My encounter with COVID-19

My Encounter with COVID 19 and the learnings

Only one small mistake / act of carelessness can bring the virus to you- don’t blame or beat yourself up- Stayed at home mostly, kept sanitizing our hands and minimal to no movement outside the house still we got COVID

Time is the Key: Don’t ignore the very first and slightest symptom - Luckily for me time taken to move from realization to denial to act was very short. I knew time is important and I couldn’t afford to waste even one day. The moment we realized we were having symptoms (my husband, my Father In Law and me developed cold, light fever and headache within a gap of 2-3 days), I called the doctor immediately and he asked us to take the test at the earliest as he was sure it was COVID.

Consult the doctor and start vitamins immediately, check your O2 saturation, BP and Respiratory rate from very same day- Our doctor asked us to start vitamins same day which we did and let him know about the report at the earliest. Got the test done immediately and same day RTPCR report confirmed we were positive. (First time a positive report didn't make me feel so positive). Got the oximeter and started checking O2 saturation, BP and respiratory rate (breathing per minute) 4 times a day

Speak to that one family member/friend or anyone who you trust and who can lift your spirit- Spoke to my brother (he is my guide for life) and messaged my closest friends and asked them to pray for me. Constant reassurance from them that I am fine really helped me keeping fine even in those moments when I wasn’t and I am sure everyone that has gone through it knows it’s easy said than done.

If possible have someone to care for you- Now starts the real struggle- 102 degree Celsius fever for continuously 7 days (with temp moving between 101.5 to 102). Felt hungry but couldn’t force myself to eat or drink no matter how much I tried. My husband (God bless him) was less infected and seeing my condition he forgot about his pain and quickly took charge of taking care of us both.

It is very tough but you got to be tougher - The nights were even more painful, my mouth, my throat would feel so dry that I couldn’t sleep. Getting up multiple times feeling hungry but couldn't eat. forced my self to drink water (and believe me it wasn’t easy considering how even water tasted in my mouth). It’s important to mention I haven’t felt sick in past about 10 years and the amount of medicines were going in my body was crazy. Sometimes I even felt I was missing a breath or two in the night. 

After the 6th day the doctor started my steroids and I started to feel little better (COVID has its own lifespan of about 10-12 days). It took a lot of efforts, medicines and vitamins, care and prayers for us to fight it and start gaining our strength.

It can happen in spite of Healthy and disciplined lifestyle: I have been getting early morning, exercising daily, doing Pranayams and eating healthy and timely. All the people that knew me, found it difficult to believe that I caught COVID.

It impacts everyone differently- My husband got the symptoms first but his fever was low , then my FIL and then I got it, all three of us were at a different infection level me being the worst hit and I took longer to overcome it.

It takes time to heal and can bother with post COVID symptoms- Its been 22 days now since I was diagnosed positive and I am still not back to my earlier health level, cant exercise anymore, get tired easily, sense of smell and taste is yet not back to normal but I am happy that I have fought it well. It makes me feel lethargic, low on energy and not wanting to do anything mostly. It kind of dries up the body inside out and can also lead to depression but the feeling that I am one of those lucky people who overcame it is very comforting.

Vaccination does Help- My Father in law, who is about 77 years old has medical conditions like diabetes, hypertension, stone in Gall bladder and fatty liver had taken the first jab 20 days before he caught COVID and so is the reason (I would like to believe) he was not much infected by the Virus and by God’s grace could fight it faster and felt a lot better than I did.

My last request is -The best and the most prudent thing one can do is, not waste even a single day when you feel any symptom (cold, cough, runny nose, fever, headache etc)

Don’t watch the news and social media posts about the Pandemic

Be grateful and show gratitude for all who are there for you and care for you. Feel free to reach out to me in case you feel worried, panicked or stressed about it.