The Hospital Days

The oxygen level (SPO2) with the Oxygen Supply was in the range of 60 to 72 . The hospital, being a relative’s was a relief to my parents. Aanand staying close and being around, a relief to me. I was stuck to the hospital bed due to the drips and oxygen supply. The sleep pattern never really got stable. My day routine was something like this:

~ In the morning, I often woke up anytime between 5 to 6.20 am and sit up.

~ Would wait for morning tea and biscuits (a staple to feel in sync with my usual cravings in life)

~ Breakfast comprised of a bowl of curd, one roti and a few pieces of cucumber followed by a handful of medicines (literally, 18 pills!!)

~ Lunch and dinner were no different since I did not really feel any hunger. Cooked veggies, daal which were returned almost every time I had to eat. It never felt nice that I left food in my plate; I never do that but here I was helpless and returning meant wastage. It gave me guilt so one day I requested to the extreme of pleading. I asked them to send me only ‘dahi and roti’ and little salad. They didn’t stop daal and veggies but sent little helpings instead. Thank Goodness! This constant diet was satisfactory enough.

~ Fruits and juices were brought during the day but after two days in the hospital, I did not consume those either. Though when papa visited, he made me drink one glass of fresh ‘Kinnow/Mandarin’ juice in the evenings.

~ Regular change of drips, checks on blood pressure, injections, and nebulisation were also part of this whole routine. A vibrator to massage my body was something that helped reduce body aches and muscles cramps. It circulated blood and eased me down, I think, it was the best thing that I had liked in the hospital but it wasn’t a regular act for some reason or the other. Since the nurse shifts change, no data was kept on the massage as other things like, drip and injections and medicines were the essentials and priority.

This routine was such that I never slept peacefully at the hospital, quite contrary of what I had thought. The staff brought in medicines, drip packs/bottles, injections etc. anytime they were either supposed to or whenever they were free from their daily tasks downstairs; the main area of the hospital.

The time that stood out among all the discomforts I was facing there was when I had to be injected in my stomach. Gosh! Every-time, I took that injection, it felt as if they left the needle in there and till long, I could feel as if it is melting into my abdomen to vanish! It was extremely painful.

Another thing that gave me gigantic distress was the time to use the washroom. Due to the drip, I was tied to the bed and I had to call a caretaker when I wanted to use the loo but they would take long to come since the hospital was always so over-busy downstairs and they had limited staff. One can only imagine how troublesome that time had been! I don’t remember brushing my teeth very often due to non-availability of anyone around me and I didn’t want to trouble my brother either. He had odd times to sleep because of me so I stopped calling him for small stuff and lied to him whenever he asked anything about my daily routine regarding the bath/washroom.

Home to Hospital

I had got accustomed to home isolation in the past 9-10 days and tried to do whatever I could with the sort of energy I had. My parents worried for me in a bigger way. Simple activities like brushing teeth, bathing etc. half-depleted my spirit as the days furthered. Loss of taste and smell with almost no appetite or interest in eating, I started to feel a void which worsened due to optional confiscation of interactions. I didn’t feel like conversing. Many of my relatives and a few friends called or texted but I stayed away, can’t say why! On and off, I felt helpless and sad for mummy too, whose workload had increased. She had to do separate chores for me and I knew that the daily ‘stairs up and down’ caused her exertion. She has had a slip disc problem in past and I worried of it reappearing. I also often found myself praying for my family; wishing no one gets infected in any manner. Covid/Corona has been so unpredictable and has a sense of uncertainty over its whole existence. Nevertheless, I felt the best when asleep.

The recent hospital visit to CMC, concluded with fine reports of the multitude of tests taken; except for one, which proved that I was now infected with pneumonia too! All because of the weird fever I suffered and consistency of it. The fever never did break and I don’t remember when – but my oxygen also had started to drop. It wasn’t as worrisome for me. I supposed, it was just lower than the acceptable norms.