I Had No Option But To Self-Diagnose When I Thought I Caught Covid
( words)
*For representational purpose only.
On the 23rd of March 2020, my husband Sandeep returned home to Dehradun from a month-long work trip in Andhra. That weekend was Holi, and so we drove to the mountains for a break.
The day after we returned, he woke up feeling feverish. Immediately, I gave him a Dolo-650, and we decided to isolate, even from each other. Around four days later, he started feeling better, but I felt warm.
I didn’t think much of it and popped the same paracetamol after dinner. I even savoured generous portions of chocolate pie before bed.
When I woke up the next morning, my sense of taste and smell had vanished. Panicked, we called around for a Covid test. When there was no response, we put on our masks and gloves and all else that we required and drove around to find a hospital or any health facility that would do a Covid test.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a single place. I decided to isolate myself from Sandeep.
After this, I had a week of high fever, I was in bed for almost 20 hours a day. I didn’t have the energy to stand, let alone cook. I was lethargic, and experienced constant chills and all of this coupled with no sense of smell or taste.
We were just miserable. Somehow, we managed to pull through the week with packaged soup, juices, oats and eggs.
I began feeling better nearly ten days later. I smelt a whiff of drainage from the balcony. I remember thinking to myself - maybe I don’t want my sense of smell to come back after all!
After fourteen days, I tried to get a Covid test done to confirm that it would come negative, but no luck.
By then, India was already in the thick of its second wave - with people dying and a massive shortage of oxygen, etc. It was somewhat of a nightmare, but the fear of contracting the virus left my system at last.
Now vaccinated with the first dose, at least I can rest in peace knowing that if it happens again, I’ll know what to expect!