days sweating in bed, then felt ok. The doctor did phone and check on me, and told me not to exert myself for quite a while.
Two weeks later though I stepped in to partner up with a lady called Rox whose partner had pulled out of the DW canoe race ( 125 miles non stop in a kayak through the night, in the bitter cold that year ). During the race I made a mistake and fell in the icy river at 2 am, which didn’t exactly help me .. but anyway Rox and I came first in the mixed division…
I’d forgotten until today that I’ve got previous with strange incurable viruses…. tho arguably I’ve surely used up my 9 lives already. …?!