The Tribune

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

ts-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

A MAN who tested positive for COVID-19 has told The Tribune how he battled the disease through self-medicating, quarantine and advice from his doctor.

The patient, who asked to have his name withheld, says he is now free of the disease and waiting on the curfew and lockdown measures to be lifted so he can go back to work. “I thank the Almighty for pulling me through that ordeal,” said the food services industry worker. “I honestly thought I was going to die. I have never had such a feeling in my chest. I literally could not breathe sitting up. I had to keep my body in a reclined position. I thought about my children and made the conscious decision to live.”

The 52-year-old patient said he felt sick for three days before he called his doctor.

“When I felt like I was going to die, I called him and he told me to come to his office right away. They took me straight into an examination room and after what seemed like a long time of him making calls and running tests, he told me that it would appear that I had the coronavirus.

“I nearly passed out at those words and the doctor immediately put on a mask and gave me one to put on. He asked me a series of questions of who I was in contact with and told me I had to go to the hospital and then in isolation. I went straight home and dropped a grocery list and prescription on the kitchen counter for my children to deal with and reported to our guest bedroom with everything I thought I would need.”

Giving his account of the next few days, the patient said his life was a “living nightmare”. He and his two adult children remained in quarantine for the entire duration of his illness. He said at one point he truly gave up.

“There is no way to totally describe the feeling this virus gives you,” he explained. “I had a very, very high fever and at one point I felt like I was hallucinating... My throat was on fire and felt like it had lacerations, my eyes were red and swollen, the nausea was immeasurable and I was shaking like a leaf in a storm. My children kept coming to the door to check on me, but I had to ride this one out alone.

“The worst of it was the chest pains and palpitations from my heart when I sat up. My chest felt like it was caving in and the pain - I felt like I was in the ocean and drowning. I ate oranges and threw them up when the nausea set in. I took every type of vitamin C intake possible and I kept hydrated with Gatorade. I took the prescribed antibiotics as well, but felt like they did nothing. I also gargled with salt and water.”

Miraculously, his children never contracted the virus. He said he stayed in the guest bedroom with the door closed and received what he needed at the door. He also took Bayer aspirin as well to relieve heart palpitations and to abate the fever.

“I had bags and bags of oranges in that bedroom,” he continued. “And, I kept on eating them as best I could. I had orange juice and water and Gatorade and as fast as they went down they were back up again and I would drink more and the cycle went on. It was rough, but thank God I made it through.”

He said one morning he woke up and the entire bed was soaked in perspiration, but felt a bit better.

He continued: “I felt exhausted, but was happy to have had some sleep. I got out of bed to take the sheets off to give to my daughter for washing and realised that for the first time in ages I could swallow and I actually felt a bit better. I took a bath but stayed in the room.

“Although I felt better each day, just for safety I stayed in that bedroom for three more days just to make sure. I would not want my worst enemy to go through that. Besides going through this terrible ordeal, I was watching the news with all the deaths in Italy and listening to our infection rate rise. I wondered if I was going to make it. Glory be to God, I got over it.”

His advice to those who feel they have symptoms of COVID-19 is to call their doctor.