Surviving Deadly Corona Virus With My Old Mother, Our Battle

Having the COVID-19 is scary, especially more so when your mother is also suffering, My Journey of Hope.

My mother is a 58-year-old school teacher and I am 30. The two of us live together in a small town outside of a big city.

The Virus was late coming to my town. It was around mid-July that the cases surged & at the same time our government felt the need to open up the economy due to the slumping jobs and taxes. I wish they hadn’t!

Me and my mom, we followed all the protocols issued by the government, wearing masks, avoiding groups of people & sanitizing wherever necessary. But it was around mid-August that I felt the need to visit a dentist due to a lingering tooth ache.

I am not sure if it was inadequate precautions by the dentist or my visit to the pharmacy post-treatment, but within a day of my visit, I experienced severe diarrhea and felt really tired all of a sudden. I was suspicious I was infected with the Coronavirus. Here is what happened next.

August 18th, Day 1 of Symptoms:

The day started with diarrhea and tiredness and also feeling very lethargic & lazy, a bit grumpy too. There was no cough or fever though & no breathing difficulties too.

August 19th, Day 2 of Symptoms:

In the morning I am greeted with fever and a heavy chest, a slight dry cough along with existing diarrhea and tiredness. Mom said not to worry, as she thinks it’s a viral fever. Anyway, I just decided to rest and drop all my work. But I feel really, exhausted!

August 20th, Day 3 of Symptoms:

Oops, today my Mother woke up with a bad headache and a slight fever.

My fever has worsened today & it’s at 102 degrees. We are now pretty sure it’s COVID-19 as the symptoms match those listed by WHO on their website.

My appetite is now finished and I feel really weak. We decide to speak to a doctor on call.

The doctor gave us some antibiotics and medicine for fever, also advised us to self-isolate. We are nervously checking our oxygen levels every few hours.

August 21st, Day 4 of Symptoms:

The Symptoms remain & I have started to lose taste. Dry Cough has now worsened for both of us.

Mother is struggling herself. We are comforting each other and managing things as much as we can. Ginger Tea, Clove, Hot Water, Steam, the doctor has advised a ton of home remedies, but we hardly have the strength to do all this. Literally feeling like Zombies. “My Complete List of Home Essentials that I found handy”.

August 22nd, Day 5 of Symptoms:

Today my mother is feeling better, her fever has come down quite a bit, just cough and tiredness for her. I continue to have Fever, dry Cough, diarrhea, tiredness & tastelessness. But I feel happy seeing my mother sitting up on the bed and giving me a smile. It gives me hope and strength, that if she can fight this with a smile, so can I. Note: The doctor advised us against getting tested as she considered our symptoms mild and advised home isolation. But this defers on case to case basis, so please follow the advice of your authority and local physician.

August 23rd, Day 6 of Symptoms:

Mom’s fever has gone, just the nasty cough & tiredness. Feels like getting hit by a truck. I am also much better. Just a slight fever, cough, and persistent diarrhea. One more thing, I can’t smell the sweet-smelling hand sanitizer I was using… WORRIED!

August 24th, Day 7 of Symptoms:

Lucky No 7, Me and my mother both our fever is now gone. Mom is pretty active today and making fun of how weak I am. Losing the recovery battle to a 58 yr old lady. She made really tasty food for me today, Am so Happy to see her back on her feet and active… God Bless!

August 25th to 26th, Day 8–10 :

We are on our road to recovery, I have lost my fever too. Tiredness remains, but the head feels much lighter, dry cough remains but doesn’t feel as punishing as before. We started exercising a little to improve our diet. Only hot water still, no junk food. Mother is talking to her trees and thanking god for our recovery. I felt relieved that I am alive and well.

RECOVERY:

It was about 10 days after that we got our appetite and strength back and we started to feel normal again. The sense of smell took almost 2 weeks post-recovery to come back. We planned to spend another week & then go for an anti-body test to confirm our CoronaVirus diagnosis.

We felt scared initially, but we remained positive and followed the basic protocol as advised by our physician. After almost 20 days of struggle, I now consider myself healed. My test which I took on 1st September has also come negative.

It was indeed a scary experience, but ours was a mild case and we didn’t face breathing difficulties.

Unfortunately, there are over a million have died to this. So be safe, be happy, & do your bit for humanity’s sake.

Follow the health advisory and wear a mask. Gracias.

Do’s and Don’t when at home:

• Follow the WHO Guidelines listed here if you are positive.
• Wear a mask even at home as I ended up infecting my mother.
• Don’t stand close when speaking.
• Drink Hot water, it helps the throat.
• Don’t put a strain on your eyes with digital devices.
• Sleep as much as possible, helps you recover faster.
• Complete the medication prescription, don’t leave it halfway even if you feel better.
• Get in touch with your physician, even at the slight hint of breathing difficulty. It can be deadly.
• Support each other when alone at home, Don’t fight or scream.

Stay Fit, Stay Healthy, Stay Happy ~ Allen.