My tryst with covid

I developed fever and mild cough in the evening of 2nd June and waited for a day and approached my doctor for covid 19 testing. My doctor advised that we should wait for three consecutive days before getting tested. I did exactly same and got myself tested on 5th. I was staying at bank guest house at greater kailash , which is part of south Delhi. I was otherwise normal without any difficulty except fever, the report came at around 8 pm, it was positive and suddenly I realised that I had become sick . My thought process changed, and I had already read home quarantine guidelines and was aware of the protocol. I bought a pulse oximeter, doctor prescribed azithromycin, vitamin c, cough syrup and one allergy medicine.

I want to emphasize that its all in mind and the moment we realise we are positive , the perception to see the world changes and we become vulnerable and restless , more so because these were early days for Remdesivir and Favipiravir ,the first can only be administered in hospital , while the latter has not yet arrived , it was getting approved . My cough became severe, but my doctor advised that I was a patient with mild symptoms and hospitalization was not needed.

It was 5th ,it was a Friday and I could hardly sleep ,otherwise I am known to be an early sleeper .Next day 6th was a Saturday , I told doctor about my sleep , he added a medicine and I could sleep . I felt breathless in the morning and around afternoon. The hospitals were offering home covid care packages but those were problematic and costly, so I decided to skip that. I had two primary symptoms , fever and cough , the breathlessness was intermittent and I don’t know whether it was for real or anxiety. The fever was in range of 99 and I did not have to take too much of paracetamol. I continued with five-day course of azithromycin -a drug of choice for pneumonia.

Before we move to what happened on 7th, we must the importance of diet in fighting the disease . As there are no drugs ready for the disease except a few repurposed drugs . There are whole lot of medications being tried , when I was sick , the news of utility of ivermectin and doxycycline was also spreading , but none of this is cure , your body has to fight the battle . The protein intake , which is first line of defense must go up , balanced food and age-old kadha and fruits which your doctor will advise.

Then came 7th june, I was fine , pulse oximeter is one device which we must admire , it gives oxygen saturation levels , giving you a hint whether everything is fine. My oxygen saturation level remained around 97 , this indicates whether you have developed pneumonia . mu doctor said that if it falls below 94, then I should contact him. Doctors differ, some say that 92 is the alarm level. For the patients in home isolation, this comes handy. We can not overemphasise its utility. Rest of things were ok , cough and fever were there , I didn’t feel much of breathlessness but as I said earlier , its mind that is critical and shift your mind to next day goals, mind should be occupied , you have to remain hopeful .

Now, 8th June. My office work helped me keeping myself occupied . The fever and cough were there. Suddenly in the afternoon I developed high blood pressure which is otherwise always perfect . I contacted the doctor as I felt uneasy , he prescribed a mild bp medicine which brought the situation under control . The nagging cough continued to trouble . These were really tough moments as I really felt sick , I again asked if I need to shift to hospital, he advised to wait and watch.

9th june was an ordinary day without much of a problem , we again contacted some good doctors and hospitals , all of them said that as symptoms are mild , better to be at home as hospitalization can create psychological trauma. They also told that the severity of disease is manifested in first 10 days of infection and as 2 days remained in that as it was already 9th ,we felt better and more sanguine now . I was ok. The issue of hospitalization must be considered based on the advice of doctors , severity of symptoms and in case of co-morbities , otherwise home isolation is an excellent option with regular monitoring of spo2 levels , oxygen is critical , if it falls below required levels, we must get hospitalized , it can save lives .

On the morning of 10th , I realized and felt differently as I realized that fever was gone , I was conscious and watch fever levels , it actually was gone, I took a sigh of relief as this is the first sign of recovery , only cough continued , since 10th , I never got fever and my symptoms improved , my cough continued and doctor assessed that I developed post viral bronchitis , doctor prescribed new medicine and it had good impact but my cough took another 2 weeks to go completely and I was declared cured on 21 st of June and rested for another 2 weeks before joining work and recuperating .

This in short was my journey in respect of covid infection , my entire family got infection and all of us are cured . In case of children symptoms were dramatically mild . The most important thing that you have to remember is that its all in mind and if you are strong , motivated and keep your yourself busy , then the covid fight becomes easy . Another important thing is what do you read and see, remember there has been a lot of reporting of covid , I left all that , remember hope is the key. Look for positives . I thank God for giving me strength to fight the disease.