This day last month, October 17th 2020, we (my family and I) heard that shocking news that my dad, is positive for COVID-19. I can’t say that we didn’t really see this coming. I mean, with the current number, which is exponentially growing up. Statistically it would be very close to us. Somebody within our circle is expected to have the virus,
But, did we really
think that we’re exceptional? Well, actually, yes, as naïve as it sounds, it never occur
to us that we will be on that end.
However, Alhamdulillah. That moment passed. I want to untangle the
stories; what are the the probable cause and initial symptoms, the help that we received, the effort that we
put to get thru this, and at
last, the lesson that my family learned along the way. May this adds to your awareness that, the virus is still there, but it can be cured.
1) The
probable cause and initial symptoms – Wednesday, Oct 7th 2020
We
wouldn’t know for sure what leads to what. But in our best capacity to trace
down, Wednesday was the first time my dad started to feel unwell. My dad was
not working from home, as his job requires him to interact with below poverty
line citizens to run empowerment program, digital interaction was not really a
choice. He attended an offline meeting that day, without wearing a mask, he
admitted.
When
he got home, he showered and trembled right when he got out of shower. We were
laughing at that time as we thought it’s kind of silly for him to have chills
just because he showered at 7 pm.
In
the next day, my dad had a light fever. He felt cold. But that’s all. We still
thought that it was the showering at 7 pm effect.
In
the next week, the light fever remained, but my dad noticed that he started to
lose his smelling sense. Still, we weren’t sure that it was COVID-19 as it can
also one of the impact of nasal congestion, that his nose is stuffed hence he couldn’t
smell properly
Not
only that, my father start to have red spots in his body. We went to dermatologist
in Monday. And they mentioned that this seems like measles (campak). They gave
us some meds; pills and ointments.
The
red spot got worse and swelled at the night. It spread all over his body. And we went to
hospital’s Emergency Room expecting to get some injection to reduce the swelling.
In
the hospital, the diagnosis was med poisoning, because my dad took too many meds
(regular heart disease meds, fever meds, and measles meds). Doctor suggested my
dad to be hospitalized but the room was full at that night. However, as one of
the requirement from the hospital, my dad needed to take SWAB test in order to
get hospitalized, and also just as complementary check (doctor didn’t even wear
full APD when checking my dad bc they were sure it was med poisoning)
2) The
support that we received
That
day, around 1 pm. Three health workers came to our house. With their
friendliest manner, confirmed my dad’s name, they spat out the news: dad is
positive of COVID-19. They requested us to explain our travel history in the
past three weeks. We explained. They wrote down important details. They would have to disinfect my dad’s office
First priority
would get the remaining family to be tested as we’re labelled as “close contact” to my
dad. The swab and the medicine is free - all covered by regional govt, I think.
We then informed our
neighbors through call, broke the news, and informed that they might need to take the test as well because some of them did come to our house few days ago. Some of
them didn’t even believe in COVID-19 (which is a completely different debate), they insisted to come to our house and ensure that we'll be fine soon. Some others who do believe of the virus existence, send their best
support by comforting words. And mention that we should be
relax and didn’t really worried about this
At that time, that
psychological support is what we needed the most. My neighbor would send mom text in the morning asking whether we wanted anything for breakfast, or simply if we wanted anything.
Aside from psychological
support from our surrounding, the government also send us care package in form of sembako twice a
week. Never did we know that we’ll be at the receiving end of this aids. At
that time, it feels like, God, I don’t want this, I don’t want to receive this
free stuffs. Let my dad be healthy and I’m willing to pay for this…. But it wasn’t
the case, right. We were sent the free stuffs so that we won’t have to go out and
exposing people to the C risk like us…
After five days of
waiting, my family’s result comes out and we are all surprisingly negative
except my dad. However, since he has no heavy symptoms, and we have enough facility to have self-isolation room. My dad stays at one room at our house. With separate bathroom, and separate cutlery
3) The
effort that we put to get thru this
We tried to find
information here and there from COVID-19 survivor on what habits and typical
medication used. And here are top 3 that my dad did during his time serving the C
a. Drink
boiled water of ginger + turmeric + lime + honey every morning and afternoon
Basically, u boil turmeric
and ginger 1:3 (more ginger than turmeric), pour it with one spoon of honey and
a half of lime water. Mix.
b. Sunbathe!
Every mornig
c. Nasal
wash using NaCl infusion fluids &
I got this tips
from other college whose family was positive for COVID-19 and hospitalized. One of
the instruction is to wash the nose everyday with NaCl fluid using a syringe.
Do this 2-3 times a day. Tilt your head to whichever direction you wanted to
wash first (i.e tilt to left to wash left nostril). Once the nostril is clear,
spray your nostril with Betadine nasal spray. Three times a day. Once for each
nostril (according to the instruction)
4) Lesson
learned
It took ~10 days until we heard the first negative of our dad's result. It was a rough time personally for me. I didn't really tell my friend until my dad's result comes out negative because I think, informing so, will only make me overwhelmed. Besides, I didn't meet any of my friends before we heard the news hence there's no use for tracing purpose anyway.
Nevertheless, key things that I learned from this experience areL
a. Follow the protocol
I've
been a very very cautious person, and in my utmost capability tried to ensure my
family are too. But my dad learnt it harsh way that he need to be more careful.
And really not to underestimate the function of mask in our daily activity given
the current condition. The protocol is there for a reason. In an unfavorable situation like when my dad couldn't work from home, obeying the protocol would be the main shield from the virus. Even after the negative news, we sometimes still look back on the "if only", if only my dad wore mask to that meeting, if only I reminded him harder, etc. But there's no use of that and instead let it be a future lesson that we sure will remember
b. Psychological support.
This is really important. To expedite the healing process and ensure the immune functions well, patients and family need to stay sane and positive during all of this. My family and I joke around as our best coping mechanism. I personally talked in daily basis to my boyfriend, not to rely on his energy, but it helps me a lot to stay sane and normal. Furthermore, I called professional psychologist to untangle my mind and set a remote session with them to tears my . I was grateful that I made that call. It helps so much to lift the weight in my chest, which eventually also help my family to be more positive towards this.
I guess that's all for now.
In the meantime,
Stay sane everyone!
-S
