Asthmatic, diabetic woman from Visakhapatnam defeats COVID-19 with mental fortitude

VISAKHAPATNAM: With no certainty as to when the pandemic will end, dealing with the current situation has not been easy for many people at a time when the country is dreading a third wave. 

A 50-year-old asthmatic and diabetic COVID-19 survivor, recalling the '14 unforgettable days of her life', says constant encouragement and moral support from fellow patients at the hospital where she was undergoing treatment kept her going. "After I tested positive, for a brief moment I felt like it’s all over," the 50-year-old, who recovered in early May, says. 

Extremely worried about her son, a high school student, as her husband too was COVID-infected, the survivor’s family was isolated in their home for days before her sugar levels started plummeting. Not long after, her blood oxygen level also fell down to 87.

"My doctor suggested that I get myself hospitalised immediately." She was admitted to Anil Neerukonda Hospital, where she received treatment in a separate room for 14 days. "It was difficult because I had never stayed alone and was worried about my family, especially my son," she says.

The Vizag woman was given insulin and Remdesivir for her recovery.  However, she adds, the rising COVID-19 deaths everywhere took a toll on her mental health.In the initial days at the hospital, her sugar levels constantly fluctuated.

"Due to weakness, I could not even walk for long in the first 10 days. I knew my mental health wasn’t good. I tried to be strong, kept telling myself that I have to go back healthy to my son, that he needs me," he added. 

The doctors and nurses, she recalls, were all overworked and tired, but never did they not smile when they attended her. "Those tired smiles helped too." But what truly helped her feel positive and regain her mental fortitude was talking to other COVID-19 patients. 

"There was a lady who was younger than me. Despite sitting far from each other, we would talk for hours in the evening. She would tell me that she was there for me, that I am not alone... moral support from other patients helped me feel better, that I wasn’t alone," he said.

After she started recovering, she found out that she could do yoga and breathing exercises. "The exercise made me feel energised and my condition began improving even further," she explains. When she returned home, she came back with stable oxygen and sugar levels. 

As a COVID-19 survivor, she reiterates what experts had been saying all along: mental health is as important as physical health, and both should be looked after.