When covid19 hit my family

I will forever remember May 2021. My husband and me both got diagnosed with covid19. Like everyone else we tried all the home quarantine and home care medicines for covid. But, unlike lucky few we did not have much success in curbing the fever or infection . When things starting going out of hand, i decided to admit my husband to the hospital. This being India and a mindset of hospital is bad, there came many well meaning suggestions to try and defeat the disease at home. But, i had an inkling that this needs proper hospital care. Then came the struggle to find a hospital bed , as that week was the peak of peaks of covid in the country. Many friends and relatives tried finding but alas were hitting dead ends.

Then i recalled my employers helpline number, with expecting not much i registered on it. And voila immediately i had many people pinging me with suggestions and checks. I recall calling around 100 numbers and finally getting something. After arranging ambulance (another difficult task with scarcity) when we reached the hospital we had decided , it said no availability of oxygen in that hospital. The ambulance guy then took to a very small hospital and as there was no much choice left i decided to admit my husband there. But, with news of oxygen scarcity i checked with admin on how they are placed. He showed me bill of oxygen cylinders and basically said they have more than enough for such small facility. Thankfully the care and facilities were good and we got the required treatment and medications.

My stress levels were all time high due to my own illness and added worry for my husband who was not improving. Also, the phone calls and texts and forwarded messages didn’t help . I went a 2 day complete silence on my mobile and it really reduced my stress levels. Let me list down how or what not to do when talking someone dealing with covid.

• Do not call someone and make them feel bad about hospitalization. This is most common one, i cured my covid at home, so and so cured it at home, why did you hospitalize , imagine the side effect of medicines. I don’t need this when i am already in hospital.
• Call and within 5 minutes of discussion talk about out of context demise of some random relative who we have no clue about. Trust me this increases stress. I had three different relatives doing this.
• Keep talking about immunity, covid is no longer a immunity based disease. The latest variant is like Russian roulette, impacting differently on each person.
• Expecting i keep giving status every day when you did not contact me from years. People who don’t give a shit on whether you live or die expected status updates.
• Do not forward articles, messages on side effects of medicines etc when someone already is in hospital and getting treatment.

Unfortunately , life goes on and even post discharge covid shaming is real. You get same stories on how people cured it, how my immunity must be bad. The key is keep communication with people who bring positive energy and shutdown all negativity.