Salam my lovelies,
Our long battle staying away from the much feared COVID-19 virus has finally ended with not one but four infections! Our entire household braved it together in one fell swoop from 17 to 31 March 2022.
Here is a short account of how it happened and how we recovered from it.
Bean and Girl attended school in person on 17 March 2022 as it was their photoshoot day for their year book. They both had the most wonderful time at school and came home so happy that day, with lots of stories to share. Bean's Homeroom Teacher noted particularly that Bean was extra helpful and had gone to assist his classmates, one by one, with their cultural diversity poster. His PowerPoint presentation file was saved in his Microsoft Tab drive at home and since he had completed his entire presentation to her satisfaction the day before, he was allowed to "help" his classmates.
I was on the fence about letting them attend the photoshoot at first, but after considering that this counts as a milestone event in their school calendar, I finally relented and agreed to it the night before, at dinner time. You could say I went against my gut feeling or better judgment. Anyways.
At 7:07 a.m. on 18 March 2022, just as Bean was coming down the stairs all dressed up and smiled brightly as he anticipated another exciting day at school, he saw my face fell as I read an email that had just come in from his class teacher.
Yes, the much dreaded school email during pandemic parenting: one positive case had just been reported in Bean's class and that the class was to immediately revert to online learning with close monitoring using RTK until the following Monday. One classmate who was already at school stayed there with the Homeroom Teacher and TA until he was collected later that day. Most had to U-turn whilst on their journey to school. You can imagine the chaos.
Since we were at still at home, we quickly tested Bean and his RTK results were negative. He logged in online while Girl attended school in person as sibling(s) of a close contact with a negative RTK need not quarantine as per guidelines applicable at that time. Girl came home extra bouncy and happy that day. After dinner, we were all huddled closely for our weekly Friday movie night at home. (You will all be thinking at this point: no huddling! You all need to isolate!).
Saturday came and went without us visiting The Grandparents that day. To err on the side of caution, we isolated ourselves from them and everyone else. Bean's RTK results were still negative and we went on to huddle up for another weekend of movie night at home. (You will all be thinking: BIG mistake! No huddling is allowed!).
By Sunday, Bean started having fever, chills and aches. He was whiny from noon onwards (he is hardly ever whiny!) and his RTK results were still negative. Suspecting something was amiss by late that Sunday night, we decided to bring him in for PCR test at Ramsey Ara Damansara Hospital first thing on Monday.
The Other Half drove Bean there. They both got tested. They came home and we isolated Girl just to be sure - but you all know that was too late. The Other Half mentioned he had a sore throat and wanted rice porridge for dinner.
That Monday night, after Isya', the hospital rang. Both PCR results for Bean and The Other Half were positive. We quickly rang The Grandparents to inform them and worked out our isolation dates. We nursed Bean of his high fever, sponged him and tried to break his fever. Nothing worked. His saturated oxygen level dropped to 94% at one point and I do not remember sleeping much that night. I only remember constantly sponging his hot body and tried to keep his fever below 38.8C, and fed him paracetamol and water at regular intervals.
I started to have a sore throat by early Tuesday morning and as soon as Girl woke up, I got her changed and drove her to the same ER. The nurses there remember Bean and The Other Half from the day prior, and they swiftly processed our PCR tests. We came home to wait out our results. By wait, I meant care for 3 sickly ones. 4, if you counted me in. My entire day was spent rescheduling meetings.
The much anticipated phone call from the hospital lab came around 11:30 p.m. that night. Girl and I were positive too. We were told there would be no real need to isolate ourselves in the household now but to keep all touch points sanitised as best as we possibly can, and to use our own bathrooms. We were also told not to share any personal items or meals. We declared the COVID-19 party time at home had commenced and our only aim was to preserve as much normalcy and routine as possible.
My nurse duty marathon lasted 3 whole days. One by one started to feel better after that, except myself. I still have the occasional cough and thick sputum now but I am so glad the worst is over now. Having friends who have caught COVID-19 and survived to share their secrets to surviving this was handy indeed. Their WhatsApp support round the clock alleviated a lot of my worries.
Honestly, we were too tired to watch Netflix or read all night like some patients have reported. Even our eyes were sore and the best cure was sleep! We definitely drank a lot of water, consumed many bowls of soup and porridge, ate a tonne of fresh vegetables and fruits, applied RC essential oils from Young Living to our chests and Thieves essential oils also from Young Living with carrier oil to our feet and unbashedly accepted gifts of Manuka honey lemon drops-Lian Hua vegetarian botanical pills-masks-get well soon wishes. Only I took the Lian Hua pills. 2 tablets twice day for two days, after food. My fever broke and my nose started bleeding so I stopped. The feeling of the fever and chills leaving my body was my moment of pure gratitude so I can imagine how the other 3 must have felt too. Everything improved from that point onwards.
The Management Office where we live were most supportive with our double bagged trash disposal and deliveries - all doorstep service with great social distancing. We deeply appreciate their support during such trying times.
On the bright side, we have ticked this item off our 2022 "bucketlist" if there ever was one for catching and surviving the dreaded virus. We survived - syukur alhamdulillah! We also pray we do not catch future variants!
Oh, and we discovered our absolute love for cold soya milk treats from The Soyamilk Factory. Yums!
The million dollar question now is: are we Ramadhan ready? Yes, inshaAllah. We would like to wish all our Muslim readers a very blessed Ramadhan ahead. Take good care and stay safe!
