I was recently diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia. As a pulmonologist, this is something I had anticipated when the pandemic began since I fall in the high risk group along with many other healthcare professionals. As I spent time in isolation and the disease took its course, I started receiving phone calls from other friends and relatives who had also contracted the virus. The virus isn't going away soon and someone you know closely maybe suffering. About 80% people will face a mild disease and recover completely. But it is not just the physical complications the virus brings. Isolation brings with it anxiety and fear and it is an equally important component to address. This is my story.
I got back home from the hospital thinking it would be a nice long independence-day weekend after so many hectic days of work. In the evening, I felt extremely tired, almost as if my legs had given way. I called my husband and told him that I had a really bad muscle and joint pain. Maybe, I thought, I should skip my evening OPD and stay at home. I slept till late evening, unusually tired. Since I am a pulmonologist and am at extremely high risk for COVID-19 infection, the thought was running at the back of my head.
I checked my temperature, it read 99.4 F. Was this just flu or was my worst fear going to come true?
I isolated myself in my room, and my husband took out all his essentials and moved into another room. I live with my parents-in-law and the scary part now was to avoid the transmission of infection to them.
The next day, the symptoms continued. Fever, fatigue and joint pain persisted. We decided I should get tested and I took a swab test for COVID-19 RT PCR. The result was negative on 17th of August. I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe it was just flu. But since the low grade fever continued, I continued to self-isolate. On the 4th day, the fever subsided but I had an upset tummy, also a symptom of COVID-19 infection. However, I was also in two minds wondering if it was due to the azithromycin, the antibiotic I had started. I couldn’t know that for sure. I continued to isolate myself till 19th August. By now the fever had subsided, no pains, no unusual fatigue, or upset tummy. No loss of smell or taste. A dry cough had come up now, and I was feeling a little dizzy at times. My husband said maybe your BPPV is causing the dizziness. That’s possible, I said. BPPV is a condition where there are episodes of vertigo without any known cause. It had happened a few times in the past couple of months.
So many thoughts ran through my head. Should I repeat a swab test? Should I continue self-isolating? I decided to get a CT scan of my chest. Although I did not expect it, my CT scan showed lung involvement secondary to COVID-19 infection. I wasn’t feeling sick now, I was feeling angry.
I was angry at myself, somehow, for getting sick. How did I let the virus get me? I and my husband often discussed that we had perhaps gotten a way to evade the virus. That it wouldn’t happen to us because we were taking such good care.
On the 7th day, the day after I got a CT chest done, the fever re-surfaced. This time it was high grade, extremely tiring and with a lot of aches and pains. You know how doctors are the worst patients, especially when they have to treat themselves. I called up my mentor for help. I was started on antiviral, antibiotics, zinc, vitamin c, steroids and anticoagulants. Routine blood tests every 3-4 days. The fever however continued. Every day, I was becoming weaker. Oxygen saturation levels varied between 94-95% but the weakness was so much that I couldn’t bring myself to take a shower. I slept almost through the day. I would wake up at night shivering with fever and chills, unable to get up and take my medicine. I had recurrent thoughts of collapsing and unable of reaching the hospital on time because no one was with me. Thoughts about getting so breathless that I would require to be on a mechanical ventilator kept coming to me. I guess that is the worst part about knowing everything that can happen to you. I prepared myself to get admitted since by now, the 12th day of fever, I also started to feel breathless and had some chest tightness. I was going to give myself just 1 more day, otherwise I would get hospitalized. I did not want to take the risk of getting there too late.
On the 13th day, I woke up at 4 am thinking was I going to get a fever today as well. Thankfully, the virus decided no. I spent the whole day in fear of the fever re-occuring but it did not. I decided to repeat the swab test to get out of isolation. This time it was positive on the 15th day from my first symptom. And so I continued to self-isolate myself for the next one week. 21 days of isolation in total. Repeat swab test although not recommended by the Indian government or by the CDC, would bring some satisfaction because once I got out of isolation, I would be meeting family members who are at high risk and my patients as well. Since I would be going back to a scenario where I would deal with COVID-19 patients again, it is imperative that I test negative. It was for my own satisfaction to know that should I again have symptoms in the coming months, I could know if it is a re-infection or something else. I tested negative on this occasion.
My friends, colleagues, fellow pulmonologists may have a different opinion to the course of my illness or the treatment I took. All I can say is for a disease that still has no clear cut guidelines and treatment modalities I did what I deemed best for myself. Maybe I should have gotten admitted, maybe I should have taken injectable treatment or maybe I over-treated myself. I took my chances because I believe I could monitor myself better than most people in such a situation, considering I deal with respiratory issues every day.
I continue to heal and recover. My experience taught me a few things and so I share them here.
If you think you have contracted COVID-19 infection from someone or are at high risk and have the symptoms, the best thing do to, is to self-isolate.
You can prevent from passing the infection on to your family members if you practice good hygiene and social distancing.
You could test negative and still have the COVID-19 infection. The RT PCR test is not highly sensitive. There are many cases of false negative reports, especially when tested early in the course of the infection.
If you test negative and continue to show symptoms suggestive of coronavirus infection consult a doctor to know how else you can be diagnosed with COVID-19.
It is possible to treat mild coronavirus cases at home if you have no other co-morbidities. But do it under the guidance of an expert. There are chances the disease may progress and you may need hospitalization.
Anxiety is a very real and disturbing factor that complicates treatment of COVID-19 infection. If a loved one is suffering from the disease, give them a positive outlook. Hear them out.
Rehabilitation, both mental and physical once you start to recover are important. The experience will give you a new perspective on life.
Recovery is going to take time. The fatigue and weakness may persist for up to months. Take it slow when getting back to routine life.
You maybe lucky but everyone is not going to recover fully. And therefore prevention is better than cure. Practice social distancing diligently and wear a mask.
Stay safe and take care !
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