11/8/2020. Day 6 of illness (The day I finally started documenting)

Why is it difficult to move and why does my body still hurt till now?

This is Day 6 since I developed symptoms of COVID and the undulating symptoms are just about annoying and scary at the same time. 

Even though I knew COVID symptoms can range from mild to severe and people respond differently to it, I was under the assumption that since I have had mild to moderate symptoms I would be feeling better by now, But that didn’t seem to be the case today. 

But I made up my mind to start documenting today so I’ll write this line and head back to bed…

11/2/2020: Day 0

Strolled into work as usual. It’s been so busy at our PCD unit over the past few days. A lot of kids are having significant mental health crisis which seems to have been worsened by the pandemic and the changes in school patterns/ format- virtual versus hybrid versus full day.

Not long after I arrived, one of my colleagues blurted out, “did you get your email for the COVID positive exposure?”. I exclaimed, “Again!”. This was the 3rd COVID positive contact I was having in 1 week and they all had no symptoms of COVID. They only got tested as a routine protocol for in patient mental health care or surgery.

I logged in for the night to see the email staring back at me. 

I recall examining and admitting this patient, I thought I was well protected with all PPE, except for a gown; we rarely needed a gown unless they had symptoms.

My thoughts flashed back to her mask which was hanging below her nose and even though I motioned her to replace it, it slid down within minutes of her doing so.

I prayed and hoped that I wouldn’t develop symptoms. I moved on with my shift for the rest of the night.

11/3/2020 Day 1- Morning

Our hospital protocol required employee health to contact all staff exposed to COVID positive patients and assess their exposure risk, PPE coverage and current symptoms. I was surprised when I received the call. I already knew the questions by heart. I had received similar emails or calls multiple times over the past 2 weeks. 

Thank God my answers were all negative. I felt great overall, maybe a tad bit tired from doing 5 nights out of 6 so far; and I had 2 more to go.

11/3/2020 Day 1- 10pm

Feeling strong and ready for my 2nd to last overnight shift. I love counting down to days off especially when I have a bunch of shifts clumped together.

A few minutes after I arrived at work and settling in, I noticed my migraine slowly creeping in a few minutes after I showed up. I spoke to myself “do I really need to get this headache tonight? I guess it’s a reminder and effect of not getting enough sleep before this shift.” 

I took some migraine meds and focused on work with the plan to power through. 

Everything else for the night was the same. I didn’t have any suspicious symptoms.

I mean the one episode of loose stool for the night was not unusual; I always had them after drinking my usual ‘cream-coated’ coffee. I didn’t feel anything else different.

11/4/2020:  Day 2

6:30AM

At the end of my 8 hour shift, I felt exhausted; a little more than I would expect. I always felt like a drag driving home after a night shift but I was more tired this time. 

The headache was worse and my whole body hurt.

I walked into the house & met my husband awake, watching the USA presidential election counts. He blurted out, “you look miserable, must have been a rough night. Are you ok?”

“I think I am, I replied, just very tired. I’ll get some sleep and be fine.”

Boy! Was I wrong? By the time I woke up from my nap, I knew I was sick. 

I felt like I got run over by a car in my dream- the body aches, headaches, nausea kicked in so fast.

I was so scared. I sensed it was going to be COVID because Flu season wasn’t here yet. I already knew my hospital protocol and my need to get tested so I was scheduled for a testing in our testing center.

(Read my testing experience here. It was horrible)

The test was quick and done in less than 5 mins. We drove home and the rest of the day was spent under sheets- exhausted, feverish, and scared. I wasn’t sure what else to expect.

COVID was mostly synonymous with ‘bad vibes’ but then again, everyone had varied symptoms. Even though my test results were still pending, I knew it would be positive.

I’ve been sick with Malaria and the Influenza before and this felt totally different; felt worse.

By evening, I received a call for the words no one wanted to hear. Sometimes you know things are true but you still don’t want to hear the words become reality

She said, “Your COVID test is positive.”

My spirit dropped. My kids who had been anxiously waiting looked at my face and burst out in tears; fear of the unknown.

They had no symptoms at the time but the usual thing seen on CNN were reports of the infected and deaths, so that was their perception of COVID-19.

“Mom, are we going to stay at the hospital?”

Mom, are you going to need oxygen or die?”

We had these conversations a long time ago but we never knew it was going to be our reality.

The house was gloomy as we prayed & retired for the night. I took antipyretics once I felt fever kicking in.

11/5:  Day 3

I woke up with a hacking cough.

The night was totally rough. I had little oral intake the day before and was exhausted and a tad bit dehydrated.

The rest of the day was downhill- fever with chills, severe body aches and headaches.

Nausea but no vomiting, Mild to no nasal congestion.

I1/6:  Day 4

Felt about the same as yesterday. 

Barely got off the bed. Felt dizzy every time I did so I laid back down. The headaches were unbearable- I had a history of migraines and this made it so much worse. The fevers were high and I needed round the clock tylenol to stay afebrile.

Great thing my husband and kids had no symptoms so they cared for me, Support was so key- hydration, feeding etc.

11/7: Day 5

The usual night fevers were uncomfortable but think I slept through the night.

This will be a good day- stronger, kept on top of my hydration. I even did a video to celebrate after the Biden Harris duo won Presidency and helped make dinner for the night.

Aside from a little headache, I felt so positive to be on the way to recovery. 

I muttered to myself as I lay down for the night. “Today was good, so tomorrow would be better. I could even start catching up on some of my work.”

 11/8: Day 6 (again)

Unbelievably did a ‘360’. I felt ill again

“What’s happening to me”, I thought? “Why am I so tired and weaker than yesterday?”

“Is this a new infection or different virus?” My nose seems more congested than ever; I barely had any congestion before now.

I also developed chest pain, back pain and mild shortness of breath. I struggled to breathe through my heavily stuffed up nose and the weight on my chest. I could barely move due to the discomfort. 

My sister in law sent us a pulse oximeter and I checked my oxygen level. We let out a sigh of relief when it ranged between 96% – 100% (above 94% is normal). 

I knew I didn’t need to go to the Emergency Department but I felt so uncomfortable that I contemplated seeking care multiple times. 

I was miserable all day. Disappointed & scared to say the least, especially since I felt great yesterday.

I constantly thought “did this mean I may be getting worse? When do I head to the ED?”

Day 7 – 10

Pretty much filled with episodes of undulating symptoms: few hours of feeling well and other periods of being curled in a ball with headaches, chest pain and dizziness.

It was a long 8-10 days.

Day 10- 11

Feeling a lot better. Maybe its the true road to recovery.

I caught up on phone calls of people who checked in on me; did video calls with family to reassure them I was ok.

Day 12:

I woke up with abdominal pain- cramping and twisting in nature. 

I felt like I had obstruction or maybe paralytic ileus. 

I’ve diagnosed intestinal obstruction multiple times and even though by abdominal pain felt that way, I didn’t have the complete symptoms- no vomiting or lack of bowel movements

I rarely got relief with bowel movements. 

I curb sided my GI and Internal medicine friends to consult and there was no true need for medical care at the time.

It lingered for 3 days and slowly started to wane.

As the storm calms

Overtime, I have continued to have episodes of headache and abdominal pain but none enough to slow me down from my usual daily activities.

The rest of my family may have mild runny nose and sore throat which lasted just 1 day but the fear of the unknown grappled us all through our 14 days of isolation.

There’s been so many reports of lingering symptoms or mental effects of COVID-19 and I am hopeful and prayerful I won’t have either.

My clinical symptoms are in no way compared to some severe symptoms I’ve heard about but here’s what I learned: 

• Masks work to protect us- if not I would have contracted this earlier while working in the ED
• The COVID swab hurts
• Hydration helps you feel stronger but doesn’t determine how severe your symptoms will be after that
• The beast comes out at night- fevers, headaches, chest pains and shortness of breath 
• You are mentally affected during and after your COVID infection regardless of how benign your symptoms are. the uncertainties of your course and if you’ll have lingering symptoms abound.
• A good support system is needed
• Prayer is defintely important.

Please stay safe,

This was our first day out of the house since COVID infection and she had a lot to say…