This post is pretty much straightforward. So, without beating around the bush, I’ll put it up right away. I contracted the infection. I tested positive not once, but twice. Through this post, I’d like to share my experience in detail right from the symptoms I had, how I felt, the isolation experience and a few pointers on what you should be doing in case you get infected unfortunately.
This is going to be a pretty long and detailed post, so I request you to kindly put up with it.
Symptoms
On Sunday (19th July), the first set of symptoms started showing up. Mild fever in the afternoon followed by slight body pain (especially below the knee region). Towards the evening, I was starting to feel tired (I just wanted to lie on bed all day) and went to bed pretty early after having tea and taking a dose of paracetamol. I was also starting to feel a bit cold. I woke up for dinner, forced myself to eat as food wasn’t tasting good to my taste buds. It was almost bland with some dishes tasting bitter. Then I went back to bed. I took another dose of paracetamol around midnight (I was unable to sleep till then) and slept off.
Woke up next day morning with fever and body pain. I felt the temperature to be bit on the higher side than the previous day. I just changed clothes, had breakfast (Of course, what else other than Idly). Taste wasn’t still good though, but there was no other option. I went back to bed and started going through my twitter feed in my phone as usual. I then had lunch. This time surprisingly, I was able to taste paruppu saadham and infact I liked the (Yes, it tastes awesome any day). Took another dose of paracetamol and took rest. A few minutes later, something unusual happened. I started to vomit and as a result a portion of whatever I ate for lunch came along with it. I realised something was definitely not right. As usual I had tea in the evening and rasam rice for dinner followed by another paracetamol and a couple of vitamin tablets (Mom went to the medical shop and got them for a month). By then, some of the symptoms had intensified. I struggled to get out of bed a couple of times as my body didn’t want to, felt mild irritation in the eyes if I kept it open for sometime. So, without delaying further I slept early.
By that time, my parents were started to feel suspicious. I had started isolating myself the previous day itself ever since fever started showing up. It was decided that we’d be visiting the doctor next day morning and most probably getting myself tested for Covid-19. My dad asked me if a doctor visit was needed on Sunday itself, but I kept telling him that I was able to manage and there weren’t any major problems and we can go if things don’t get better. Situation unfortunately didn’t seem to improve.
The next morning, I woke up, took bath, had breakfast followed by another paracetamol and went to the hospital along with a copy of Aadhar Card (it is necessary to take the test). We were pretty sure that they’ll me to take a test as I had fever. Also, at that point, we were ready to accept whatever the result was as I had quite a few symptoms.
The test
On the 21st of July, I went to a nearby private hospital to meet the doctor. Went inside, told the receptionist that I had fever for 2 days. They asked to wait outside and told that doctor would come. After standing in the hot sun for sometime, doctor came and I told him that I had fever and wasn’t able to taste food. He almost immediately told “It’s probably corona only. Get yourself tested”. After paying for the test, doctor came and gave me a collection tube where my name and age were printed. I was asked to wait in the line outside the small kiosk outside the hospital building. There were a couple of people in front of me. After they were done, I went inside the kiosk and my nasal and throat swabs were taken.
Then I was prescribed a few tablets including paracetamol, an antibiotic and a couple of vitamin tablets. Pulse oximeter (to monitor oxygen saturation in blood) was optional. So we decided to get it the next day after getting to know the results. Doctor told home quarantine is sufficient and that he’d give a letter for the same while collecting the report. We were asked to call up the hospital around 8pm for the results and in case the results weren’t ready, they told it’ll definitely be ready by the next morning. So, after getting the medicines, I came back home and went back to my room where I was isolating.
Rest of the went by pretty normally. Around 8pm we called up the hospital and asked whether my test results came. They told it came and that it was positive. Since we were prepared for it, the results weren’t too surprising. But I was not sure how I had contracted the infection. I went to a couple of shops 4 days back and possibly might have contracted it from there. (But wait, there’s no community transmission right?)
And the quarantine begins
Day 1
The 14-day quarantine began the next day. I wasn’t feeling sleepy the previous night. I started writing this for sometime, YouTube videos, scrolled through twitter feed for sometime etc. So, I slept late and woke up around 9 am the next morning. But by then Corporation Officials had visited our home and had inquired a few things about us like when did we last go out, what each member was doing (studying/working) etc. They asked the rest of the family members to get themselves tested soon and asked us not to get out of the house for any other reason. In case we needed vegetables, groceries, milk or other essentials, we were asked to contact the given numbers and they told they’ll get it delivered to our doorsteps.
I declared myself having tested positive in the Aarogya Sethu app (just for a formality- it still showed that I was safe xD).
My family members also got themselves tested the same day. They called up the hospital and asked for the results but were informed that there was some problem with their server and weren’t able to access the results.
Day 2
The day started with a some good news. All other family members tested negative and my fever was slowly subsiding but towards the evening I developed a mild headache and it started to trouble me. So, I did steaming, applied balm and dozed off.
Day 3
Woke up with a mild headache. But after having breakfast and taking medicines I was feeling better. Meanwhile, officials from the Corporation came, interacted with my parents and sanitized the entire house (except my room). Rest of the day went pretty normally except that I got loose stools a couple of times. Had a small portion of turmeric milk and dozed off. Towards the evening, I started to develop headache again. So, I had lunch, applied balm and slept off. Nothing else interesting for the day.
Day 4
This day went by predominantly sleeping. Woke up in between for breakfast, lunch and tea. Didn’t even bother to take a bath. Got up only in the evening, did steaming, read the newspaper, had dinner, took medicines and went to bed. But since I was sleeping the whole day, I wasn’t able to sleep early. Watched a few YouTube videos, scrolled through twitter for sometime, played mobile games, listened to a part of one podcast before sleeping.
Day 5
Mom woke me up, told me to have breakfast and then sleep. I had my breakfast pretty late the previous day and since I’m taking medicines, it was better to have food on time (at least not at uneven times). The rest of the day just went by pretty ordinarily. But towards the night pain the joints started intensifying but it was manageable and slept off.
Day 6
Just another day of quarantine. But joint pains started to become an issue. I tried sitting, sleeping in different positions and spent the watching a reality show in laptop. I was able to sleep only by resting my foot on top of 2 pillows.
Day 7
I was able to taste a lot of different food items. My taste buds were able to appreciate their taste. I was feeling like recovering. I wasn’t having any other issues apart from joint pains. The day went by pretty normally otherwise.
Day 8
Mom woke me up in morning. I was feeling so sleepy probably because I slept late last night. I had breakfast, and then slept again. After some time, I had lime juice after which I was feeling a bit fresh. The rest of day went by casually.
Day 9
The went by without much happening. I was just casually spending time scrolling through Twitter and Instagram, reading newspaper, listening to songs etc. Enrolled myself in a weekend lecture series.
Day 10
Woke up with pain in the left arm joints. It wasn’t there previously. Also, I was feeling very sleepy. So until the evening, all I did was to have food, take medicines and kept sleeping. I was feeling much better in the evening. I did my usual stuff, had dinner, washed utensils and spent time browsing through the laptop. Since I had slept throughout the whole day, I wasn’t feeling sleepy. I put my laptop aside and tried to sleep but I wasn’t able to. Took rest for sometime and woke up pretty early next day.
Days 11–14
Joint pains had subsided. But I was sleeping throughout the day and had developed a mild headache. My routine was to eat, have medicines and sleep. Nothing else. Visited the doctor to inquire about this and about the retest to be taken (Since it has been 14 days since I took the first test). He told that the test can be taken after 3–4 more days. He had asked to continue taking Vitamin tablets for 10 more days and told it was not a problem and the viral load would be there for a month.
Day 15
The 14-day isolation had come to an end. So, officials from the Chennai Corporation came and changed the isolation notice to a home quarantine notice. They also disinfected the room where I was isolated.
The 14 day home quarantine for other family members were over. Only I was under home quarantine. I sanitized my laptop, phone and all objects I remember touching. I was still feeling sleepy. So, slept for the whole day. I still remained in isolation and didn’t want to take risk until I take the next test.
Days 16–19
I was feeling tired and was having headache occasionally. I continued to take medicines and whenever headache was severe I was asked to take Dolo 650. Spent most of the time sleeping and listening to songs. We decided to take a test on the 20th day.
Day 20
An official from the corporation had given us a form and asked me to get the test done. So, I went to the government test center near my house. There were a few people waiting in the queue already. The center was pretty clean and it was disinfected periodically after a few people were tested.
I told them that it was my second test. They took my throat and nasal swab samples and told to wait for upto 3 days for the results. I went back home and chilled for the rest of the day. But headache slightly intensified. I applied balm and continued to take rest.
Day 21
An official from the corporation called me and confirmed if it was myself who gave the test. They also asked if I was a student or was working. I was waiting for the results but it didn’t come till the end of the day.
Day 22
I got a phone call from the corporation and they confirmed my identity. They then told that the results had come and that I tested POSITIVE. Once again!
I didn’t know what to do. 14-day isolation again. Back to square one. Parents were worried. Already I was mentally exhausted after being isolated for 21 days. Now 14 more days and I wasn’t even able to digest that. But I had no other option.
Meanwhile headache intensified and was going beyond tolerable limits. I applied balm, tied a towel on my forehead tightly, took a Crocin and slept. That was the only way to suppress pain.
Day 23
The home quarantine notice outside got changed back to a home isolation notice.
The above arrangement was not done when I tested positive for the first time. Probably because I gave the test in a private center? Not sure.
Towards the evening, I started to develop a mild fever. Now, I was starting to get tensed. I mean it’s been 3 weeks and now I’m developing more symptoms. Headache also intensified. So, we decided to go to the hospital the next day.
Day 24
Visited the hospital. I told the doctor what I went through for the past 3 weeks. He asked about the medication I was taking and whether my oxygen saturation level and pulse were normal. There was never a problem with both of them. So, he told nothing to worry. Since I developed fever again, he told me to take a blood test just to check if something was wrong. I took the test and was told results would come by the evening.
I returned home and was feeling drained out and completely out of energy. I drank lemon juice but it didn’t work. I slept off. Woke up later to have lunch and took rest for the rest of the time listening to songs. I was starting to feel better towards the evening. Blood Test results also came and everything was normal. Sigh of relief!
Day 25
I woke up for the first time without any symptoms. I was relieved and believed that my health was definitely improving and I would definitely be alright soon. I started doing my work and it was seeming like I was back to normal life.
I’m stopping here as I am not having any symptoms for the last 3 days and I believe I am alright. Though I’m yet to get myself retested again, I’m pretty much confident that results would be in favour.
Some do’s for the infected
In case you get infected and are under home isolation, here are a few pointers on what you should be doing
- If your house has a room with an attached washroom, prefer that one. This would ensure other people in the house don’t get exposed to the virus. We’d be touching taps, knobs, buckets, soap and almost everything else. So, it is definitely better using a separate one. In case, if it is not available, you’d have to be extremely careful. The washroom has to be sanitized after every use including all contact surfaces. Even in that case, it is advisable to wear masks while using it.
- Have separate utensils for yourself- plates, tumblers, cups, water bottles and everything else you will need (try to keep them as minimal as possible as you’d probably not want to reuse them after you recover). You’ll have to wash them by yourselves after use.
- Use only few sets of clothes since you’ll be washing all of them by yourselves (in case you are using the washing machine don’t mix up your clothes with others’). I used only 3 sets of clothes and discarded them after I recovered.
- As you’d be probably a lot of the time on bed, it is better to change the bedspread and pillow covers frequently. Wash them along with the clothes.
- Don’t skip meals and medicines. This one’s a no brainer. Even you aren’t hungry, eat at least a small portion for medicines’ sake. Most of the food items won’t taste good, but you shouldn’t bother about it too much.
- If you have a thermometer and pulse oximeter (recommended), regularly keep checking your temperature and oxygen levels. Any temperature above 100 degrees Fahrenheit and oxygen level below 92% indicates that you aren’t doing well and you should visit the doctor at the earliest. In case you feel they are showing absurd values, don’t panic. Wait for a few minutes and check it again.
- You might be having fever, cough/cold, throat pain, headache, loose stools, dizziness, body pain (especially below the knees) throughout the course of the recovery. They are natural and aren’t something to be worried about. But if you feel they are above the normal levels, call up the doctor and take advise on what to do.
- Try to stop using air conditioner. Instead, have a window open so that you can get fresh air. It would be tough doing it for the first couple of days, but you’ll get used to it.
- Take good rest. You’ll have an urge to remain on bed for the whole day which is fine. Taking rest is very important. Sometimes you’ll not be able to sleep early at night, but that’s not a problem. Listen to your favourite songs or podcasts for sometime. Try to minimize looking into the screens of laptops and phones. Yes, it would be extremely boring without using them. But constant exposure would lead to a headache.
- Never come out of your room for any reason. For food, place your plates outside the room, ask them to serve the food and eat it inside your room itself. Same is the case for refilling water or any other items you need. Keep the door locked for the rest of the time.
- You’d probably be feeling awkward as you won’t be able to talk with your family members. I was communicating with my sister through voice messages and calls. It was very awkward for a day but I got used to it after that.
- People walking by the road and other members in the apartment would probably give an alien awkward look seeing the posters outside the house. That’s fine. Don’t worry. Importantly don’t mind what they say.
- Lastly, but most importantly, stay positive. You’ll be alright soon. Keep talking to your friends and relatives whom you are very close with. They’ll help you in staying motivated.
And that’s the end of the post. Thank you for reading it till the end. I wholeheartedly thank all of you for your support, concern and prayers. If you have any queries, do leave a comment, I’ll try to answer them.
