I am proud to say that I have always had a pretty strong immune system. I have always tried to keep on top of my nutrition and have always exercised regularly. I cannot even remember the last time I had a sniffle, let alone a cold or the flu. So when Covid-19 made an appearance in the UK, it did not really phase me. I was probably part of the majority who at the time thought it was just another virus, not pre-empting the impact it was going to have not only in this country, but all over the world. I was not ignoring it, but I was definitely not over-reacting. I was following the guidelines set out by Government, namely washing your hands for 20 seconds (although this is something I was always doing, so it did make me wonder how many people were not washing their hands?!) and I continued to disinfect and clean as well as I could. I was convinced that as a fit and healthy ‘young’ person I would not catch the virus and in the event that that I did, my body was strong enough to fight it quickly.
Then on 9th March it all started. I started experiencing body aches and came down with a severe headache out of nowhere. It completely knocked me for six. I had been fairly busy with work and looking after my toddler son, so thought I was just a little run down. I still did not think it was anything serious.
The next morning I woke up with a dry cough, again out of nowhere. I went to work but given that anxiety had started up to build amongst the public, I was super conscious about coughing near anyone. I found myself constantly running to a quiet part of the office to cough. Again I did not think for a moment that I had the virus. But having spoken to my sister, I decided to call 111 on my drive home. The adviser suggested that I should self-isolate for 7 days and that as it was a new dry and persistent cough I would be tested for the virus. A little anxiety starting setting in, but even then I kept disregarding the idea that I had this virus. I checked the government website when I got home and there were only 2 people in our area who were confirmed to have the virus. This gave me a little peace of mind and I convinced myself I just had a seasonal bug. I actually carried on as normal assuming it was just a bad cough. The NHS adviser called me back the next day informing me that they were no longer testing people following a change in the Government advice, so it couldn’t be that serious?
Fast forward two days and my cough had become unbearable. It was constant. No matter what I took to alleviate it, I could not control it. I was constantly googling home remedies in the hope that something would work, but nothing did. On the Saturday, I started getting sharp and stabbing pains in my chest and I could not catch my breath. My joints were also in so much pain. My anxiety was rising at this point as I started to think I could have something a little more serious than just a seasonal bug. But there is no way I could have Coronavirus?! I had not travelled out of the country and I had been super careful, constantly washing and sanitising my hands and disinfecting everything around me. I still debated all day as to whether I should call 111 again or just carry on hoping that it would just all go away the next day. I was really struggling to breathe and as the day went on, it just got harder and harder. I hate to admit when I am ill, but I could not bare it anymore and around 4pm I called 111. The nurse on the phone said that it could potentially be pneumonia and asked me to urgently go to the emergency ward in hospital. Upon arrival at hospital, I was seen very quickly and explained my symptoms. At this point, I was getting out of breath just walking a few metres. My chest was in pain with every breath I took. The nurse said it was very likely I had Covid-19 but that the Government policy was they were not carrying out any tests unless you fell into a vulnerable group. She also said that there was a small chance that you could develop mild pneumonia but that there was a 6 hour wait to get an x-ray to check this. 6 hours?! I explained I could not wait that long as I had to get back to my young son. I pleaded with her, as I was struggling to breathe but they had so many emergencies that there was nothing she could do. I understood that there actually wasn’t. So I left.
The next day, the shortness of breath got worse. A lot worse. I was using my husband’s asthma inhalers just to catch my breath and get some relief. My chest was in so much pain and sensitive to touch that I felt like I could not think straight. I was even struggling to even get out of bed because of the severe fatigue. All the signs pointed to mild pneumonia but I just did not have the energy to go back to hospital to wait for hours to be checked. The hospital was inundated the day before, so I could only imagine how busy they were now. My GP were referring me to 111. And 111 were telling me to just give it til the end of the 14 days. It was a hard few days but with the help of my husband, a lot of rest and loads and loads of vitamin C, I started to feel a little better.
I am on day 12 now and I finally feel like I am breathing with ease. My chest is still a little sore but it is the best I have felt in over a week. I have no confirmation that I definitely had Covid-19 as it was only my symptoms that pointed to me having the virus. I guess I will find out if I did once the antibody tests are rolled out. But it definitely made me realise that people need to take this more seriously and was a little wake up call even for me. This is not aimed at everyone, just those who still continue to ignore Government guidance to socially distance themselves from others and continue to quote facts of other diseases that exist in the world in a bid to make this virus seem almost harmless. You may think you are invincible, or believe that just because you are not showing symptoms or are young, fit and healthy that you are protected. But to have that mentality is dangerous, not just for you but to everyone around you. Social distancing is to protect someone’s mum, someone’s dad, someone’s grandparents. It is about everyone coming together to fight this as a team. You might make a full recovery, but there are people who will not be able to make a full recovery due to age or underlying health conditions. This is not a scaremongering article. This is simply to encourage people to listen to the guidance being given by the professionals and to take individual responsibility to fight this together.
We are in this together.
Unite.
Wash your hands.
Follow advice.
Don’t be selfish.
Think of the bigger picture.
Because the longer we pretend that everything is still as it always has been, the longer it takes to get back to the World we once knew.
Stay safe x
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