COVID 19 Survivor Story - Day 1

March 31, 2021 

I got a message from our company nurse that I need to do the RT-PCR swab right away.  I have the symptoms and the irony is, there are 2 people in our office area that is confirmed positive. I started to freak out, I kept saying to myself that if I’m thinking I can get over this, the news squashed all my hopes away.  This must be COVID.

But even before the message, I silently packed my bag because we are now looking for a hospital to check on me.  At least to evaluate on my symptoms and do the swab.  My niece sent me an oximeter thru Grab rider and it though at my first test, my oxygen saturation is 93, it didn’t take much time before it becomes 87.  I asked for my boss help if she knows someone who can help me. We called at least 10 hospitals nearby and they all said they are fully occupied from all the onslaught of COVID positive patients.

Our company nurse called me If I wanted to go to the hospital near our office site in the south and she will talk to the representative since we have a tie up contract on this hospital. I even ask for an ambulance since the car is not yet available that time but one, hospital ambulance is not available, two, the lifeline ambulance service I called is charging me Php20,000 ($400) if I am a member and Php30,000 ($600) for non-members (of course, I’m not a member!) and with the conditions -  if the hospital knew I was going there, they need the name of the doctor so they would call ahead if they knew me and will accept me.  Tsk, my oxygen level may have drop to 50 from that process alone.

My eldest sister come and rescue me from my dilemma.  She gave the car keys to my husband and we drove to the hospital with the windows open, and me at the back silently dry coughing and wishing this is not COVID.

We reached the hospital at 1:00PM. I was interviewed outside of the emergency room,  two nurses, they asked questions while checking my vitals - who’s my contact in that hospital, If I’m there for the swabbing only, etc.  They got my BP - normal but I saw in their eyes something like a knowing look when they got to see my oxygen saturation, I saw 84.  But you know, I’m quite a tough person.  You wouldn’t see me feeling helpless and out of breath or looking sick.  So maybe they think, I wouldn’t need to be admitted.  But I told them I got to be admitted, that’s why I’m there.

I was whisk to an isolation room to further check my stats.  But they already placed an oxygen mask around my face.  They told me the schedule of RT PCR swabbing is 4:00PM.  They would not let me admit because I look good, I can still talk and just sitting there in the room instead of helplessly lying down.  Or maybe, If I'm positive, it's only mild or moderate,  I can stay and wait at home.  I fill up some hospital forms.  Our company nurse is having arguments from the hospital representative because I’m number 38 from the waiting list of those COVID patients waiting to be admitted.  Our nurse said how can they be sure that I will be admitted on the next hospital that they want me to go? They will provide the recommendations they said.  Our nurse said, NO, you should check the patient first. I even confirm to the nurse I will pay for any room available in ER; nurse said the isolation room without the bathroom cost Php6,000 per day.  I said, okay, just to let them check me.  I know they are exhausted, but this female nurse is somewhat annoying, as if it is my fault that I am there.  That I wanted to be there.  She even told me I shouldn’t wait on the symptoms to get worse before getting a swab test.  I told her, you don’t know that (the feeling) and just ignored her.

Then, they wheeled down a portable x-ray machine. After a while, an ER doctor came, we already talked a while ago about giving me recommendation to go to another hospital.  She told me the x-ray result is out, I had pneumonia.  I asked her how was it? She answered, it’s severe.