January 2021. New Year, new hope? NOPE.
My family had to deal with Covid in the first week of the first month of the new year.
THE TIMELINE:
December 30 - My eldest son and his friends had a little get together here in our home. They stayed outdoors. No one went inside the main house except my son's girlfriend.
December 31 - My daughter, son in law and grandson spent the day with us. My grandson had the sniffles, which we dismissed as just his usual allergies because the temperature was cooler than usual. They left at 9 pm to attend the New Year's Eve dinner at my son in law's mother's house in the city of Manila.
January 1 - My daughter, son in law and grandson spent the afternoon until early evening with us. We had a great dinner and played Bingo. My daughter had a tall glass of milk tea when she arrived and my niece took a sip from that glass. (Note: My daughter had no symptoms at this time) In the evening of the same day, my son in law developed a fever of 39 C (102 F).
January 2 - My daughter said she has an itchy throat. She thought she might have caught her son's cold. She also thought that her husband caught the cold too, however, her husband was fever free the entire day of January 2. My grandson's cold is almost gone. He only had occasional sneezes.
January 3 - My niece developed nasal congestion, itchy throat and dry cough.
January 4 - My niece had an RTPCR test done. She was supposed to meet up with her boyfriend who was leaving for Australia on the 6th so she had to make sure she did not have the virus.
January 5 - My niece receives a negative result for her RT-PCR test. She goes ahead and meets up with her boyfriend.
January 6 - My daughter and son in law develops a slight cough. They submitted themselves to an RT-PCR test.
January 7 - My daughter and son in law tests positive for Covid. Their son is assumed positive as he has been exposed. They start their quarantine in their apartment. My niece also isolated herself in a room because she feared she got the virus from my daughter. My niece's cough is really bad at this point in time.
January 8 - After a consultation with a doctor, my daughter and my son were prescribed Mulnopiravir, Azithromycin, Vitamin D3, Zinc supplements and Vitamin C. My sister scheduled a tele-consultation with my niece's doctor. The doctor did not require any Covid test. He said that my niece was "assumed positive." The medicines given were antibiotics and cough pills.
January 9 - My eldest son develops runny nose. I order him to isolate in his room. I gave him medicines for colds, Vitamin C and an antihistamine.
January 10 - My niece's condition has not changed. Her cough seems worse. After another tele-consultation with her doctor, she was shifted to a different kind of antibiotics and cough pills. Meanwhile, my daughter and son in law were doing a lot better. No more coughing, no fever, just my daughter having a slight dry throat which she said is not that bothersome.
January 11 - My daughter and son in law's symptoms are gone. They scheduled a follow up tele-consultation with their doctor and they were advised to finish their schedule with the medications and complete their quarantine period for up to 14 days. This is their 5th day in quarantine, and their 4th day taking Molnupiravir and Azithromycin.
January 12 - My youngest son develops a fever of 39.6 C (103 F). I ask him to isolate in his room. He complains of muscle pain and a severe headache. I give him Paracetamol every 4 hours for fever, and I make him take Vitamin C with zinc twice a day. Today, my eldest son went out of his room. He said he doesn't feel sick anymore. No matter how much I reason with him, he says he will go crazy if he stays inside his room. Hello virus in the house.
January 13 - On this day, all members of my household underwent an RT-PCR test. We opted for a home-service option from Breeze Medical Services. Better than loading everyone up in the car and taking them to a diagnostic clinic. Home service swab tests are a lot more expensive, but never mind.
January 13, 8:00 p.m. - Our test results were sent through email. My two sons tested positive. The rest of the family had a negative test result. My boys had to accept that they are going to be locked up in their rooms for the next 10 days. The stress and paranoia this gave me was unbelievable.
January 14 - After a tele-consultation with a pulmonologist, my sons were advised to isolate and take the prescribed medicines. Monitor if symptoms get worse. If not, then, a follow up check up after 5 days. I had to go and get all the medications that the doctor prescribed and it was late afternoon before I was able to secure all of it.
We had to make huge adjustments as a family so as to contain the virus and not have anyone else infected. I assigned one toilet and bath solely for their use. I had to bring them their meals, and soak their used dishes and utensils in hot water. Washed their bath towels everyday and had to separate their laundry from the rest of us. I had to keep track of their symptoms, if they had fever or chills (thankfully, just fever and headache), and communicated with them only through text messages and video calls. Everyone had to wear a face mask in the house, spray disinfectant on every surface and everywhere else, and kept the windows open for air to flow freely. This was the new routine. It was exhausting.
January 18 - The boys did not have any fever for the past two days. They were feeling better and their appetite is back.
January 19 - The boys took the last dose of the anti viral medication. They are "back to normal" and just waiting to complete their 10 day isolation.
January 21- End of their 10 day isolation. I requested for another tele-consultation with the pulmonologist. She gave the approval that they can end their isolation, but as a precautionary measure, we should still continue to wear a mask up until the 14th day, which is January 25th.
THE LESSONS LEARNED
1. Being fully vaccinated does not guarantee immunity to the virus. You can still get it, but the symptoms are milder and the illness can be managed at home. No matter how careful you are when you go out, if it is "your time" to get Covid, you WILL get Covid. That is how this invisible enemy works.
2. Covid does not only cause physical illness, it also wrecks havoc on your mental health. My eldest son was a mess on his 2nd day of isolation. He was pounding on the walls of his room, saying it feels like a prison. Covid has given me paranoia. I now dislike going out, even to the grocery to get food. I feel like every person that would come near me has the intention of infecting me with the virus.
3. Covid can affect family relationships. My niece kept blaming my daughter for bringing the virus in the house. My daughter said that if she knew she had it, she wouldn't have spent New Year here in our home. They were arguing about it for days. Thankfully, that episode is over.
4. This is the new normal. Will we ever go back to the way things were before? I doubt it. If we would, it would probably take a few more years before the virus is eradicated.
LIFE GOES ON
I prayed that my family will be spared from Covid, but on the 2nd year since the pandemic started, it ravaged my family. I will keep on praying that this will be the last time anyone in my family will fall sick from this virus. Wearing a face mask everyday is the norm. Forgetting to put one on before going out makes me feel like I am half naked!
My sons are back to working again. Although sometimes they go out, usually to the mall to buy something but they get stern warnings from me to stay away from the crowds, bring a bottle of sanitizer and wear double face masks. I even invested in a nano sprayer so that I can spray them with disinfectant before they go inside the house.
I am pleading anyone who gets to read this post to be careful when going out. Please wear your face masks properly. Please practice proper hygiene. Do not spit anywhere. Cover your mouth and nose when you need to cough or sneeze. Let us put an end to this pandemic. Stopping the spread starts with us.
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