For the past month or so (starting from mid Feb) we were told to work from home as an initiative to contain the Covid-19 infections and close contacts at the office.
Since I'm already at home, I don't really feel like going out because of the hassle. That's different from going to work because I'd drop by MyTown or the nearby malls that are on the way home to get my grocery or food supplies.
I received a call from the service center telling me that my car is due for service. So I set for an appointment for that Saturday, March the 19th. The last time I went out before that was to buy bread from the nearby shop on Sunday.
As my usual routine, I took a self-test before going out. While waiting, I went to get breakfast at the nearby Old Town kopitam. After breakfast I had to do a number two so I went back to the service center and did most of the waiting outside of the building.
When I got my car back it was already noon and I decided to have lunch and do my grocery at Desa Pandan.
That evening I agreed to have dinner with a couple of friends. I asked them for a favor to get tested as well. #kitajagakita.
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| Even with a handful of check-ins, I'm still not sure where I got it from. Of course I took off my mask during breakfast (alone), lunch (alone) and dinner (with my friends). |
Fast forward to Monday. As the norm, I'd also test the day after (and even couple of days after) going out or coming back from the holidays. I opted for AllTest saliva test after waking up. To my surprise, the test came back postive. Since I have a few types of self test kits at my disposal (yes that's my kind of shopping these days 🤣), I proceeded to test with Empro (nasal), CAS Envision (mouth swab) and Newgene 2-in-1 test. For the latter, I even did the nasal swab and saliva.
Empro and Newgene gave negative result while CAS Envision showed a positive result. Perhaps it hasn't reached my sinus yet.
Based on the 2 out of 4 results, I resigned to the fact that I was a Covid-19 patient. I immediately sent a redflag to my sister and my friends.
Day 1
For most of the first day, I had no symptoms. But as I was preparing to get some shut eye, I was starting to get sweaty. My throat was getting dry.
Day 2
When I woke up, I was exhibiting stuffy nose and flu. In the evening, I was developing fever (38.3)
Medications: Panadol (PCM), Difflam lozenges, Hurix Fluaway, Vit C
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| Badan tak delicious |
Day 3
I woke with a fever (38.3) so I took a couple more PCM. My body temperature was for the rest of the day fell in the range of 37.0 - 37.5.
But now my throat was getting super dry and sore that it even hurt when I swallowed my saliva.
Medications: PCMs, Difflam lozenges, Bactidol, Betadine, Hurix fluaway, Vit C
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| Another day, another symptom - sore throat |
Day 4.
Sore throat was still bad. Now phlegm was added to the list of symptoms. Once in a while coughs were triggered to clear the phlegm from the throat.
My body temperature was hovering around 37.4-37.6 throughout the day so I only resorted to PCMs at lunch and right before bedtime.
Medications: PCMs, Difflam, Bactidol, Betadine, Vit C.
Day 5
My throat was still sore but it was now bearable. Adding lemon to my water certainly helped.
Fever has subsided - body temperature was around 36.7 - 37.1 so I didn't need to take up any PCMs today.
Medications: Strepsils, Bactidol, Vit C.
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| Hijacking the microwave during quarantine. I wished I had a minifridge :D |
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| Can't wait for my quarantine to end |
Day 6
The sore throat had gone down a couple of notches. Continued to drink water with lemon.
Day 7
There's still a little bit of sore throat and phlegm but much much much better than 3 days ago.
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| Graduated! Hazab kuarantin dah habis |
Alhamdulillah throughout the quarantine period, I had good readings for my blood pressure and oxygen saturation level. For most of the time, my recorded heartbeats were in the 70s and 80s, as opposed to 60s before getting Covid. There was one time it even reached 95 when I woke up at 6am on the 3rd day.
As for coughs, it wasn't the most concerning issue. For most of the times, it just came without any warning or when the throat was dry. It was also like the body's reaction to clear some phlegm.
It's been 10 days since I finished my quarantine. There's still this itty bitty case of dry throat. Unfortunately I couldn't consume water in the day because of fasting. I could not imagine getting Covid in Ramadan.
People say that getting Covid now is just like getting the flu but I must say it's never fun to get sick, especially when I haven't gotten sick since the pandemic. And to be confined to your own room for most of the time added on to the misery. Thank God that my sister and my friends stay covid-free. I had to trouble my sister to get me stuff from the stores - coconut, lemons, medications, food items and what have you. Getting is not only a healfh concern (and wealth!) but it also spells inconvenience to you and those around you, especially those are still tested negative. You pray for them to be covid free right until your quarantine ends.
I have been trying to keep Covid-19 at bay all this while, like sanitizing the table or utensils when eating out or reporting to work, self testing before and after visiting my folks or going for vacation. So when I tested positive for Covid, I couldn't help but to let out a laugh and smile. Sure I haven't developed any symptoms just yet at that time. At the very least, I've tried my best. Perhaps my best is not good enough, but that's fate (qada and qadar). We could only plan but God is the Master of all plans. What's worst is when you do nothing and yet you complain when it hits you in the nose.
Let's pray for us, our friends and families and those around us are in excellent health
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