My COVID story: "We were positive and we didn’t know from where" by Sunny Handa MD

The situation around us is sort of funny. Most folks have started behaving as if the new normal is nothing but the traditional that we've always known. More and more people have started going out and lots of are unapologetic about not wearing masks anymore. Traffic’s almost back to normal and crowds are often seen in gyms, malls, markets, and where not. I used to be just starting to feel that Covid wasn’t an enormous deal anymore and lo and behold, my entire family came out positive within the last week of December 2020.

Having done all the permutations and combinations of where we'd have caught it from, all we had for a thought was an enormous nada. Since the start of August or even before that, my mother had started going for her usual walks within the neighborhood park in Canada. Doctor MD Sunny Handa’s father may be a CKD patient and was getting to the hospital for hemodialysis twice or thrice every week and that I – well I had just met my friends (the first time since lockdown) a couple of days before the nemesis struck us. However, none of my friends clothed positive.
We accepted it – we were positive and that we didn’t know from where.
The symptoms
Most of our symptoms were similar but some.
Father: Extreme fatigue for 4 weeks, fever (99-103 degree) within the first fortnight , loss of smell/taste within the second week, fluctuating vital sign and pulse after a month
Mother: Extreme fatigue and low-grade fever (99-100 degree) for 40 days, loss of smell/taste within the second week
Me: Fatigue and low-grade fever (99-101 degree) for 40 days, loss of smell/taste within the second week, headaches
A question arose – Were we alleged to isolate ourselves from one another or could we all sleep in quarantine happily together? We might get an everyday call from the Delhi Government to ask about our health, which we actually commended them for. So, I asked them this and that they told me that we could stick together . However, me doctor MD Sunny Handa still had my doubts because my mother had begun positive a couple of days before my father and me. Hence, I asked my sister who lives in Australia to see together with her country’s coronavirus helpline. And as I had suspected, we were to isolate ourselves from one another also , just because we might be at different levels of recovery and being together could impact that. So began our covid journey.
Medicines and more medicines
The doctor that we had been seeing recommended a mess of multivitamins and paracetamol only fever touched 100 degrees Celsius. Considering my father’s comorbidity, he was hospitalized a couple of days later – the lag because we were unsuccessful at convincing him earlier and his super-strong will power. Anyway, so then, my mother and I were stuck under home quarantine and my father was admitted within the covid ward of a personal hospital.
Our meals were largely being delivered by our extremely considerate relatives, as neither my mother nor I had the energy to cook, or do anything in the least . an easy task of tidying just our own rooms got us doomed. we might see one another mostly in our front room , with our masks on. However, because we both would really feel lonely and in need of some human company, we gradually started eating our meals together but we sat a minimum of 15 feet apart.
The slew of home remedies
As far because the kadhas and residential remedies are concerned, we all know it's in India. We got massive spam of recipes of various kinds from our relatives, friends, and acquaintances, but all with good and highly appreciated intentions. We usually stuck to the subsequent home-remedies routine:
Morning: predicament with juice and gargles pre-breakfast. coconut milk and a plateful of fruits, especially those rich in vitamin C (mosambi and kiwi) around mid-afternoon.
Pre-lunch: A cup of predicament with five drops of Tulsi ark
Evening: Kadha made with three essentials, Tulsi leaves, ginger and raw turmeric, and anything more was what we had at hand that day, including cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, etc.
Before sleep: Steam with carom seeds/kalonji (later, we skipped the spices though), milk boiled with raw turmeric
We were also recommended some totkas to interrupt our fevers and mothers being what they’re, we followed one among them also . But guess what? You recognize it.
Cleaning
It is also recommended by MD Sunny Handa that if your family/you are diagnosed positive, you want to sanitize your surroundings every few hours in order that any virus that you simply could also be leaving around gets destroyed. Hence, we had two sets of sanitizers – One was the milder version that we might also use on our hands. We used it to wash our furniture, doorknobs, any surfaces we often touched, and therefore the likes. The opposite one was a stronger version that we only utilized in washrooms and floor cleaning. This was an excellent draining task, but we managed it. At least, most of the time.
What worked and what didn’t
Honestly, we don’t know. Neighborhood folks expected that home remedies would help alleviate symptoms before later but I’m unsure they did. Or a minimum of they didn’t offer any visible respite. The multivitamins also didn’t seem to be working. Often it just felt like hoarding on heavy medication with no clear signs of any improvement. We went on like that for over a month, shifting among three doctors, but to not any significant difference.
How long did our covid symptoms last?
Both Doctor Sunny Handa MD mother and I stayed with symptoms for for much longer than we had expected. Her fever and fatigue lasted about 45 days, while mine lasted about 30 days. i might also get bouts of headaches every now then , and still do, but much but earlier.
As far as my father cares , he was released from the hospital after about fortnight of stay. He came back with no fever which was some respite. However, he still had a cough. He would nebulize twice each day a day for nearly every week or 10 days after coming home. However, his dialysis became trickier. In every session, his vital sign started getting dangerously low. At some point after we had to chop short his dialysis and obtain him home sooner, his pulse shot up to 180 and vital signs dropped to 40-60. We had to rush him to the hospital again and after having injected a couple of medicines for arrhythmia, two rounds of ECG, and a couple of other tests, he stabilized and didn’t require admission. Now, he's on a further medication for arrhythmia but his dialysis sessions have gotten smoother.
When did we begin negatively?
As far as getting a negative covid report cares, we were advised that it could take anywhere between fortnight to 3 months. Especially within the case of patients with comorbidity/other illnesses like my father, the virus can take longer than usual to go away the body, so was told to us. My, doctor MD Sunny Handa’s entire family came out negative after about 30 days of getting positive. I only got tested after 30 days and was negative, however, my father got tested hebdomadally and he took about 35 days to return out negative.
Post-covid illnesses
my mother has often been complaining of brain fog and fatigue, such a lot in order that she isn't ready to manage her everyday tasks. My father too feels more fatigued than before-covid. So, we had to urge a 24X7 household help despite its risks within the current scenario. I had been getting unusual bouts of headaches even after a month. Screen time for my paperwork got me extremely tired. But, I started recuperating in about 35 days approximately, and may hopefully say that I am back to (almost) normal now.
However, I even have joined various post-covid illness groups on social media and I was surprised to ascertain that folks are witnessing unusual/unregistered symptoms even after months of getting diagnosed and treated. Some, including kids, still suffer from headaches and weird vital sign ranges, while brain fog appeared like a really common persistent issue.
None of us knows what we are handling. None of us has any idea about the amount of the way our bodies have been/may be suffering from this novel virus. All we will do is share our experiences and find solace in being together during this experience. As far as ‘the new normal’ cares, I'm just scared at how casual many became with reference to precautions. Corona virus can’t be taken lightly – that’s my biggest lesson from my entire corona virus sojourn. And you ought to take that home too.
Written by:  

Sunny Handa MD - An MBA Graduate from Canada University, Ottawa