Dear Diary,
Kemper is still really sick. I don't expect a miraculous recovery but I wish for any improvement for him. I rubbed his back because he said he is so sore everywhere. He had me stop because I was rubbing his back too hard. Which I highly doubt I rubbed his back too hard, he is just really sick and sore. I then told him to take a hot bath and maybe that would help his muscles. I ran a hot bath for him and he was in it for about three minutes at the most, he couldn't stand the temperature and the water felt too heavy on his stomach (what?!) and he is now complaining about how hot it is. He said it was also too hard and I said I could have put some towels underneath him so it was softer to lay in. So I have the ceiling fan and a portable fan running on him in the bedroom and he is laying on top of the bedding, watching TV.
He is so miserable! I know he isn't trying to be difficult. He said he could probably deal with this no problem if it wasn't for the muscle aches and fever. He is shivering but he says he is too hot to be under the covers. I am trying to get him to at least put the sheet on himself.
His fever is pretty consistent around a 99-101. When it gets high, he starts to get nauseous. He threw up last night and when I checked his temp he was at 101.7. He said he had a bad headache. So I put a cool rag on his forehead and rubbed his temples until his fever went down. His steel colored grayish eyes are so soft looking and child-like when he was looking at me. Just looking at his eyes I can tell he is hurting.
I am not going to sugar coat this. He is normally an energetic, sleeps well, happy, smiling man. Right now, he grimaces, is hunched over, tosses and turns, raspy breathing, complains, is in pain, and is absolutely 1000% miserable.
I don't know how to fix the blanket being too heavy on him (his muscles must really hurt) when he tries to sleep. I just try to fix whatever he is complaining about and hope it helps. I do like when he manages to get some sleep because he generally seems peaceful during that time and the pain goes away.
I want all of this to go away for him. I wish it was me instead! I don't remember COVID being like this for me, although I know it is different for everyone. He is a rock, he wouldn't act like this at all unless he was really sick!
Viv, his adoptive mom, calls him often. She is worried about him. He always assures her that he is fine. He forces his voice to be normal and doesn't really tell her how miserable he is.
Rod, his adoptive dad, left this morning. He has a long drive back to California. Kemper asked him not to tell Viv much besides he is getting better. He doesn't want her to worry. I don't think Rod will tell Viv how bad Kemper is right now.
I didn't sleep much last night. I worry about Kemper and he didn't sleep well last night either. He was either hot or cold or needed more Tylenol or Ibuprofen. It is easy to mother him and take care of him.