“I said a little prayer that night. I have never been so hot before. My body was very, very hot. So I said ‘Please don’t take me.’ I wasn’t ready. It got a little troubling that night for me. I took some NyQuil, Tylenol and was able to sleep. I was afraid to go to bed. I was scared if he would shoot me even more when I was sleeping what would happen. I woke up at 7 am the next day and I was 101.5 years old, so I thought, ‘Phew. I can take 101. ‘Friday night was my worst night.
“On Sunday (July 5), I was sitting at 99.3 at around 104. On Monday (July 6), I broke my fever. Completely fine, no fever. My pains disappeared, the chills disappeared, the headaches disappeared. Monday through Thursday (July 9), I almost felt like I had a sinus problem. I would stand up, get dizzy, and have to sit down again. Trying to tell my 3-year-old son not to come near me was difficult. He wore masks, gloves, played cars with them. Ten minutes after playing with them, I would have to sit down. He was a little tired and tired. Then every three hours, I felt like I had to take a nap. On Thursday, July 9, a week after my first symptoms, I no longer felt so good. I took a nap that day, and when I woke up from the nap, I said to my wife Chelsea, ‘I feel absolutely great. Get me carbs though. I need carbohydrates. So I ate some Italian food and I have felt perfectly fine since Thursday. Today (Saturday) is my ninth day without symptoms.
“Speaking to many other people, it was very surprising that I was able to test negative. I know many other former teammates and friends who are more advanced and symptom-free and still positive. I was very surprised. I got the phone call (Friday) in the morning. I would stay up until 2 or 3 (am) every morning waiting for George to call because sometimes the test results came in at 1:30 in the morning. So every night I stayed up late. I had two exams, Tuesday and Wednesday, and on Thursday night I was getting frustrated. Why did I not receive the results on Tuesday? I’m missing more days to be 100% complete. ‘ Then on Friday morning at 9:15, I heard my phone (buzz), looked up and said George.
“He said, ‘You just hit a home run.’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He says, ‘You have consecutive negatives.’ I said, ‘No way.’ He says, ‘I need you at Emory at 10 am. “I said,” I’ll be there. “So I had to do a cardiac exam, an ultrasound, an echo, an EKG, and a blood test. I came back completely clear at 1 pm and was at (Truist Park) at 2 pm to exercise.
“I feel great. I only lost a pound, so it was fine. I lost the taste and smell for about four days, which was very strange. I woke up and felt like I was breathing through my mouth all night. ‘This just doesn’t feel well in my mouth. “I brushed my teeth, I couldn’t taste the toothpaste. I didn’t realize I lost the taste and smell until my aunt went to get me coffee and I couldn’t taste the coffee. So we went and we grabbed barbecue sauce and I put it to my nose and I couldn’t smell anything. I tried to taste it, I couldn’t taste anything. That lasted four days. Other than that it was bad the first three days for me.
“Everyone asked me, ‘What is it like? What can you compare it to? And to be honest, I rarely get sick. I don’t remember the last time I had a fever. So I really had nothing to compare it to. I’m just saying it’s the coronavirus. I can’t compare it to the flu. I can’t compare it to a cold. I have never had a 104.5 fever before. It hit me hard.
“My aunt was also positive in my house. He hit her hard for about two days and then she was tired for about four or five days after that. It lost its taste and smell after that too. My wife was positive. She lost her taste and smell, but she only had slight pain in her body, so luckily she didn’t feel that bad. I saw my dad and my grandfather on Monday, the day I left (California), and they are all healthy. That’s good news. He was more concerned about them than I was. I want to say hi to the Angels’ doctors. They also contacted my father to make sure he was okay.
“It has been a wild journey. I am a little surprised that you are here so soon based on the information that has been given to me and the friends that I still have and who have had no symptoms for longer than me. I’m glad to be here for six days (until opening day). I know your next question is whether I will be ready for opening day. Let’s try it. That’s the whole goal, to be ready for opening day. Fortunately, it is not like a normal spring training. We can control the games. So the whole plan, speaking to (manager Brian Snitker), I’m going to get five or six at-bats over the next five days. … I’m trying to potentially get 30 at-bats in the next five days. I did a complete workout yesterday. We will take it day by day. My legs hurt, I was exercising when I had no symptoms at home, you still can’t train to prepare to play ground and things like that. It will always hurt the first day or so.
“I feel great, I feel strong. I did not lose any strength. I was able to exercise two days before yesterday. I feel good. Those are my last two weeks in a nutshell. I know it was a long conversation.
