Joe Kelly: Hey, South Jersey, I Have Two Weird Post-COVID Side Effects

I keep seeing more and more people on Facebook being hospitalized for the coronavirus lately. It's so sad. If you're going through it, my thoughts and prayers go out to you.

As I shared earlier this week, I had COVID. (Since they say it can actually stay in your body for weeks, maybe I technically still have it - but for the purposes here, I'll just say I had COVID.) With the exception of what I'll mention here, I'm symptom-free, but still wearing a mask when needed.

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Oh, disclaimer time: I'm fully vaxxed - 2 originals and the booster in November. That's what I chose to do for me, and I have no desire to debate with anyone the plusses and minuses of vaccination - life is too damn short. You believe what you want to believe and I'll believe what I want to believe...

If you're interested, you can check out the original story of my COVID case here. I give kind of a blow-by-blow rundown of what happened and how I felt.

Luckily, the worst I felt was that I felt like I had a bad cold. Never a fever, just headaches and nasal congestion for the most part.

Now, though, as I move forward, I found I have two lingering side effects that I fully attribute to the virus. (Yes, I attribute these to the illness, not the vaccinations.)

First, my sleeping lately sucks. The first few days after I tested positive all I want to do was sleep - and I did. Now, though, I can't sleep more than an hour or so straight without waking up  - then, I have a very difficult time falling back asleep.

For the past three or four days I just feel like the quality of my sleep is lousy!

That's very different for me. I've always been a good sleeper. I've rarely had problems falling asleep. I'm just starting to lay down and I'm already snoring.

Now the second side effect is weird. (Nope, it's not that body part - that's all good if you're keeping score at home:)) It's actually my arm. My left arm.

Rather accidentally, I discovered that I have about a one-inch by three-inch rectangle on my arm that's numb to the touch. I've had people try to gently touch me on that area, and I don't feel it. It's really weird, but after googling it, I've found that other people have noticed some numbness in one or more extremities. (I'm not a doctor, but I do know that if you start feeling A LOT of numbness - especially your left arm, it's a good idea to seek medical care quickly.)

So that's my COVID update for today. Thanks for reading and I hope you and your loved ones stay safe.