Edgar Clyde Lopez shares his Covid 19 encounter.
I never thought that I would get infected with SARS-CoV-2. I’ve been staying at home since the lockdown started last March because I knew I am vulnerable (I have chronic hives, mild hypertension, and a weak respiratory system since I was a child). However, in an unprecedented turn of events, I caught the virus after being exposed to my parents who tested positive as well.
During the first day of my symptoms, I thought I’m just tired due to having too much screen time ‘coz my head ached badly. I thought a good night’s rest will do but I was wrong. On the second day, I developed a fever. My temperature rose to 38 degrees and then I started to develop a cough. Since I am just staying in my room since the lockdown, I thought I am only having flu. However, my symptoms started to get worse during the third day. My temperature rose to 40 degrees and I experienced chills. When I started to have trouble breathing, I knew that my condition is worsening. This led me to be sent to the E.R. On that day, I had my COVID-19 RT-PCR test, and the day after, I found myself positive for COVID-19. Based from the presentation of my symptoms, I am not shocked actually. However, my first thoughts upon learning that I am infected were morbid. I do not want to die yet. I mean, I have pre-existing conditions that could worsen my symptoms. I am afraid that I might die if my immune system won’t overcome the infection. Moreover, I still have plenty of things that I want to do so the thought of the possibility of dying is sort of depressing. It took me hours to calm my thoughts down. I mean, who wouldn’t think of the worse scenario when I feel that my body is getting worse as the days pass?
The development of my symptoms continued on my fourth day. I can barely eat, I developed diarrhea, I lost my sense of taste, and I keep on vomiting. I felt like my body is losing the battle. My doctor told me that I already developed pneumonia due to my weakened immune system so he gave me an antibacterial cocktail (azithromycin plus cefuroxime) together with paracetamol given every 6 hours to relieve my fever and cough medications every 8 hours. Even with all these meds, still, my temperature kept averaging 39.5 degrees. My body was literally on fire as I could feel the heat radiating out from my body. The chills and body pain accompanying the fever further made my situation even more difficult. It’s just horrible.
Battling the virus is exhausting. I knew my immune system is fighting back because my fever is not going down despite taking antipyretics. In the process, I felt too weak and became dehydrated. Though the doctor said I only have a moderate case, I felt like I was dying slowly due to the extreme body weakness coupled with the mental turmoil on whether I will survive the infection or not. There are several times when I cry internally saying that “Ayoko na. Suko na ako.” because the disease really made me experience fatigue even though I am just lying on the bed. Indeed, COVID-19 also took a serious toll on my mental health. It didn’t help that I sometimes have difficulty breathing due to my pneumonia which made me anxious and afraid. Furthermore, knowing that my pre-existing conditions could make my symptoms worse did not help my train of thought. At one point, I even prepared my insurance documents and gave it to my siblings just in case the worst-case happened to me. Nonetheless, being knowledgeable about how the virus infects the lungs and how the body responds reduced my anxiety ‘coz at least, I knew what’s happening to me.
I had worse symptoms compared to my parents. My mom developed fever coupled with fatigue and dry cough. My dad also had a fever coupled with a sore throat and dry cough. As for me, I developed almost all of the symptoms (perhaps because I have underlying conditions). Thankfully, God is good. I am not a very religious person but still, He heard my call for help. Even though I kept on saying “ayoko na,” “pagod na ako,” and “suko na ako” for days, He still did not give up on me. I couldn’t blame myself for being a pessimist because it felt like my body is ready to give up on me. Thankfully, my immune system managed to ward off the infection. It took me one week of Paracetamol (6 tablets a day) before we managed to normalize my body temperature.
Once my fever receded, I knew the worst part is over. Or is it? One week of being in bed rendered my muscles too weak. I couldn’t stand up properly and I have to hold on to something when walking or else I would fall. I also developed acid reflux because I didn’t eat normally for a week. Thankfully, after resting, I fully regained my strength and eat normally again ten days since the appearance of my symptoms. Yet even though my strength went back, I still had a persistent dry cough. It took me two weeks before all of my symptoms disappeared. Thus, the countdown for the prescribed 14 days quarantine period per DOH guidelines began only two weeks after I became asymptomatic.
COVID-19 can easily be transmitted. Hence, let us all take all the necessary precautions so as not to be infected. I swear you do not want to experience how hard it is to ward off the infection. It is physically, emotionally, and mentally draining. You surely wouldn’t want to overthink on who are the people in your family that you could possibly have infected. Consider all people as infected especially that community transmission is still very rampant. Let us not be complacent and strictly follow all minimum health protocols.
Most importantly, let us demand the highest standard from our government officials. Lucky for me, our Barangay is very supportive of our needs. Even though we had a house lockdown, they made sure that the needs of my family are all catered. They have dedicated people who bought the needs of the remaining people in our household who were under strict home quarantine and delivered them to our house. The Manila Health Department also acted fast and made me transfer to a quarantine facility to complete my isolation period and help stop the chain of transmission in our house. Though away from home, it gave me the peace of mind that I will not infect the other members of our family. In fact, staying in isolation is not a big deal for me because I am naturally comfortable with being alone. Sharing stories with other COVID-19 patients boosted my morale ‘coz I felt the solidarity among us even though we do not know each other. Although I was jealous that most of them are asymptomatic, I still consider myself very lucky for not succumbing to the virus.
While I experienced good treatment from our local officials, not all have that same level of treatment. Other LGUs are not well-equipped to handle the pandemic. The national government is still lost on what to do despite the months-long lockdown that we already had. The government still doesn’t have a comprehensive plan of action on how we will handle the pandemic in the following months. It is disappointing because the cases are literally ballooning and it angers me that we are just counting cases. I am lucky enough to survive this virus. However, there are people out there who are dying without receiving proper medical care and yet the government remain indecisive on what to do. It is also unacceptable that while we are battling against this pandemic, corrupt and incompetent officials continue to enjoy the President’s trust. We, as taxpayers and as citizens of this country, should hold our officials accountable for their inaction.
To cap this, I think surviving COVID-19 is my greatest achievement this 2020. My mom got discharged last July 30 while my father was declared recovered last August 3 (both after more than one month since their infection). Today, I am officially declared as recovered after being asymptomatic for two weeks, completing the prescribed 14 days quarantine, and testing negative from COVID-19.
I hope everyone remains vigilant and stay safe while the pandemic rages on. I expect this to last until next year. So while this continues, let us all be responsible to stay safe.
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