My COVID Story: “Keep the negatives out”

We are in a world where the new normal has become nothing but normal, and that’s the irony of it. Just when we thought that it might be over, COVID-19 has steamrolled us with the second wave. It is not that people were not aware that this could happen, but it was more of an unapologetic attitude towards the horrendous experience we had to go through the first time around. In retrospect, we as human beings tend to think that what we have experienced shall make us stringer and well equipped if something similar happens again. This pandemic has taught us that it is not always true, and we had to learn it the hard way.

My family and I started thinking that Covid is here to stay, but it might not be that big a problem now that the earthlings have overcome it once. After the first wave, it took me a couple of months to overcome the paranoia to step out or even meet someone. I could notice the traffic on the roads was almost back to normal and people flouting social distancing without even wearing a mask.

The Symptoms

My Wife – Loss of taste and smell, Severe cold, minor cough, fever 99-100 degrees, Sp02 99-100

My Daughter – Minor cold

Mother – Minor cold, dry cough, fever 99-101 degrees, Sp02 96

Myself – Minor cold, throat pain, fever 99-100 degrees, Sp02 99-100

I asked myself, how is this possible? We did not go out, and we certainly did not meet anybody. Could it be our cleaning help? Could we have caught it when we went for regular testing within our society premises? We did all the possible scenarios, but we could not zero in on what could have landed this virus in our household. We just accepted and moved on to the next steps.

I called on for home sample collection to have an RT-PCR test done for my family as soon as my wife and I started showing signs of common cold and minor cough in mid-April, followed up with a mild fever after a couple of days. The reports returned positive for my wife and me. By the time our fever started normalizing, My mother had complained about fever and flu though she tested negative just four days back. She immediately isolated herself from my daughter, who also was feeling minor nasal blockage from the cold. The whole family was aghast thinking that my mother has also caught Covid, and she has comorbidities like high blood pressure and hypertension. The only thing keeping me positive was that her oxygen level never went lower than 96.

Let the quarantines begin

The first question that arose was if we should isolate ourselves individually or quarantine together? Since my wife had a significant cold and had throat pain, we decided to isolate ourselves in separate rooms to avoid multiplying the severity of each other’s infections.

However, my wife and I did not report any fever after the first five days, and with the cold receding, we both decided to spend the rest of the quarantine together happily while my mother kept herself isolated from us.

It is important to maintain cleanliness and hygiene with regular sanitization, whether they are your surroundings or utensils. We used sanitiser sprays to disinfect utensils and clothes before washing them and disinfect doorknobs/handles and any sittings areas. Think that anything you touch is now a weaponized killer.

Since the testing, the Punjab govt Covid helpline kept calling almost every other day to check on our health and take proper medications. I appreciate how our state govt managed not just the patient tracking but also guided us to stay positive in our thoughts and keep monitoring our oxygen levels and body temperature.

The multitude of medications & home remedies

Apart from the crowdsourced prescriptions (highly unadvisable) from friends and relatives, I called upon to seek the doctor’s professional opinion to manage our medications and recovery aptly. The doctor prescribed us multivitamins, paracetamol (if fever touches 100) and antibiotics (flu/cough).

PS: I am not mentioning the medications here to avoid being a source of crowdsourced medical help.

The medicines were proliferated by a slew of home remedies that included kadhas, milk with raw turmeric, vitamin C rich fruits, steam, and whatnot. Eating so many medications takes a toll on your body, with the dizziness kicking in from the after-effects.

The recovery

By the seventh day, our symptoms had almost gone, and my mother reported no fever three days after she reported the same. My daughter also did not show any signs though she also tested negative when we got tested initially.

Based on some research and advice from my doctor, I learned that the virus might have weakened if one is not experiencing any fever in the past three days without having any medications. I decided to get tested again; my wife and I tested negative while my mother still tested positive. Knowing that my mother is already feeling well, we knew that it is just about 4-5 days that she will be totally out of Covid.

Post-covid fatigue

Though we tested negative from covid-19, we still felt weakness having an inability to manage the daily tasks and chores. I started noticing that I was getting tired during the screen-time for my office work. The doctor advised us to continue multivitamins at least for a month and maintain a healthy food diet. I realized the severity of the damn virus accompanied by the high voltage medications that may have taken a toll on your body.

The take-away

• It still bites me not to know where we contracted the virus, but it has made us realize that the THREAT IS REAL, and every individual has to step up to keep it at bay.
• I had never experienced this level of FOMO when my mother reported symptoms and knowing that I could not even take her to a hospital (being covid positive myself) if the condition gets severe for her. 
• Seeing my daughter low and crying sitting 10 feet away from me only because she could not hug any of her parents for ten days straight. (even writing this moistens my eyes)
• Avoid rapid testing and get RT-PCR done as that gives the most accurate results
• Ignore crowdsourced information and seek medical help immediately
• Regular cleaning and sanitization during isolation are necessary. We used disposable glasses and plates to have food
• Monitor your fever and Sp02 level religiously and action as per the suggestions of your doctors.
• Keeping a positive attitude is the key. Talk to your family and friends while in isolation, listen to music, or maybe Netflix and chill!
• Get vaccinated as soon as you get the chance to
• Lastly, Corona Vairus is here to stay for the foreseeable future. We should learn to respect the fact, and it is okay to look foolish from the fear rather than becoming its victim.