Tag: Covid-19

And I got my ass handed to me!

Months prior to this, I’ve been saying to myself, ‘I almost wish I would just get it and be done with it’. Ya right. What was I thinking??

I didn’t actually go out and intentionally get myself sick. I have a wife and three kids at home. I took every precaution. In fact, I am lucky in that I work remotely so I don’t leave the house unless I need to. When I do leave the house, I wear my mask and I wear it properly. While I am out, to the best of my ability, I keep a distance from people. However, therein lies the problem.

I live in a small town, Al-Bireh and we have limited grocery stores within walking distance. These stores are small and limited in inventory so it is common to go to 3 or 4 stores to get everything that we need for the house (a long way from King Soopers).

The whole point of me bringing this up, is I can actually pin point when and how I got Covid. It was in one of these stores. I was waiting in line for my order of lunch meat and I see this guy walk in who just didn’t look right. He was taking short breathes and he was sweating. I immediately had a bad feeling. It had to have been from him.

Sure enough, the very next day I feel a soar throat and I can feel something in my chest. All of a sudden I build up a cough. I’m thinking to myself please just let this be a cold. I took some over the counter drugs and tried to sleep it off. To be on the safe side though, I took my son’s room and told him to sleep next to his mother.

After a miserable sleepless night, the next morning I took myself to the hospital. I wouldn’t let my wife take me since she was 2 months pregnant at the time. On my way there I just kept saying to myself please be bronchitis. Please be influenza. Although for months I was saying let me just get it and be done with it, now wasn’t the time with my wife pregnant.

I walked into the emergency room at the Hilal Medical Center in Al-Bireh. My cough was getting worse. My head was spinning. My chest felt like there was a bag of ice in there. They checked my fever at 39.4°C. They immediately performed a covid test than hooked me up to an IV and gave me a shot to get rid of some of the pain.

Thirty minutes later a doctor and nurse came in with the news. They said I tested positive for Covid-19. My immediate reaction was to challenge the doctor and told him that I have a history of bronchitis, are you sure it’s not just that. He said we are positive.

Well...sheat.

I called my wife and told her. Her reaction was as of I just slapped her in the face. She was pregnant. We have three kids at home. I am the sole provider.

I got home. I had my mask on and this time was wearing gloves. I walked in my home and my wife told me the room was ready. Her and the kids kept a safe distance while all wearing masks. I felt like more than just a stranger in my own home, right than and there, I felt like a degenerate, an undesirable. Not because of my family, don’t get the wrong idea here, that’s just how I felt about myself.

The first 24 hours in quarantine was a challenge, but it could have been worse. I was feeling sick, but so far, it just felt like a bad flu.

The second day in quarantine...that’s when it really started for me. Holly s***! What’s going on here? Who said coronavirus was just ‘cold like symptoms’??? This is more like flu symptoms on steroids.

I was giving all this medicine for a cold. It’s like sprinkling water on a fire.

I was declining fast. My breathing was getting worse and more painful. I couldn't stop coughing. My headache was so bad and constant there was no relief. This bag of ice in my chest wouldn’t go away.

My wife called her cousin who is a nurse and he was kind enough to come over one night and hook me up to an IV. I got temporary relief, but it was too temporary. They brought me an oxygen mask to assist with my breathing.

The next day I was taken to the hospital. I was given an IV and a shot for the pain than sent home. There was no room to keep me there.

The day times were absolutely horrible. Night time...much worse.

I had no appetite. On a good day, I finished a bowl of soup. I could not take in any solid foods. I drank as much as I could, but it wasn’t enough.

I couldn’t find a comfortable position. Every position I moved to just made me cough more. My back was by far the worse though so I avoided sleeping on my back. I was told to sleep on my stomach. It wasn’t ‘good’ rest, but it was better than the other positions.

Every muscle in my body ached. This was constant. No relief. Everything just ached and hurt. My head would not stop spinning.

One night while lying down, all of a sudden the room became an ice box. It was freezing in the room. The door was closed. The window was closed. The heater was on. I buried myself under all three blankets and just shivered. I tried rubbing my hands together but my finger tips were freezing. My wife opened the door and just yelled. She later told me I was shaking like a fish out of the water.

Confession time. I begged God like never before. I begged God, either end this or just take me. One of the two. We are taught that God does not give us more than we can handle and I do believe that. I just couldn’t take it anymore. Every cough hurt. Every breath hurt.

About eight days into this, I did begin to feel some signs of improvement. I thought please let this be done. The following four days were slowly improving. Night time was still an issue. It’s been close to two weeks since I had a full night sleep. My cough refused to go away. The previous four nights in particular were odd because I was sweating so much at night I would literally change my clothes multiple times per night. I accumulated so much laundry those four days (my poor wife). Is all this sweating some of the covid release??

Day 13, more improvement but a huge set back, my wife lost the baby. She was feeling sick the previous couple of days. She was coming down with the cold. She did a covid test. It was negative. She had been dealing with some discharge. She was dealing with a cold, taking care of the house and our three kids and taking care of me however she could from a distance. My wife made sure I had everything I needed at any given time.

At a time that I should have been there for my wife, instead, she was there for me. She stood by my side and cared for me unconditionally. I am so sorry she lost the baby. We are blessed with three children, but damn that pain.

Day 15 of diagnosis, day 17 after falling ill, I have some energy back and the pain levels have gone down. I needed to do something to feel like a human. I shaved. I left the house and went for a walk. I was feeling better, not great, but better. I went to Quest Diagnostics to do a follow up. Great news, my follow up test for Covid-19 came back negative.

I was very relieved. This last 15 days my biggest concern was the fear of infecting my family since I was quarantined at home. I’m still coughing. While I do have some energy back, I still have some fatigue. I still have some pressure in my chest, but I was Covid-free.

My wife and I looked at each other with a sense of relief, but we can both see right through each other, there is no denying the sadness. We really wanted the baby. Covid was the worse experience of my life, but I would re-live it ten times over if it meant we could have the baby.

It’s a new day. It’s time to move on. I must remain positive.

Iyad Y Allis