I went from being highly active to lying in bed

Software engineer Shruti Pandit was leading a very active lifestyle with daily runs, yoga until COVID hit her. She immediately got herself admitted to a hospital to keep her family safe. Here’s her COVID journey.
Everyone is life goes through an experience that changes them forever. For some it is a heart break, for some it is loss of a near one, for some it is accident etc. For me, it won’t be an exaggeration to say that COVID has changed my life in appositive way. It had made a huge impact on my life. It changed my thought process for good. COVID has made me more grateful towards everyday simple things that I used to take for granted. I am so grateful for my body, my health, my mind and soul. Health is truly wealth. This adage never ringed so true to me than now, after my bad COVID phase has passed. It has made me into a New person, who is more positive, more grateful, and more blessed than ever before.
Today I want to share my story of my COVID experience with a tip to few who are going through mental and emotional trauma that they must be facing in their COVID journey. With this article, I want to infuse hope and positivity amongst many who are going through rough times and people who never got COVID and are afraid of this disease.
I am a software engineer by profession and on the scale of 1-10 , I rate my self as 7 when it comes to health. I am a very healthy person. I run every day to keep myself fit. I vouch by Yoga and breathing exercises to lead a healthy lifestyle. And if I am able to bounce back from Coronavirus pretty quickly, it is all due to God’s grace, prayers of my Spiritual Master and Healthy lifestyle that I had been living for all these years. I am a long distance runner and have participated in many marathons. So, I am a very active person. I can’t tolerate to laze around at all. But Covid hit me like a thunder bolt and took my energy away. That is when I realized the importance of good health. This also, brought to my notice that if you are a person who doesn’t move around much, then you won’t realize the impact of COVID. But, if an active person gets hit by the virus, he really feels the damage that virus can do. Now I am on my road to recovery, taking it one day at a time.

Detection

I got detected with COVID when I travelled back from my hometown. I had a packet of Spicy chips and couldn’t get the taste of spice at all. I developed fever, cough and cold too. That’s when I knew I had it. I got myself tested and got a call from BMC the next morning that I was positive. I didn’t know what to do in that very moment. Though BMC person was very helpful, and she told me not to panic. She suggested to inhale steam thrice a day, drink Turmeric milk and isolate myself but still I was totally blank in that very moment. I was terrified and didn’t know what to do. It was like earth slipped beneath my feet. I never thought that I could get infected by the deadly virus. I know that effect of virus has reduced these days and chances of recovery for a fit person like me are high. But, there is something about COVID that scares the hell out of you. Maybe it’s the fact that it has caused so many deaths all over the world. Maybe it is the fact how severely it affects your breathing capabilities. I was stunned to know that I had contracted the virus. I didn’t want to take any risk and took a decision to hospitalize myself to be on the safer side. Here is where the trouble begins. Many hospitals I called outrightly and rudely rejected to admit me.

Hospitals should understand the seriousness of admitting the patients and should admit them. This is for the mere reason that some people are living in joint families and cannot really isolate themselves. Such cases can spread virus in their households. Hospitals need to be more accommodative and sympathetic towards COVID cases. Luckily, I got a COVID bed in one of the hospitals and rushed myself to the hospital.

Hospitalization Experience

I had never been to hospital in my entire life. So, hospitalization was a pretty new experience to me. And let me tell you it wasn’t a good one. I got scared looking at those machines. CT scan, IV Drips and Blood Pressure Monitoring machines, all had been a painful experience for me. Imagine you open your eyes at 5 AM in the morning and a nurse is standing in front of you to poke you with needle and take your blood sample. Yes, that is what is exactly I faced in the hospital. It is not hospital’s fault, it is just that such a experience was painful for me. Searching for a nerve to insert IV drip took almost 20 mins and the experience was not pleasant. I was bed ridden for 6 days. And I was not at all happy about it. My one hand was not working as it was sealed with IV Drip. An active person like me was lying there lifelessly with a hand sealed, waiting for the phase to pass through. I had never felt so without energy in my entire life. All I did was to pray to God to recover me quickly. I did positive visualizations of getting back on road like before with my running shoes. I visualized doing Yoga like before. I hated every minute of my stay in the hospital. All I wished was to get my energy back and be like before. But these tough times in hospital also made me realize the worth of healthy mind and healthy body. Many a times we take our healthy lifestyle for granted. But we should treat our life and health with utmost care.

Recovery

Now, I am on my road to recovery and what I have realized is that one has to take recovery one day at a time. Road to recovery requires lot of patience. I am much better than how I was 14 days back. What helped me get over this tough phase were baby steps and right diet. I stuck to a routine and took my medicines with utmost seriousness. Took Steam thrice a day, drank turmeric milk everyday, took multivitamins and minerals everyday, without a miss.

I started walking for 15 mins daily from day 7 to get my energy back. Yes,one can’t expect to be regain all lost energy and strength like one had before. So, the journey has to be one step at a time.

Some tips for prevention and cure

I think with will power and right attitude we should be able to combat Corona. I think countries like India have an edge over western countries because we rely a lots of home made remedies and Ayurveda. These remedies have helped me personally in recovering faster too.

· Take Hot Turmeric Milk twice a day. It heals you faster.

· Take steam thrice a day. You will be able to combat the virus faster

· Take proper rest and don’t exert yourself too much during COVID infection

· Take multi vitamins and multi minerals prescribed by doctor.Very much necessary to boost immunity

· Consult a doctor and get CT Scan and blood tests done after Swab tests to understand magnitude of infection

· Eat nutritious and healthy meals with lots of green leafy vegetables to regain energy back

· Drink lots of fluids to flush out toxins

· After 8-10 days, start slow walks at your own pace if your health allows.

· Do little yoga post 8-10 days to regain your energy

· Ful fledged exercises should be started only after 1 month since the day infection started.

· Isolate yourself immediately when you are found positive to stop the spread

With right attitude and by wearing masks all the time, you can combat the virus like I did. Stay happy and healthy.

Did you fight COVID-19? We want to hear all about it. ETimes Lifestyle is calling all the survivors of COVID to share their stories of survival and hope.

Write to us at toi.health1@gmail.com with ‘My COVID story’ in the subject line

We will publish your experience.

The views expressed in this article should not be considered as a substitute for a physician’s advice. Please consult your treating physician for more details.

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