As promised, I have been posting the COVID-19 experience of friends who suffered and survived SARS-CoV-2 in Ghana. For the purposes of proper impact and targeting, we feature young people only. Our last story seemed to have scared and discouraged a few people who themselves were on admission for COVID. For their sakes, I’m posting a positive COVID-19 experience to encourage them to keep fighting.
Today’s narrative is from a good old friend of mine who prefers to remain anonymous for fear of being stigmatized. He worries especially about his wife and son. Efo SA is a young engineer working for a prominent multinational company. Prior to the COVID-19 experience, he had always been a physically well young man.
We begin with a reminder from our first story: “…… let me remind you that dead people don’t talk. Our departed brethren will never be able to tell their stories and so whichever version you listen to, know that the real ordeals are buried with the sufferers in the graveyard”
Good Day Doc
This is my COVID-19 experience:
On the 20th of January 2021 I got home from work and went straight to bed. My wife realized my temperature had gone up when she touched me. The following day, I woke up with some headache but ignored it and got ready for work. I had an online meeting and while at it in the office, I experienced a sudden feeling of nausea. I moved straight into the washroom hoping to vomit. At this point while locked up in one of the washrooms, I do not recall exactly what happened but I just found myself on the floor. I felt very weak, nauseous and drowsy. I lay semi-conscious on the floor in the washroom for about 45 minutes and couldn’t help myself up. I eventually gathered some energy and managed to get off the floor to rejoin in the meeting. I later realized I had lost appetite and so couldn’t go for lunch. I couldn’t smell anything even when I was in the toilet. My senses of smell and taste were gone. My immediate boss wasn’t around so I couldn’t help but to lie on his office floor until late afternoon when I managed to gather some energy to drive home. On the 22nd, which happened to be my wife’s birthday I encouraged and said to myself that I had to be strong for her. As a believer I took communion with the firm believe that I will be fine. I drove straight to the hospital. The doctor checked my temperature and everything seemed normal . I just informed them of how I felt and they quickly took my blood sample for test. They admitted me and administered four different drips while awaiting the results. The doctor came back after sometime only to tell me it was neither malaria nor any other known diseases. He however asked that I remained on the prescribed medications and take a Covid test. At this point, I started having wild imaginations. I got home that evening very disturbed. On Sunday 24th I called our Company Health advisor and explained all the symptom I was experiencing to him. He immediately asked me to Visit Nyaho Medical Center for a test. I got there in less than an hour but still apprehensive of the thought of COVID. The number of people I saw there was amazing. People are really infected you know! I paid for and took the test. All along, I had my wife and my one year of son with me at home. I received the results in the afternoon of 25th and it was positive. I had to start self isolation but couldn’t risk keeping my wife and son around so I drove them with my mask on for the test. After 24 hours her result came negative. She had to go away while I stayed at home to isolate. Together with my son, my wife moved to her parents’ place.
Left alone, sick and uncertain of the future, I actually started thinking of writing my will. If things got worse, I was going to die alone and lonely. I grew weaker by the day and only had enough energy to lie on one of the mattresses in my living room. No other physical activity. My Company’s Health Advisor confirmed the medications from the hospital and said they were all COVID related so I should continue. Deciding against writing my will was my own small way of encouraging myself. It was a difficult decision considering the fact that I have a one year old son but I thought of it as my little act of faith. I will not leave my wife a young widow.
I have been keeping a positive mindset that all will be fine. The symptoms are almost gone now but I am still isolating at home and alone. I miss my wife and son but I’m grateful they are safe. Only members of my immediate family know what I’m going through. I am getting stronger by the day. Thankfully, my senses of smell and taste are also back.
I will encourage people to mask up and observe all protocols strictly. As a health and safety professional at my work place I was always careful. I can’t tell how I contracted it. A minor glitch must have caused me this much trouble. COVID-19 is real and the difficulty one goes through is unbearable.
Please be very careful. Better safe than sorry or be in a black cloth to bury loved ones .
Shalom
