Covid 19 experience of a friend

I am a 30-year old male with no underlying health conditions. Just a few extra kilos, but hey, who in Delhi doesn’t have that. And still it took me 23 days to start feeling normal again.

I work in an MNC in Gurgaon, and I have been working from home since 19th March. I rarely went out during this time and when I did for groceries or pharmacy, I took all the precautions. So, if the virus can reach me, it can reach anyone.
This is also an indication of how widespread the community transmission is currently in Delhi. But, I will not make this post political and just narrate my experience.

So, I developed mild fever on 29th May and it continued in the range 99.5 to 100.6 for 6 days. I had no other Covid symptoms. For the first 3 days, I took paracetamol and then got some prescription medicines from a local MBBS doctor. He assumed it to be a seasonal flu.

My world turned upside down when on the 7th day, I developed sore throat. I immediately self-isolated to protect my family, but I was afraid I have already infected them. I visited another doctor that day, who prescribed some other medicines and a #Covid_19 RT-PCR test.

I kept avoiding taking that test, but by now I had lost all my appetite. I kept lying in my room like a life-less object. My condition got worse each day. My doctor then advised me to get admitted to the hospital on the 12th day.

I was tested for Covid-19 within a few hours of getting admitted, but doctors already knew the outcome because of the CT-Scan results. They started with the treatment immediately. I was administered HCQ + Azithromycin, along with other antibiotics given through IV.

By the evening of the 13th day, my test results came back positive, as expected! My wife was asked to go back home and leave me alone at the hospital. This was a difficult time for the family.

This is a ferocious virus. It’s a constant fight b/w ur self-motivation to get better and get back to ur family & the virus that tries to extract every ounce of your life every second and tries to put u down. In the end, you got to win; otherwise it’s out there to get you!

In the next couple of days, I developed more cough and shortness of breath. I was put on mild oxygen support to assist breathing. On the 17th day, I even had to be shifted to the ICU for monitoring of my high pulse rate.

I was shifted back to the room on the 19th day. My shortness of breath issue continued and I was continued to be kept on oxygen support.

Though no Covid-19 RT PCR test was re-done, but by this time a patient usually turns negative.

Now, it was all about treating the effects the virus has left on the body. I took me another 4 days in the hospital to gradually improve my health conditions. I was discharged on the 23rd day. I still have some mild cough, but overall I feel alive again!

I feel privileged to be able to afford one of the best private hospitals in Delhi. I cannot even imagine how I would have survived in a government hospital all alone for 12 days.

The doctors usually interacted with me through call/ video call. There were hardly 3-4 personal visits. The nurses are the real #CoronaWarriors as they have to be there with the patient and be available for them 24*7 on the push of a call button.

First thing I did after I developed fever was to uninstall all the social media apps from my phone and to leave all the whatsapp groups that could instill negativity in my thoughts. This helped me a lot as I wasn’t aware at all what was happening in the outside world.

I could just focus on remembering the almighty and have positive thoughts. During the later part of my stay, I also tried some deep breathing yoga exercises using youtube and it did help in my shortness of breath issue.
It has been 24 days now since I have held my 10 months old son or hugged my wife or sat with my parents. I am on self-isolation for another 5 days. I just can’t wait to end this and get back to normal life.
This virus is bad! Hope you don’t get it, and if you do, hope that it’s mild or asymptomatic. Even a moderate version takes a toll on your body like you would have never experienced. Stay safe! more