‘No need to live in fear after recovery’

GETTING infected with the Covid-19 disease does not mean that one has to live in fear long after he has recovered. Now, that many among us must have survived the fatal disease and battled the stigma and isolation along with the disease, one can easily say that the disease takes one to the edge.

The fact that the virus leaves the patient physically exhausted would not be entirely incorrect as the first impact that it has is on one’s mind. For me, the first symptom was when I lost my sense of taste and smell. Working throughout the pandemic in the field had always put me at risk that I thought I was prepared for, until I tested positive. Two days of high fever and initial symptoms like no sense of taste and smell, incessant coughing and body weakness, I tested positive along with four other members of my family, including my husband and 70-year-old father-in-law.

The mandatory quarantine period was when I found myself in crisis management mode. One has to be cautious but should not panic. All this while, my symptoms were restricted to a minor chest infection and cough that eventually cured over time. After a week in quarantine, the Covid threat became very real for us when my father-in-law, who was asymptomatic in the beginning, developed chronic Covid pneumonia and his condition deteriorated within 24 hours.

That when we had to make a choice between getting him hospitalised or choosing home care. The most difficult aspect of the disease is not the treatment but to brave out the sudden physiological changes it causes in your body. Exhaustive cough, blood red eyes and muscle cramps that would make you wish you did not have legs, difficulty in breathing, anxieties about the disease…the list is long. All this while, the doctors were telling us to keep ourselves distracted by indulging in positive activities that I now understand is the best remedy for all your Covid-related anxieties.

After the 15-day quarantine period, we tested negative though my father-in-law took almost a month to recover from pneumonia. The residual symptoms lasted for over a month for others as well and were equally exhausting. It includes stomach infections, muscle pains, severe headaches, fatigue, nerve compressions and low platelet count. Before we had got infected, my family and I were building our immunity by rigorously following all the do’s and don’ts. But it could not save us from falling ill. What we have learnt from the experience is that we have to find our strength, physically and mentally, and be positive.

By Neha Saini