For Dhrithi R, a 15-year-old teenager, COVID struck home and infected many members in her joint family- from young children to old grandparents. While she initially thought her symptoms to be that of a sinus infection, their worst fears came true. False-negative tests, faulty oximeter readings later, the family found themselves on the road to recovery but unfortunately made the teenager a victim of terrible anxiety. She recaps her COVID journey for us, terming it to be an experience nobody should ever go through...
As the second wave of COVID-19 with its fellow mutants flooded the country, no matter how many precautions we took we couldn’t help but fall prey to this virus. I’m Dhrithi R, a 15-year-old currently studying in 10th grade, living in a joint family with 13 people of 6 adults, 2 senior citizens and 3 kids. I was the first one to show symptoms of sinusitis and vomiting. Since I didn’t have any such obvious symptoms of COVID, we visited the doctor who too confirmed that it might just be sinusitis. A week later my mother had throat irritation and fever upon which we got ourselves tested with a hope that our tests come back negative despite the fact that we had lost our sense of smell.
On the 20th of April 2021, our tests came back positive but it had been almost a week since I had shown symptoms so, I had started recovering. We locked ourselves up but it was too late since my grandparents too had contracted it. We lived in constant fear of what may befall us. A week later my uncle and his family too tested positive. One thing that we thought constantly like a mantra was hoping that my uncle doesn’t have it because he is a responsible father of a three-year-old and seven-year-old.
My aunt and her daughter luckily didn’t test positive. They selflessly worked to provide us with food and other amenities needed. They showered us with prayers and positivity.
The kids in the family had a fever for a day and after taking the medicine advised by the doctor, they had recovered.
We constantly kept checking our blood oxygen level and tried to distract ourselves by calling our relatives and friends. Gargling twice a day, steam inhaling 4-5 times, eating energy-rich food and allowing Kapil Sharma to make us laugh eventually became a part of our routine.
A week later at midnight, my uncle’s blood oxygen level stooped down to 88. We immediately called the doctor who advised him to practice proning and take certain tablets. He had started to feel better so we thought we’ll look into it the next day. That night was one of the toughest ones to pass with constant fear keeping us awake. When he visited the doctor the next day, he came to the conclusion that our oximeter wasn’t working because his blood oxygen level was normal at the clinic.
On his 10th day upon the doctor’s advice, he got a CT scan. His score was 14/25. That night his o2 level again went down to 88 and we shifted him to a hospital. By a stroke of luck, the very first call we made got us into a hospital. He spent 18 days in the hospital with a lot of fluctuations in his health. He was shifted to the ICU because his CT score had increased to 19/25. His one lung and 60% of his other lung was completely infected. We video-called him every night. He would tell us how everything is going on and how thankful he felt for the health workers including the nurse, sweepers who were so selfless to put others’ needs before theirs. A million thanks are still very lacking. He says he had seen a lot of deaths but in order to not let it take a toll on him he had shut off his brain reminding himself that it was inevitable.
The situation at home wasn’t any good either. My smell had returned but everything started smelling like a public washroom after googling this I got to know that this was normal in post-covid.
I was diagnosed with anxiety. I constantly blamed myself for bringing home this life-wrecking virus. Looking at everything and everyone around I couldn’t help but imagine the worst situation. At first, before visiting a psychiatrist I assumed I was dying with a brain tumour and heart disease. I was suffering from insomnia and I would stay awake wondering what was happening to me. I went from being a typical teen to can’t sleep without holding my mother’s hand. I got addicted to a few tablets without which I continued to assume something would go wrong with me. This went on even after my uncle returned safely. It took about 5 months for me to completely recover with surprise visits from it now and then. Now with everything back to normal with loved ones’ support I have nothing but the feeling of gratitude in abundance. My general physician was not just an amazing doctor but an amazing person indeed whom I felt I could rely on. On every visit, he would boost my confidence and fill me with more enthusiasm.
Listening to calming music, learning relaxing techniques like meditation, letting out what I feel rather than keeping it bottled up in me and positive affirmations from my loved ones were something that helped me get out of it. Sometimes when I wouldn’t feel like telling anyone I would write it because it’s always better to let go of these iniquitous thoughts besides journaling is also a very therapeutic practice. Getting infected with COVID-19 will be one of the biggest lessons in my life. Through hook and crook, it has taught me to be a stronger and wiser version of myself.
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DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in this article should not be considered as a substitute for a physician's advice. Please consult your treating physician for more details.
