CORONA EXPERIENCE FOR A COMORBIDITY PATIENT - ME

 

CORONA EXPERIENCE FOR A COMORBIDITY PATIENT

 

A lot has been said and written on Corona – but very little has been brought to my attention at least as to the experience of a real patient of Corona who has other chronic illnesses. This writeup is intended as a small contribution in that line – I hope that others can read this and avoid the mistakes I made. My medical history is that of Diastolic Hypertension, Asthma and Diabetes. All three are in full control, with not one episode of a major attack or problematic reading in any disease for at least 1-2 years.

 

THE BEGINNING

For me – the beginning was benign, almost worthy of ignoring totally. Mistake numero uno – if you have a chronic illness among the above, you cannot ignore even the tiny  signs. It started with an Acid Reflux {was it related to Corona – I do not know; I am stating exactly what happened between August 9^th and September 7^th. As I said, it was an Acid Reflux, and a damned strong one. I ignored it, helped myself to a Pantocid {Mistake numero duo – medicines aren’t chocolates. Dont choose yourself!}.  The Pantocid worked, I congratulated myself, saying what a really smart chap I am and went on with life.

 

Clearly Mother Nature was more than a little put-out with my flippancy. Next was a mild – and I mean mild set of symptoms. Slight headache, weakness, feeling of being  feverish. There was a mild breathlessness on Aug 11^th or so – again, ignored. For an Asthma patient, this feeling can come off and on, and usually goes if you are regular with your treatment schedule. Ignored it totally. These symptoms were so mild, that you would probably feel ashamed as hell even mentioning them to your Doctor for fear of being called a Hypochondriac. Mistake 3.  

 

Out came the Digital Thermometer, reading normal, ignored it as a “vaham”, moved on – Aug 10^th. {Boy, bad idea. Mistake 4}. Around August 12^th or so – perhaps 13^th – developed Mild Fever. Went to Doctor on 15^th – the regular neighborhood Doctor was not available on 14^th. {Aah – now we all are well  aware there is only one Doctor in the Milky Way Galaxy, isn’t it? Mistake 5}. On 15^th, finally started treatment as per Doctor instruction. Did not inform my regular MD Doctor, who has been seeing me for nearly 15+ years. Mistake 6. Don’t be stupid, please. Speak to your regular Doctor as well.

 

CORONA!

By August 18^th, perhaps 19^th, I was facing the full wrath of Mother Nature. Or Chinese Krupa, call it what you want. Weakness, first temperature - and it was barely 99.5, mild bodyache, creeping loss of appetite. Now that is insulting if you call it a fever, and ignored it. Mistake 7. Then the mild taste change started. By 21^st, swallowed my pride, went to Doctor – again, no information to my consulting specialists; Mistake 8. These were so mild symptoms which we usually ignore and move on, so didn’t even enter my mind. The doctor then was categorical – get a test, and placed me on new treatment which was more in line with Corona. And advised consultant / specialist immediately. Finally, finally, finally, contacted my regular Doctor, also my relative, who was, to put it mildly, furious. Also met a proper MD, who immediately stated, without a test – Corona, also told me to get tested,  shifted me to the full Corona treatment after I presented the test result to her.

 

By August 22^nd, the disease hit with power – sever body ache, temperature mild, 100.5, cough, cold – all  three mild, except the body ache in the legs and waist region – and a strong loss of smell & taste sensation. And heavy breathlessness. Could not go for 2 days, rain + aalas + tiredness  – finally got the test done on 25^th, which came borderline positive at 30.2. The moment the right medication hit my body system, the improvement was practically immediate. Was better in 2 days flat. Mistake 9, superman you are not. Take that damned 15-18 day rest the Doctors advise seriously, please. There is a reason for it!

 

After being reminded that Doctors might actually know what they are talking about, became the perfect good boy. Earlier, in my isolation, 2^nd day of medication – I moved around, got to near-normal routine. Bad idea, as I said above. After one day of this bravery {doubt whether any Doctor would call it that}, became the perfect good patient {give me a medal!} – took rest as per advise, and took light food, and the medications and diet as per advise. No deviation. Including started Eggs after a several year gap, {I am a near-Vegan}.

PS : Please note that while I moved around on that, I was in isolation, but acted as though mast chhutti mili hai, and had a normal active day; besides - I live alone. No risk to others emanated from my activity that day, so relax. 

 

MOVING ON…

Long and short of it is – this is a bloody dangerous illness, even in its mild form. You do not feel sick at all – yet, it debilitates you, slows you down considerably, in a creeping fashion almost. For normal people, this may not apply – but if you are having a history of chronic disease, a request – please don’t ignore the small signs. My experience above may not apply to you in the symptomatology, but learn from the above that you shouldn’t ignore the small signs at all. And as the beginning is mild, and you are a high-risk category – you should take it seriously. I wish some Doctor would write something for us – the patients with chronic disease history, in such exhaustive detail.

 

I have not shared any medication or diet history here – my intention is just to spread awareness of the nature of this dangerous disease as applicable to people like – with history of the comorbidities. I was intensely lucky in that I avoided contact as far as possible, with others since March/April, given the history of my illnesses. That was the only smart thing I did, probably. Thus, if you have a history similar to mine – please do not ignore the small signs. And do not worry – the medication exists, it acts bloody fast, and you can recover well rapidly. If you take precautions, there is nothing to worry about; just don’t make the mistakes I did.