It’s around eleven in the morning when I got a call from an unregistered number.
“This is it.”, I said to myself.
“Hi Mam. Staff po ako ng ng Ospital ng Imus. Nagpositive po kayo sa lab test for Covid po.”, said the staff from the other line with her voice so straight you can tell that she is used to calling people who are positive with the virus.
My heart was calm but I feel like my voice is getting a little shaky. I just listened to her, the next steps, with Ryan holding my hand.
After the call, Ryan hugged me tight and that when I started crying. But honestly, I am not sure why I’m crying. I felt blank for a while, as if there’s a white blanket in front of me.
Our COVID-19 Story
I am not really sure about the date but it was I think August 12-13 when Ryan and I were feeling a little tired. Seems like we don’t wanna move.
Parang may nanghihila na humiga at magpahinga. And we did. I thought Aunt Flo was just near already because I usually get headaches and body pains when I have my monthly visits.
But no, after a day or two, our symptoms worsen and the rest is history. I got the virus, Ryan was negative. We still don’t know why.
Where do you think you got the virus?
Honestly, we are not sure.
It was ECQ here in Cavite when everything happened and we usually don’t go out of the house unless mamamalengke kami dito lang sa subdivision.
We’re also thinking, since we are selling, maybe because of the riders? Or the money that we are getting everyday?
We’ll never know.
COVID-19 SYMPTOMS
Personally, these are the symptoms I got.
- Day 1 – 3: Fatigue
- Day 4: Super fatigue
- Day 5: Fever with body and joint pains
- Day 6: Fever with body and joint pains plus no sense of taste/smell
- Day 7: Fatigue and mild sore throat
- Day 8: No sore throat, still weak, no sense of taste/smell
- Day 9: Swab test, dry cough, no sense of taste/smell
- Day 10: Lightheaded, no sense of taste/smell, dry cough
- Day 11:
What does it feel when you have COVID-19?
This is mostly the question I got from friends and family when I told them I have COVID 19.
Day 1-2
August 12-13:
– Ryan and I were feeling unusually tired that we just wanna lie down and rest.
Day 3
August 14:
– Ryan had a fever. Worst part because I still feel tired and my body was aching already but no fever.
Day 4
August 15:
– Ryan still has fever. I was feeling under the weather already but of course, I need to stand up, cook, and take care of Ryan. I think Ryan can’t taste here already.
Day 5
August 16:
– Ryan doesn’t have fever already. But sadly, ako naman. My whole body was aching particularly the joints in both of my hands, my back, and legs. I honestly didn’t know how we ate during this times. As far as I know, Ryan and I were juggling tasks — luto, timpla kape, gawa merienda. Hehe.
– Ryan has no sense of taste and smell already
Day 6
August 17:
– Still with fever, plus, no sense of taste/smell already. But! Mind you guys, hindi kami nawalan ng gana. We just ate and ate gaya ng dati, even if we can’t taste/smell the food. Still laughing when I remember imagining the taste of my favorite Sinigang na Baboy while eating. Haha! Feeling ko nga tumaba ako lalo nung nagkasakit. LOL.
– Ryan was still feeling hot from time to time with body aches.
– Ryan had a mild sore throat.
– Called Imus COVID hotline. After several attempts, someone answered the phone, got our details, then nothing happened. So we called and called all the numbers that are related to COVID Imus.
Day 7
August 18:
– My fever went away already but still felt weak.
– Still with body pains and aching joints here.
– Super mild sore throat
– Ryan is still weak and both of us are starting to have a dry cough.
– Again we called IMUS COVID hotlines and someone from the Imus Lab answered and told us to get a ‘Referral’ from any Doctor for us to be swabbed the next day. Sayang lang because we really wanna get swabbed the next day already. But of course, we complied.
Day 8
August 19:
– Feels weak still. But a little better than the previous days.
– We both have dry cough.
– Went to Imus Clinic before 8AM, the clinic that we were told to go to to get a ‘Referral’. The clinic, as far as I remembered opened before 9AM and we still need to wait for the nurse as per the staff there. However, to our dismay, they don’t know about the ‘referral’ to be swabbed. Sabi pa nga ng Doctor na andon, we don’t know about it. You just need money.
– We then went to Ospital ng Imus praying to be swabbed right then and there. But, there’s no walk-in allowed. We can just pay then go back the following day. If we knew that we don’t need the ‘Referral from a Doctor’, we would have asked for slots. We really wanna get swabbed.
– We paid 4,000 pesos each to get a reservation for swab test
Day 9
August 20:
– We were scheduled at 9AM to 10AM and we arrived at around 9:05AM and got swabbed around 10:30 AM. Staff said to wait for 7 days but if positive, they will call us after 3 days.
– Dry cough and no smell/taste still
– I’m still lightheaded
– Ryan has a Doctor at work so he asked for reseta. Glad that there’s Grab Pabili. Nagpabili kami sa Mercury. Glad that all meds were available! We paid for 2800 in total just for our medicines. Still thankful. We took antibiotics and vitamins C with zinc.
Day 10
August 21-22:
– Dry cough and no smell/taste still
– I’m still lightheaded
– Ryan had diarrhea
Day 11
August 23:
– I got diarrhea as well.
– I also feel stressed and tired again
– 3rd day after we got swabbed. Praying no one will call from Ospital ng Imus.
– At around 11 AM, I got a call from an unregistered number. And yes, it’s from the Ospital ng Imus confirming that I am positive from COVID. Yes, I cried a little. Haha.
– Ryan didn’t get a call. And we confirmed that he is negative. Weird because we got the same symptoms, he even got it first at parang nahawa lang ako.
– I reported to our HOA, Barangay, CESU, that I am positive.
– CESU only informed me to rest well, drink vitamin C, and more water. They asked for my close contacts but they never tried calling Ryan and Mama. Glad Mama is doing well.
– I informed my boss and Shopee as well that I am positive.
August 24:
– Diarrhea still. Mama gave us some food, Gatorade, and Pocari Sweat
– Ryan and I still had dry cough here.
August 25 – August 29
– Still with slight dry cough
– Sometimes I experienced pain in my chest
– Usually, I get tired just after a couple of walks inside the house
August 29:
– I think this is the date where I called CESU and asked if I can request for reswabbing. They said it’s possible but since there are a lot of backlogs, maybe the swabbing will take two weeks from the requested date. Once the Swab Team is already at your home and you are not experiencing signs, as per CESU, I just need to tell them that I am okay already. LOL.
August 30 – 31
– No symptoms
September 1:
– I called CESU again and asked how to get the certification for the and yes, we’ll end our quarantine this September 4. We need to go to the Velarde Clinic in Imus to get our certification that I am already negative.
– Ryan and I decided to re-swab on Friday. Bye bye 8,000 again.
– Both of us have little to no cough already
(Will update this until I’m already cleared)
TIPS if you have a friend/family with COVID-19
- Never ask her/him this: “Sa dinami-dami ng tao, bakit kaya ikaw pa?”. Like what’s the point in asking? Please, don’t. That’s just rude and can’t help with the fast recovery.
- Kamustahin lagi. Wag naman minu-munito. Hehe. Remind them that everything will be okay soon.
- Pray for them.
- Message her/his parents if close kayo, ask if they’re okay. 🙂
