Hmm, well, the thuddiness came back with a vengeance. The ectopic beat is no longer regularly every 4 beats, it's very erratic... and it's now sometimes an extra lub dub, sometimes a lubduplubdup, and sometimes worse.
The cough also returned. Four days ago I was in hospital so, although unlikely, it was possible that the cough was Covid. The News has been full of how different the symptoms of the Delta variant are, and how many people just aren't bothering to get tested (and thus why the virus is spreading so quickly).
So, I booked a proper PCR test. My local test centre didn't come up on the options. There was a walk-in place relatively close, and a drive-through place a bit further away. I didn't want to be walking or queing near people when I was coughing so much,so I opted for the drive through.
I was assigned a half hour slot, with instructions not to be early.
I arrived at the beginning of the half hour. It was a pop up mobile unit in a temporarily requisitioned public car park. It wasn't signposted, but it was easy enough to find. There was just one other car in the car park when I arrived, but by the time I left, about 15 minutes later, there were probably 12 cars. Some cars had one occupant, some had several.
It was easy to do. I'm used to doing lateral flow tests, and the swabbing bit is the same. The test result came the following morning, and was negative.
No surprise, but a relief all the same.
The heartbeat symphony continues.
