Sorry if I have been MIA for the past few weeks. It is only that I caught COVID for the very first time. In the beginning, I was in denial, which is the usual reaction everyone does. However, after my PCR test which confirmed that I have got the virus, it slowly sank in.
It started, as far as I can remember, back to my night shift. After that shift, I started feeling itchiness in my throat. There were no covid patients back then that I was aware of. Therefore, I was only wearing a mask and apron as usual with no other special precaution whatsoever.
Concerning my other movements prior to the symptoms, it was only from house and work and nowhere else. I did not go shopping or socialize with other people. So in all honesty, I still don’t know where I got it from. Could be from my patients or my colleagues.
However, I have already accepted the fact that this infection is not something I can avoid forever knowing that I work in a hospital as well. Unless I stay at home 24/7 or isolate myself from others, being infected would be very less likely to happen to me but it is not the case for me.
My Covid Symptoms
People infected with Covid have different symptoms when they got it. For me, they were fever, body weakness, muscle pains, headache, and cough. Surprisingly, throughout my covid experience, I still had my sense of taste and smell.
Cough was the most tricky one for me. The medications I was taking at that time weren’t helping much. I kept on coughing that my tummy hurt when I did. Plus the shivering from fever in the middle of the night and feeling of helplessness, because I was alone in the beginning, didn’t help.
Over-the-counter medications I bought for my symptoms.
All of these combined, I wouldn’t lie that I thought I was going to get worse and probably die. Alone. Luckily, that was all exaggeration and just a dramatic me because I am still alive as I write this.
Lateral Flow and PCR Tests
The day after I got the first symptoms, I did my lateral flow test which came back negative. Since I was unwell, I called in sick but informed them it wasn’t covid. It was only a common cold, that was what I thought and maybe hoped too.
As days went by, my cough has gotten worse and worse, fever only subsided when I took Paracetamol and so did my chills.
Until I got a faded line on my LFT result that I thought could be Covid. Because I never had that result ever, to be certain, I have also taken the PCR test which is the confirmatory test for Covid in the UK.
There is a faded line on the ‘T’.
The PCR test came back positive. Oops!
Covid 10-Day Isolation
In the UK, people positive of covid will need to isolate for ten days. However, just recently, they changed it to only seven days as long as the lateral flow test results are negative on the 6th and 7th days.
The funny thing is this all happened right before Christmas which means that I could be in isolation during the holidays. One of the many implications of getting this virus aside from it can cause death, of course, is that it could ruin plans. My plans of going somewhere and meeting with friends obviously didn’t happen.
Journey to Recovery
And so, day by day, I rested, slept. I took my medications regularly, didn’t think about the ruined holidays anymore because the ultimate goal was to get better and survive.
My cousins insisted that I drink this lemon, ginger, and honey tea because it is known to be effective. And maybe it helped me or the antibiotics.
Because of some slight turn of events, my Christmas and New Year celebrations which I thought would be depressing weren’t that bad for me. It was different but in other ways, I enjoyed how I celebrated them.
As I am writing this post, the only remaining symptom left was a cough which only happens early in the morning. My LFT results were already negative of Covid. I went back to work a couple of days ago with no problems which meant I am back to my old self. Yay!
I survived Covid. We have different experiences with this virus and I am aware we also have different circumstances, different results. Nevertheless, one of my prayers for the new year is that the world will finally heal from this pandemic.
Let’s continue to help one another. Follow social distancing. Do hand washing regularly. Think of people around you. Let’s keep safe and healthy.
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You can also read other posts of my life in the UK here.
