My COVID-19 story

I am a nurse 👩‍⚕️, a frontliner who deals with a lot of people who have different kinds of needs. I am greatly exposed to known and unknown diseases of man and it is a risk I embraced when I took the oath.

I consider nursing as a calling and not just a profession because one must be passionate enough in caring for the patients regardless of their status and condition. 

But this pandemic has shaken and tested my nursing values and beliefs. I almost came to a point where I wanted to quit this job but due to some reasons, I just couldn't give up. 

Everyday, I get to deal with hard and irresponsible people in my care. Those people who cannot follow simple rules such as proper wearing of mask inside the health facility. They are the very reason why this pandemic seems to last forever 🤷🏽‍♀️. One year into the pandemic and they still believe that the coronavirus is a hoax 🤦🏽‍♀️. It’s frustrating when you’re the only one who follows the protocols but I still made sure to properly protect my self from this dreadful virus . I always wear proper PPE, maintain social distancing and frequently washes my hands hence the dry and discolored skin. 

But fate has a funny way of  of coming around, on April 7th, 2021, I tested positive with the SARS COV 2. 🦠 

 

I was not surprised at all because I already had some of the symptoms even before the swab test was done but I still felt upset  😔with the confirmation. I even cried 😢because I was the only one in the group of 4 people who came out positive. I am still not sure from where I got the disease but I have some hunches. First, I was exposed to a confirmed positive colleague who doesn’t wear mask at work. Second, I went to Salalah where more confirmed cases are located and it was five days before the onset of symptoms came. In both instances,  I was wearing my surgical mask at all times. Lastly, I came in contact with a family who went to Muscat (where MOST of the cases are) a week before the onset of symptoms. The wife had a terrible headache for 3 days and both of them had colds few days after the trip. We live in the same building and we do not wear mask while dining in. 

Whichever way I got infected, it reminded me to be more careful of how I deal with people because nowadays, you’ll never know who's infected especially that a lot of new variants have emerged. This second wave has become more infectious and maybe deadlier that the first one. 

The only upside to my story is that I only have very mild symptoms such as sore throat, bouts of runny and clogged nose 🤧and loss of taste and smell. I never had a fever, body pain nor headache. The reason might be because I am vaccinated with the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine 💉 , almost a month before the symptoms. If I wasn’t vaccinated, the circumstances might have been different. So I urge everyone to get vaccinated because vaccine saves lives💪🏻✌🏻.   

I can say that I’m still lucky and blessed in this state. 😌🙏🏽 I have friends who care and didn’t judge, they even cook and deliver food to my doorstep. My parents are still unaware of my condition though 🤫 and I chose not to tell them until I’m all good because I don’t want them to worry. 

I am now in isolation and by God's grace 🤲, on the way to recovery and healing. 

Let this be a reminder that the virus doesn't choose which gender, ethnicity, profession and status of life it will infect. I may have mild symptoms but others might not recover from this disease, worst,  some might die fighting. 

So let us be vigilant and always follow health and safety protocols. 😷 We all want to go back to the normal way of life, a life without much restrictions, a life where we don't have to be scared for our health, a life where we can travel freely, a life without the mask. 😌

Stay safe  ♥ and may God bless us all. 😇