My experiences after 19 days in hospital for Covid-19

Thank you God for giving me a new opportunity with my loved ones!

In addition, I must thank the "Virgen del Valle", "Santa Rosa de Lima" and my Guardian Angels for always accompanying me and protecting me

Dear readers, if you thought that what I told you in my previous post had been hard enough, we still had to suffer a little more before seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Well, today I come to continue my story, to contextualize, in my previous publication I told you that I had moved to the city of Maturín, to help take care of my mother who was hospitalized. I also mentioned that I never imagined that I would not only lose my mother after a painful agony, but also that I would not even have time to mourn her. This, because I would have to find strength from where I had none, to wage a physical and psychological battle against the Covid-19 virus in order to stay alive.

The first symptoms appeared on March 26, the same day my mother passed away, my body was screaming at me that it was battling an enemy. However, by that time I had many other things to worry about, so I put aside my discomfort. It took 7 days of sickness to confirm our suspicions that my sister and I had been infected with Coronavirus at the hospital where my mother was. And after the diagnosis, only 4 days were enough for my body to collapse on March 9th, the day I started my hospitalization.

But it was not that simple, as we Venezuelans know, our public health system, after years of disinvestment, is on the floor. As soon as I arrived at Covid's hospitalization area at the Manuel Núñez Tovar Hospital in Maturín, I was told that I needed a flowmeter, because there was none available at that time. This device was essential for me, without it, they could not connect me to oxygen and stabilize the oxygen saturation levels in my body, which was very dangerous. It should be noted that this is essential equipment to provide first aid in cases of respiratory problems. So all stations with oxygen dispensers inside the hospital should have one, which is not happening in a large percentage.

For my family, it was impossible to buy it at that time, it cost around $200, so that was not an option. Thank God, I remembered that the husband of a childhood friend, whom I had seen again after more than 20 years, due to the seriousness of my mom had an ambulance. She had accompanied us during the whole process and was a great support, now she would save my life, because her husband had a flowmeter and as I expected he did not hesitate for a second to lend it to me.

That same night they connected me to oxygen and started my intravenous treatment, thank God at home we had the first 3 doses of the antibiotic because they were left over from my mom. But we were faced with a new problem, how would we buy the rest of the treatment, since my mother's treatment had depleted our budget. To compound our financial crisis, my sister's funeral insurance did not respond and my insurance only covered $76 of the $220 for funeral services. Which, by the way, was the simplest plan, it only included the preparation of the body, casket rental and 2 hours in the chapel.

In addition, since my mother asked us to cremate her during her lifetime, which would imply a cost of $300, I had managed to get them to lend me the remainder to pay for the funeral service. My brother, who is currently living in Chile, was able to get a friend to lend him the $300 for the cremation. In addition to that, we had already spent the little we had left for the oral treatment for 5 people, remember that we were 5 covid-19 patients, my dad, my sister, my brother-in-law, my little nephew and me. Obviously, we did not have enough to cover my new intravenous treatment, which by the way was extremely expensive.

As you will understand, we had to look for an immediate solution, since in Venezuelan hospitals you have to carry everything, from the physiological solution, to the syringes, cotton, adhesive and of course all the treatments. As I have already told you on other occasions, I could not count on my medical insurance, since university professors were shamelessly deprived of it, as the government created a non-existent cover which I call SISMEU. On one occasion many friends and members of this platform supported me financially for my treatment and tests to treat 2 tumors that I have in my thyroid.

In this opportunity, two great friends and co-workers who were aware of all that we were going through and conscious of our economic situation, decided to carry out a fundraising campaign through social networks, as many Venezuelans are doing, in order to cover the immense economic expenses of this disease. They decided to carry out a fundraising campaign through social networks, as many Venezuelans are doing, in order to cover the immense economic expenses that this disease entails. To my pleasant surprise, the response was wonderful and, according to what I was told, the campaign was trending on social networks. Many kind hearts, from family, friends, neighbors, students, former students inside and outside the country, even some strangers, when they found out, contacted us to contribute their grain of sand. Thanks to that I never lacked treatment, showing us day by day the greatness of God. Whenever we were pressed for money, it was amazing, the money arrived and we were able to complete the cost of the treatment. It was a wonderful demonstration, not only that God is always there to support us, but also that I am a very fortunate person and blessed by God to have so many people who appreciate me and remember me fondly. May God and the Virgin bless each one of those kind souls, who with their support in one way or another made it possible for me to recover from this terrible disease.

It was a total of 19 endless days of hospitalization, in which, like everyone else, we had to deal with all the deficiencies that our hospitals suffer from, such as lack of personnel, medical supplies, and deficiencies in services. In spite of that, it was impressive to see (with few exceptions) how the medical and nursing staff, despite working with their fingernails, give their best, even when they are risking their own lives. In addition, I had to deal with death almost daily, the Covid area where I was, which by the way, was not the only one in the hospital, if I am not mistaken, there were about five different areas destined to attend exclusively Covid-19 patients. The thing is, the area where I was was subdivided into 4 wings, the wing where I was, there were 8 patients besides me, during those 9 patients that we were at the time of my arrival, unfortunately only 3 patients survived. The first few days were calm, but then, one by one, my wing mates began to die. It was really terrible, to see how a person was apparently stable, talking or joking with his companion and suddenly, when least expected, he would go into crisis and in a matter of minutes or hours he would die.

I found other people who were walking, who were apparently improving, and from one day to the next their health began to deteriorate, until they became very ill and died, and that happened, despite the fact that they were receiving their treatment. Those were the cases that I experienced directly, but every day we would hear from the nurses about at least one death as a result of the virus, in another wing or in other areas of the hospital. As you will understand, the struggle with the disease was not only physical, it was also psychological, because you had to deal with the pain of others and the deaths around you. Not to mention, having to control not to fall into depression and the panic of not knowing if I was next on the list, because the disease is very treacherous and does not warn.

I believe that only my faith in God Almighty, my little daughters, my husband and my sister, kept me sane, focused on the fact that I had to recover. One of the most difficult moments was March 11, my birthday, it was already difficult to spend it away from my loves and also in a hospital. To add the icing on the cake, I received the terrible news of the death in Caracas, that same day, of one of my dearest uncles also due to covid, I confess that it was very difficult for me to recover from this new blow, in fact it is still very difficult for me to handle these two losses, my mother and my uncle. The other moment was a few days later, I was already quite recovered, and they decided to change my treatment schedule, BAD IDEA! I turned out to be allergic to Vancomycin, one of the antibiotics, which gave me an allergic reaction, I got sick, even my oxygen saturation dropped again. I got a fever with cold so strong, that my whole body tempered uncontrollably, I got so scared, that I came to think that my turn had come. Thank God my sister, while taking care of my mother, had witnessed similar cases, but milder, in some patients who were given the same treatment. When she saw my reaction, she deduced that it was due to the Vancomycin, so she spoke to the doctor on duty, who immediately prescribed another antibiotic. Once my body eliminated the remains of the medicine, I began to stabilize and my values returned to normal.

As the days went by, my sister and I discovered about all the ravages caused by the disease, in reality the problem is not the virus itself, but the sequels it causes. I have heard many times that some people say that it is not correct to treat covid with antibiotics, but what they do not know is that with the treatment, they are not attacking the virus, but the different sequel it causes. The most common is pulmonary damage that can turn into bilateral pneumonia as in my case, in more serious cases into pulmonary thrombosis, or any other type of thrombosis, that is why the treatment includes anticoagulants. The risk of suffering a thrombosis is so high that I had to take treatment for it up to a month after being discharged from the hospital.

Another consequence suffered by covid patients is the increase in blood sugar levels, which if not monitored can lead to a diabetic coma. This happens even if the patient does not have a pre-existing condition of this pathology, my case for example. I have never been a diabetic, but during my hospitalization I once had to take 3 units of insulin, because my blood sugar level was over 220 mg/dL. After that, I had a Glycosylated Hemoglobin (A1C) lab test and thank God it was negative for diabetes. We consulted the doctors and they told us that another consequence of the disease is an increase in blood sugar levels. This condition is aggravated by the fact that one of the medications that must be administered is Dexamethasone, which is a cortiscosteroid that, from what I understand, helps to decongest and reduce inflammation in the lungs. But it has the disadvantage that if it is used for a prolonged period of time, as in my case, it also generates an increase in blood sugar levels. That is why if you do not have a strict control of glycemia, it can generate many problems, the lady who was next to me, her sugar got to rise exceeding sugar values of 500 mg/dL, which caused a diabetic coma and irremediable death, because she was also edematized, due to a renal failure. As you can see, it is a very complex disease that triggers systemic squeal.

Other sequel, in addition to those I have mentioned, is of course the fatigue, which at the beginning prevents you from even making a small effort. You cannot even walk at a normal pace, or change position in bed, without feeling as if you were suffocating. Gradually it diminishes, of course, but according to doctors, full recovery may require up to 6 months. In addition, there are the sequels at the neurological level, such as difficulty concentrating, performing mathematical calculations, or perceiving depth. Not to mention motor skills, I lost fine motor skills, so I could not, for example, write. I had to undergo therapy during and after being hospitalized to recover it, I found it helpful to crochet, at first it was difficult, but little by little it helped me. There are also squeal, which can be considered perhaps less serious, such as hair loss, or problems with the mucous membranes of the mouth. In summary, as I have already told you, the sequels of the Brazilian variant of the covid-19 virus are the ones that can really kill you. It attacks on all fronts at the physical, neuronal and psychological level; you have to take courage, because depression is always just around the corner waiting for you to be careless.

But it wasn't all bad, as I was taking care of my mother and then hospitalized I got to know an amazing and beautiful human side. Despite the fact that we were complete strangers, almost immediately an impressive bond of solidarity and brotherhood was formed. During my hospitalization, I spent a lot of time alone, because we do not have relatives in Maturin who could support us. In addition, due to the limitations of quarantine and the risk involved, we could only count on each other and my brother-in-law. Therefore, my sister could not spend all her time taking care of me, not because she did not want to, but because, in addition to me, she had to take care of three other sick people. At home, there was my father, her husband and their 4 year old baby, also sick with covid, so she had to distribute her time very well. Her day was spent between taking care of the sick at home, the housework, to leave everything organized while she was away, and being attentive to me in the hospital. The time she was with me, the poor thing had to solve everything that I could not, such as leaving the hospital to take my blood samples for lab tests, buy medicines or any supplies. She even had to chase the doctors, who were always very busy, to get a medical order for some procedure or test.

Going back to what I wanted to tell you, for obvious reasons, I could not always count on my sister's help, but there was always someone who would lend me a hand. Another very common thing was that if someone needed a medicine, a syringe, a syringe, a syringe or simply a obturator, and someone else in the room had it, I would lend it to them without thinking about it. If a patient became ill, the companions of those patients, who were stable, would run to help in whatever way they could with the emergency. So, I have any number of anecdotes in that style, we were like a big family, all pursuing a great goal to survive. I remember that when one of the patients, due to a twist of fate, lost the battle, we all accompanied the family member in his or her pain. When that relative left the room, in spite of his pain, he would always say goodbye, showering us with blessings and good wishes to all of us who remained, repeating over and over again, that when we left he would tell us... "don't give up, keep fighting, you will make it, God bless you".

Anyway, it was 19 days overcoming test after test, needle sticks all the time, staring at the ceiling for hours, or knitting to give me the illusion that the hours were passing faster. Waiting for my sister to arrive or for the night to come to talk on the phone with my husband and daughters. Because I couldn't talk much either, it was uncomfortable with the mask, besides, the oxygen dried out my throat and made me cough. But finally, all the effort was worth it, and finally on March 27 I was discharged from the hospital. That news for me and my family was the best possible news, finally, I could go to my sister's house to continue recovering and help her as much as I could. Although my father and my sister had already overcome the virus, they had been a little complicated by the after-effects. My sister because of all the stress and being exposed to so many hospital bacteria, and my dad because of his underlying pathologies and his age. But as the days went by, little by little we all got better.

Thank God, on the 17th of April I was able to return home after 2 months of absence, with many precautionary measures, of course, since I was not traveling in my own car, but in a car per post. And to the surprise of some, including me, the doctors did not warn that we could not let our guard down. The fact that we had been infected with the virus did not exempt us from a new infection, so we had to be even more careful than a person who had not contracted the virus. This was because our organism had been very weakened by the after-effects of the virus. Today, I am in my little house, still undergoing treatment of course, but enjoying my great loves to the fullest and thanking God every day for every hour of existence, every breath of air that runs through my lungs and the good fortune of having many people who love me. God bless you and protect you from this terrible disease, but do not forget to takeTreatment indicated to me when I was discharged from the hospital care of yourselves and your loved ones, using biosecurity measures.

Content and photographs of my intellectual property

Technical information

Camera: Honor Cell Phone, Model DUAL-LX3

Lens: DUAL-LX3

Lighting: Natural Light

Location: Maturin, Monagas State, Venezuela