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moving, and the next day I’d be wiped out
again. I’d get up and feel dizzy. But we
were fortunate that we didn’t have fevers.
But we had everything else — no sense of
smell, no taste. I was watching my wife
add salt to her food. And she never adds
salt. I was like, “Wow. Our taste buds are
shot!”
IE: What were the worst moments of the
closing down airports, and I was fine then.
But as soon as I landed at SFO, I had a
cough. And it got worse and worse until I
was sick for a couple of weeks. But I’m
one of the lucky ones — my version of
‘sick’ was equal to a pretty nasty case of
the flu. I’m 55, but I wasn’t in any danger.
But I had to push to get tested. I e-mailed
my doctor at Blue Cross, and he put me
through to this Sutter Health hotline, and
I called them and went over some of my
Exodus
Coronavirus
(COVID-19)
Update
For the safety of our community and its
people, Impact Fuel Room will be
closed and all shows rescheduled and
postponed for the time being.
We are grateful for many of our
customers who have purchased tickets
to these shows, and we will be reaching
out with updates as we learn more.
Check www.impactfuelroom.com for
updates. Thank you for your patience,
stay tuned and stay safe!
experience?
CB: Those first two days, when you feel
like you’re getting better. I just could not
keep my eyes open. I had no energy. My
wife and I were joking that our dog threw
up five feet from us, and we were both too
exhausted to clean it up. For two days.
And those first few days? I have never
slept so much. And if I’d had the fever and
the sweating, I imagine that it would have
been much worse. I could not sleep at
night, either — I’d get in bed at 3:00 a.m.
and then just be too sore to get back up.
We were just miserable.
IE: How did you self-medicate?
CB: By drinking a lot of water every day.
They didn’t give us any specific medica-
tion, so it was just a lot of water. And
orange juice seemed to help. And a lot of
sleeping. And after a week and a half, we
finally had the energy to get up and just
wash the sheets and clean the clothes and
just move again.
IE: And you’re part Native American.
Were there any medical solutions you
sought through that culture?
CB: Not on this. I had no energy to do a
thing. So everything just stopped. No time
to think about anything; or work on the
business details. We just put that aside. We
really couldn’t do a thing.
IE: Chuck’s in Discovery Bay, Gary’s up
in Sacramento. How are you doing,
Gary?
GARY HOLT: I’m dealing with some
elbow issues. I had an appointment with
my orthopedic specialist right when I got
home, and of course, all of that shit’s can-
celed. So I’m dealing with fun stuff, like
doing my taxes. But I’m gonna pick up the
guitar next week and start doing some
writing for Exodus. Exodus is the only
band I’ve got now, now that Slayer’s done,
we’re completely retired.
IE: But your coronavirus experience was
different from Chuck’s, right?
GH: I didn’t get this until I got home from
the tour. We flew back on March 12, and
on the evening of March 11 they started
12 illinoisentertainer.com may 2020
symptoms. And the lady I spoke to was
telling me that I should go to the emer-
gency room, but I was like, “I’m not THAT
sick. I’m not gonna go there.” That’s not
what I wanted — I just wanted a test. And
I didn’t want to sit in an emergency room
until they finally did it. So I contacted my
doctor again, and they actually set up a
test for me and my wife. Chuck’s wife
Tiffany was on tour with us, but my wife
wasn’t, and she tested negative.
IE: How did you medicate?
GH: I did everything I had already been
doing — taking over the counter cold
remedies, getting lots of water and rest. I
already eat a lot of oranges, so I didn’t
bother with orange juice.
IE: How did your lungs feel? Some peo-
ple report that they feel brittle, like glass.
GH: I had a little cough. But I was one of
the lucky ones — my cough never got into
my chest, and I had a low-grade fever and
a low appetite. And a lot of people have
described a loss of sense of smell and
taste. But I had something completely dif-
ferent going on — everything smelled like
really pungent garlic powder. It was really
weird. My wife would make me some-
thing, and it smelled like she just drowned
it in garlic powder. I already had no
appetite, but then everything tasted and
smelled so weird that in two weeks, I lost
16 pounds. I just couldn’t eat. I’d eat a cou-
ple of bites just to drive the growl in my
stomach away. So I just stayed in bed until
I was in the clear. So I feel normal again
now. Uhh, as normal as normal can be. But
it did take ten days to get my test results—
a LONG ten days. But on Day Ten they
finally called me, late in the day. And now
I sure would like to know if I’m immune.
I’d like an answer to that. When I first got
diagnosed, I posted it on Instagram, but
my wife said to take it down. And I did.
Because nowadays people are much more
concerned with just paying their rent. And
when the people are distracted, those in
power will seize more power.
IE: Where are we headed?
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