A Quick and Dirty Post on Lymph Nodes

A COVID-19 Break in Programing

Before I felt it, hot and bulbous under my hand, I felt it as a tinge in my neck. It was barely in my perception. Maybe a pause when I turned and twisted. Easily forgotten. Just a body feeling bodily things.

Then there was a bulge, like a chickpea underneath my skin, right under the crook of my neck. It did not quite hurt. Same with the almonds that pierced between pelvis and thigh. Same with the peas in my arm pits. Unmistakably my lymph nodes.

Eventually a plum blossomed under my chin. My body ached. My throat got sore. Nausea. Head pain. This is not the bodily transformation one wants in the nether land of 2020 plus 1.

Yes, a positive test. My body in lockdown. My brain is like buzzing bees in slow motion. A marriage between anxiety and exhaustion.

My partner is quick to remind me that my body is strong, finding power and beauty in the now-exhausting trek to the bathroom.

I do not find any poetry in sickness. But I do find it in its resistance. I love that my body’s first symptom was the clear endurance of my immune system. The safety net crisscrossing across my body.

The material of it taking up more space, becoming notable and expansive, a body in itself. Filtering virus and expelling antibodies. They are shaped like beans and seeds, sowing something.

(I know enough biology to note that all symptoms are resistance. They are the activation of a body. The expulsion of a cough. The singe of fever.)

I wanted to write an exposé on the biology of the body fighting this illness and maybe talk about science fiction. But I have Covid, so I am just watching obstacle course TV and taking deep breathes.

Here is a biology textbook chapter on Lymphatic System and an Ursula K. Le Guin essay that I am finding meaning in, as my body lays here.

PS: I am experiencing mild symptoms (aches, nausea, sore throat, fatigue) but no fever and cough yet. Blood oxygen is normal, and I am isolating. My roommates (my only contacts) are quarantining. I believe I contracted it at a medical appointment that had to be in person, which was exactly two weeks before I tested positive. Be careful, stay safe and diligent, care for your community, etc.