Surviving the Rona

Covid-19 finally visited my family and me on around 1st May. After incessantly trying to keep the virus at bay for over a year, the virus eventually won the game. Thankfully, the rona decided to be friendly to us and only presented its mild avatar. 

Like most others, we also spent all of April struggling to get our vaccination slots on the cowin website. My family consisting of my Dad, Mum, Grandma and me was mostly staying indoors. Except for a visit to the hospital where Dad and Grandma were supposed to get their second dose (which they unfortunately did not receive due to the vaccine unavailability despite having booked slots) and the occasional expedition to the super market/ medical store etc. which are a stone's throw away from our house, there was no unnecessary venturing out on part of any of us. So how did we catch the rona? I wish I knew. 

The rona first manifested as a cold in my Dad. He promptly took a wikoryl pill which did not seem to have any effect on the cold. A day or two later, Grandma and I developed a mild cold too. The following day, I woke up with fever and body ache and Grandma with dizziness and exhaustion. This is when the alarm really blew off in my head. 

"It's the rona!", I exclaimed. 

"No, you're overreacting. It's probably due to the erratic weather. Relax!", said the rest of the family in unison. I concede, it was kind of funny to see the steadfast optimism of my otherwise generally anxious parents. In hindsight, one would term their reaction as denial. 

By the next day, my fever receded, thanks to the paracetamol tablets I had taken. This led me to believe that perhaps I was indeed overreacting and that the mild cold should go away in a couple of days too. But then the inevitable happened. Mum who had till then not shown any symptoms also caught the cold. This was a definite sign now that we needed to get ourselves tested, for the better or the worse. 

We got checked on the next working day after speaking to a doctor on phone. By lunch time that very day, I noticed with a sinking heart that I could not taste or smell anything. It was the final nail on the coffin for me, as I could not even get a tinge of the flavour of the delicious curd rice, the bitter gourd fries or the tender mango pickle that were on my plate. I texted my close ones saying "I think I should brace myself for a covid positive result." 

Despite this tell-tale sign, I was still half hoping for a negative result. Human beings, I guess, are incredibly wishful. Anyway, we did not have to wait for long as four positive results were served to us just in time for our evening tea. It truly felt like a cinematic moment of absolute despair that sort of hits you all of a sudden like an angry sea wave. All that the moment lacked was an accompanying background music to portray the impact. The lack of background music was, however, compensated by a frustrated sigh from Dad. 

When the test turns positive.

After spending a moment or two coming to terms with the fact that we were now infact coronavirus infected, we informed the doctor. We then proceeded to call and inform everyone we might have come in contact with over the prior two weeks. We also called the medical store, got an oximeter delivered and stacked up on our supplies of Dolo and multi-vitamin tablets, as instructed by the doctor. 

Any given day during my quarantine. 

I remember receiving calls after calls from my S.O. and his family, my brother, friends and relatives. It was indeed comforting. The next day onwards, ASHA workers, Health Department personnel etc. contacted us regularly asking us about our symptoms and clearing our concerns. As per the instructions received from the Health Department personnel and our doctor, we consumed only hot food and drinks, did the steam inhalation daily, took a multi-vitamin tablet per day, and kept a log of our oxygen, temperature and pulse levels measured periodically (every 6 hours). Looking back, everytime that the oximeter reading showed normal levels of oxygen and pulse for the family, it made me relieved beyond bounds.

The cold and associated issues like mild cough were over for all of us within the first week. Now after almost two weeks of quarantine, we are all feeling well except for a bit of tiredness that lingers. The covid induced cold was nothing like what I had experienced before. There was no phlegm, running nose etc. for instance, but my voice always sounded like there was a cold. 

I noticed the slow regain of my smell and taste in the second week. I do not recall another instance when I felt as ecstatic about being able to smell garlic as I felt then. I celebrated the return of my taste and smell by preparing different dishes catering to my sweet and savoury cravings. So you could say, my quarantine tasted like absolute blandness followed by partial recognition of certain strong flavours and smells leading to indulgence in delectable food. 

But you know what it sounded like? The funky jazz music from Seinfeld. Because hey, what better time than while being stuck indoors due to the rona to return to my all-time favourite TV show?! 

Having survived the rona relatively unaffected, I have only gratitude and love to extend to everyone who has been checking up on my family throughout our quarantine. Moreover, looking at the bright side of things, I now have a tale to tell the grand kids one day. Imagine the thrill of saying "When I was your age, I survived the goddamn coronavirus! Now buckle up and get back on your feet."