Oh! And Oof!
How I remember those days from 27th April to the 1st of May!
Up with fever already, since 23rd April – and reported to be Covid positive on 26th, I now had to maintain a log of my temperature and oxygen levels, as asked by the doctor. It wasn’t an interesting thing to do. Additionally, as the days from April tuned into May, I started forgetting what and when to do something. Slowly my room started to morph itself into a muddle day by day.
And the fiver?
Well, it wouldn’t get rid of me. It, in fact, escalated to 102 first and then touched a 103-point something. Even after a Paracetamol, never did it slash below a 100 – point 3/4/5. It was as if something was wrong with the thermometer!
I used to double check initially but then I had to believe the mercury.
Each day that was passing became worse and more terrible than the other. Frequent and intolerable coughing would exhaust me all the time and the persistent fiver made it difficult to do anything. Most of the day went sleeping away in short naps. With high fever, I had to make efforts to eat and I began to eat very little only to my comfort. As a result, I was being drained out of energy little by little. But each day I gave my best.
With no one to share or talk . . .
I only indulged into some good self-talk or had a forced conversation with, you know, “Mr. Mean Thoughts”. I used to click pictures of the log and send them in the ‘Family whatsapp Group.’ I never initiated a phone call, although took any that rang from downstairs; talked a bit and answered my parents’ concern. Sometimes, dad would share a bit of good news or something from his day and I listened with interest. He would try and make me laugh too. (one of the many qualities he possesses)
Other than that, I used to have a couple of missed calls at times, because I would either be sleeping or not too pepped up to talk. I often replied some of the calls with a message. But yes, I attended all the work calls, if awake. I had informed the school of my illness and came to know there were others who were caught with it as well.
Gosh! The scenario, in and around Hisar was getting real bad and staying with my own self, I was baffled occasionally, didn’t know why.
Thank Goodness , I never watched or read any news. My information of Corona and its cases was limited to whatever I had gathered before 23rd of April and of course, the condition wasn’t any better even then but my body and mind-set were.
Meanwhile, Aanand who has a room upstairs, diagonally opposite to mine had his own routine. He had online exams going on and generally studied till late at night. Nevertheless, he made sure to check on me almost every two hours daily except early in the mornings because he slept. He might have found me asleep many a times, during the day. Our general conversation would be something like:
1. “How are you today? What’s the oxygen level?”
– “I am okay but feel tired and sleepy.” (I would tell him the O2 level)
“That’s okay. Just don’t let anything tense you. Please rest largely.”
2. “Need anything? Listen to some music di? Why don’t you watch something?”
– “ No.”; “Not in the mood.” “I want to watch something but cannot decide. I will see, later.”
3. “ Medicines taken? You do nebulize, right? ”
– “Yes for both.”
I too would ask him about his preparation or how did the exam go and how were papa-mummy doing etc. I remember, I used to be worried often that he might catch Corona being in close proximity, though he followed every precaution. He regularly changed or filled water in the camper as and when needed and in the evenings, mostly came up with something healthy for me to drink. Every once a while, Mummy had him bring some nuts and biscuits in my room along with some fruits that could be kept for any hunger pang I might have; as my sleep cycle had transformed and so did the eating schedule, except for Breakfast. That was the time mummy came to keep my food out and also see me. Everyday, she asked if I was following the medication and reminded me to keep updating the log. They had to intimate the doctor of my health on alternate days or any other time, if urgent/ in case of anxiety.
Soon enough, the dry cough wouldn’t stop which made my chest pain and head blast. Fever, of course, didn’t break either and without ample energy, I felt helpless.
Even my parents could hear me cough hard, they knew of the fever too, of course and did all that they could do.
Papa sometimes just sat looking at me while I coughed on a video call. He would often come with a thermos of warm water upstairs and keep it for me. Mummy made a home remedy for my throat and the nose. She also brought over a cold pack for my exploding head and high fever. And never failed to ask if I had any food preference despite the fact that I did not care about food at all.
She would still look for variation in my meals. Oh! How I missed the regular days of relishing all that mom made! What I desired to eat was yoghurt and buttermilk but it got restricted by the doctor, no thanks to the DRY COUGH.
My family felt powerless too, I suppose. They and both my sisters sent various YouTube videos, articles or other information related with Corona in our Family ‘whatsapp group’ – all meant for me. These went something like – How to take care of yourself in Home Isolation, Breathing Exercises, Beneficial Hand Mudras, Mental Health during Covid, Importance of Proning, How to do Proning, and various Positive Quotes, emojis, messages etc. etc.
Sigh! I only managed to have a glimpse of such messages.. never had a mood or ability to go through any of them.
And . . . strange enough, I felt neglected and uncared for. Plus not just that, Ms. Guilt creeped in too at her own will.
Anyway . . .
Gradually, even the sight of any cooked food had become unbearable. I had told to reduce quantity of food that was sent upstairs. I couldn’t eat more than a bite or two. Fruit in take lessened as well. I drank a lot of fluids but certainly my hunger had totally died, really. Grapes and raisins were the only happy source of energy, as I could taste something out of them though I did eat a little of other fruits (Bananas, melons, pomegranate, and apples) – all tasteless. I ate them only for the sake of my internal organs, so that I could thereafter dissolve it all with the *lot of medicines* I had to gulp down to fight corona.
Some of the edibles would simply lie in the room just as I did. They appeared as sad and low as my deteriorating condition. I had been regular with all the medication but the timing differed everyday. The doctor had asked to be consistent with the time of the medicines, that I think, I couldn’t keep up. I had now started to feel lack of a good sleep too.
And, then came a time, when the major part of the cooked food was being dumped. I regretted wasting it, but I had no choice. And every time, I brought in a meal from out of my room, I felt gagged. The most frustrating feeling was when this vomitous sensation mixed with the cough. Chhee! (I feel nausea even thinking about it now. I should spare you of some details.) No juice or drinks could make up for the diet I should have been consuming and eventually, I conveyed this condition along with the wastage I was adding, to dad.
. . . to be continued.——————————————————————————————————————
Here’s my prescription below:
[Please be aware, this is only for my personal records.
Do not take any pill without consultation of an accredited doctor.]
- Tab Pantop – 40 mg, morning empty stomach
- Tab Azithromycin – 500, once a day (5 days)
- Tab Ivermectin – 12 mg, once a day ( 5 days)
- Tab Zincovit -1, once a dayTab
- Vitamin C – 1000 mg (chewable)
- Tab Montair lz – 1, once a day
- Syrup Alex – 1 tsp, twice a day
- Syrup De Pura 60000 IU – 1 tsp, once a day (3 days)
- Tab *Paracetamol – 650 mg, if fever more than 100 C
(*can take 5 to 6 tablets a day but with a minimum gap of 4 hours)
Regular Steam Inhalation ( minimum 5 to 7 minutes)
SpO2 – check every 4 hours
Good hydration and food not to be replaced by fluids/fruits
Along with the above, I also had a few tablets of MDD (mood stabilizers and anti-depressants) to take.
