Global Village Idiot: Knock knock... who’s there? Covid. Now the first 48 hours

People with co-morbidities and those who are obese, overweight or have chronic health concerns run the main risk with Covid. So, we have to treat our lives with more respect and reimagine our lifestyle with more responsibility and care

January 24, 2022, 12.39 pm:

Some Covid affected don’t have any hardships on any day. Some have difficult symptoms for days, weeks. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

Teevr is the word on my mind at the moment. And if I dwell upon it, it’s the teekshan level of teevrata that I am experiencing. Mercury rising, sharply: 100.3 Fahrenheit to be precise. If I had more fever in school, I would have done so much better in my Hindi papers.

I am inside a warm room wrapped in a warm blanket but there’s a chill snaking its way, randomly, through my limbs and testing my joints. That’s how I know it is a fever.

It all started Sunday morning on the terrace with my morning mug of ginger chai. It was misty with a chill merrily searing through the cityscape. I enjoyed the winter breeze for 10 minutes and then throughout the day was wearing a hooded fleece jacket. But I guess ten minutes was enough.

1.27 pm:

Have isolated myself. Leaving my better half to deal with everything. There’s a lot written about the virus, governance … but not much about the physical workload and psychological impact of quarantine on family members. This is one of the reasons we decided not to send the children back to school till next year - no sense in subjecting them to endless cycles of restricted freedom, infection, quarantine, closures because that’s what living with the virus really means.

The lower back, knees, elbows and knuckles are paining. I feel warm like someone has just lit a tiny spark inside me and the twigs are starting to catch. No breathing problems. A minor cold, a little cough occasionally, but I am getting up and clearing my throat. It’s less than an hour and I already can’t get out of bed. That was quick. Salute SARS-CoV-2.

3.36 pm:

Spoke to physician Dr Narendra Kulkarni and took Dolo 650 as advised (as a rule, I do not self-medicate). Took a Covid antigen self-test from Abbot and tested positive. Yay! Now on to RT-PCR.

4.39 pm:

RT-PCR sample given. Just had Maggi noodles - taste and smell are fine. There’s something about Maggi noodles that makes a great meal when am ill. Body-ache is persisting accompanied by a headache. We also called our trusted family paediatrician Dr Anand Pandit, a wise grandfatherly gentleman, and he told us he’s also got Covid and advised us to do exactly what he’s doing: nothing. Just wait out the seven days and take fever controlling medication as required.

6.15 pm:

In the 22 months from January 2020 (when I first heard of Covid) till November 2021, I have been to office, hospitals (several times), clinics, had surgery, been on walks, generally been out and about with proper precautions and did not contract Covid. I got my vaccine second dose end of November and now I have Covid with very little interaction with the world. Does the vaccine make the body more amenable to the new variants? Hmm? Have been walking around the room, sometimes singing, sometimes checking in on work, writing stuff, playing the odd game of chess. Activity really helps in dealing with the pain.

7.43 pm:

We are not very different - the virus and I. We are both trying to survive in a hard world. It has the advantage of being able to mutate fast. It is a dynamic organism that is evolving with every passing day, picking up new survival skills in true Darwinian prophecy, adapting faster to human contingencies, getting better at fulfilling its destiny: to infect and kill more humans. I can adapt but my response time is affected by government, non-government, medical, local, family and work decision protocols. I think this new Omicron variant has learned to penetrate the vaccine defences by sacrificing lethal effect. Who knows what skills and capabilities the next variant of concern will combine (Omicron’s penetration and Delta’s firepower)?

January 25, 1.54 am:

Just woke up after a fitful sleep. Dozed off around 10 pm. I can feel the illness snaking its way through my digestive system. The joints are the main target - feels as if someone is pressing on the knees, shoulders, knuckles, waist … and then trying to pull them apart.

9.39 am:

Just woke up after a good sleep. No body-ache. No headache. No fever. It’s just gone. RT-PCR test result came in at 2.38: am positive for Covid. The test result does not tell me what variant.

10.15 am:

Informed colleagues that I will take the day off. Had hot ginger chai and now pacing the room.

11.26 am:

Had breakfast and realised that the virus generates a lot of phlegm. Have to keep throwing it out else it accumulates in throat and then makes me choke.

Dehydration seems to be a by-product as is fatigue from the body fighting the infection. I think the body-ache and fever are distractions - the phlegm is the real problem since it can easily lead to congestion. But when you have aches and fever, you tend not to get up and just give in to the pain. It’s tiring.

11.55 am:

Just touched a kilometre of walking. It’s ridiculously difficult racking up kilometres inside a tiny room. The number of rounds I walk makes me think I am walking a lot but after 10 minutes it’s just 100 meters. Bolt did it in under 10 seconds.

A friend just Whatsapped to ask if I had stepped out of doors recently. So, I replied: “Nope, we don’t really step out of the house. Aaj kal Covid home delivery de raha hai. Service improve ho gaya.”

1.30 pm:

Spoke to Dr Madhuwanti Abhayankar of AG Diagnostics. She explained that all positive test samples are sent to the state government and they then run genome sequencing tests to accurately determine the variant. That information is not available to individual patients but it becomes part of clinical research data for the state and nation.

3.30 pm:

No new adverse symptoms at the moment except for heaviness in the head and a cough-like feeling in the chest (no cough). If I take a deep breath, I feel sharpness down my windpipe.

6.20 pm:

Finally had a long chat with my childhood friend, Dr Sandeep Khurana, MD, certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology. He also serves as Professor of Medicine at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Pennsylvania. “Omicron is marching through the population.” He said and asked several questions on symptoms, reports, current state. “Don’t do anything, don’t take any medicines. At those CT levels, and with your fever already broken, you’ll be out of the difficult part in a day. Stay isolated, vigilant, keep mind and body active.”

January 26, 1 am:

Having difficulty falling asleep. No major aches, but a slight and constant stomach discomfort and a mild headache. A cold has suddenly developed. Actually, whenever I touch cold water or anything cold, symptoms of cold appear quickly but then subside if I clear my nose and throat.

11.30 am:

Constant vigilance is required, not just a desire, but a will to adapt, fight and do the hard work to survive and live despite of the virus. I have never taken any vaccines, except for polio when I was a kid. But I took the Covid vaccine because my logic was: if my body can build immunity against diseases, it will also know how to address any risks from vaccines. But if I stay unvaccinated, I may put others with less immunity in danger.

I have realised that we don’t have to abandon logic and prudence nor take refuge in logic and prudence only. A prescription that works for some may not for others. There does not seem to be any specific medication approved as a blanket treatment of Covid anyway. It is therefore important for individuals and families to make decisions based on their doctor’s advice after informing them about the specific symptoms, medical history, and health.

1.30 pm:

Today is the third day. Am feeling better. Some Covid affected don’t have any hardships on any day. Some have difficult symptoms for days, weeks. Others have different experiences. I intend to focus on what Khurana said as we wrapped our call: “If you are healthy, vaccinated and maintain activity, you’ll be fine. People with co-morbidities and those who are obese, overweight or have chronic health concerns run the main risk with Covid. So, we have to treat our lives with more respect and reimagine our lifestyle with more responsibility and care.”

Sanjay Mukherjee, author, learning-tech designer and management consultant, is founder of Mountain Walker and chief strategy advisor, Peak Pacific. He can be reached @ thebengali@icloud.com