Dr. Nimisha's lock down diary

May 29, 2020

a Doctor who's Corona warrior and Corona survivor

by Dr. Nimisha

Being doctor couple is not at all easy... I didn't realize it untill this corona pandemic had encroached our lives..
We were living our normal routine life; duties and home during lockdown, serving society untill the day my husband developed fever on 13th April..

Being doctors we thought we should get him tested as soon as possible, though not even having one percent of doubt that it was just a normal flu because he had no symptoms other than fever!

He got tested for covid19 on 15th April and next day I got a call from my hospital as I got him tested in my hospital only (near by our residence) and it just shook me from inside out that he was positive!😰

We were almost as lost as any non-medico would be and I don't know why! Anyhow We gathered courage to face the reality; he was consoling me and vice versa!

We called government authority to inform the same, meanwhile we came to know that he has to shift to covid19 isolation ward in any hospital and we were clueless what now!

First we thought about the corporate hospital, I was doing my dnb from then we realised after enquiring thoroughly that the cost was beyond our imagination..

Finally anyhow he got allotted a renowned government hospital... That day I was thinking to get myself tested as well so that I could move out with him to the hospital but unfortunately it was not possible because I was yet to be tested.. We requested many a time for my admission too as I would have been left alone after my husband gets admitted but government officials told us they don't have any vacant bed for suspected patients and said as soon as I get tested positive they will allot us a twin room..

I had hope and prayers that I get tested positive though I had no doubt about it as I was 24*7 with my husband before symptoms and even after getting symptoms ( high grade fever)..

I got tested on the very next day 17th April but God was not kind enough and I was negative! It shattered me again because it took my only hope to be with my husband away ( as all I wanted to be with him, no matter what we go through) but this time again I was not lucky enough!

And we started our journey being apart!

The most difficult thing was to manage our families as we were living away from our family.. What if they would come to know all these during these harrowing days of corona as they were already too worried about us!

After hours of discussion before the ambulance came to pick him up we figured out something to manage this also...

I remember, I was crying & giving strength to him at the same time; without knowing how it's going to work when I'm myself crying non stop! We got to know his test result around 3:30 pm and it was around 10:15 pm, we didn't have even a sip of water until he left for hospital...

Our parents were calling at night like usual days and we could not gather courage to pick the phone up.. though anyhow we did talk to them...

We told them a story that he's going for 7 days duty at a stretch as we had to tell them that we're going to live separately for few days untill I get shifted to hospital (as we had 100% hope that I will be positive).

Our family got tensed only knowing the fact that I'm going to be alone at home; forget about telling them that he was covid positive!😐

Anyhow we managed ourselves and family as well... Though we were fortunate enough here that my husband had only mild symptoms which got subsided the day he got admitted and he didn't developed any other later!

As I was tested negative so government officials quarantined me for whole month and I was left alone at home depressed, crying and wiping off my own tears! I got few calls from hospital colleagues as only they had idea about all these! And many calls from government officials to enquire the contacts we had... I might be exaggerating it but at that time we had a feeling exactly like there was any criminal enquiry going on, though the officials were very cooperative but I guess I was very sensitive to it so I felt like that.. Anyways, anyhow I over came with that horrifying day... But I guess that wasn't the end of my suffering, and the next day my husband got a call that our home was going to get sanitized by municipality personnel and that was the really horrifying visual and perception for me till date.. They came just down the building, 6-8 people in their dress and they started enquiring, in between calling my husband and asking our neighbours; till that time no one from our society had any idea about my husband being covid positive... I was continuously on call with my husband because I had to keep myself engaged as I was too scared! The sanitizing whole building n our home, this whole process took an hour and this one hour was like damn horrifying!
And after that I had that feeling of guilt or some fear I don't know what & why but it was there because everyone was looking at our balcony with their suspicious eyes... Therefore I never opened the door of my balcony even, to avoid any eye contact..

It was day 3 since my husband got admitted to hospital and I was running out of water, milk and few grocery stuff.. I knew it will take time as well as difficult if I make a call to police for my needs.. Therefore, I decided to assemble myself & my confidence to talk to my neighbours to help for my need...
When I rang the doorbell they came out with fear on their face but anyhow I made them understand the situation and told them I'm myself a doctor & stay assured that I'll make sure you get no harm... I just took the girl's number & did WhatsApp her what I needed and further few information I gave her regarding I got tested negative & you just drop my groceries at door & I'll make online payment!
Finally she got convinced & I got that done.. At that time I really patted myself for that courage!
I continued living inside the room only, not even going to my balcony... At that very moment all I wanted my husband to be back!😐

One week passed and he got tested on 22nd and 24th as two consecutive samples to be taken for evaluation.. 4 days passed and we were waiting for reports & it didn't come... On 5th day we came to know that one was positive and the other one was inconclusive!
Alas! I shattered once again... We knew it's going to take another 7 days or so... The third test was done after 5 days on 29th April (on our constant request) and the very next day report came out 'Positive' again... It was the 3rd test after he got admitted and almost 15 days of admission! I was just as mad as never before, God can never be this brutal to me..😞 Anyways... In between a home isolation guidelines for the covid patients announced by government and we started convincing doctors for that, the nodal officer got agreed to it and went to take permission from Medical superintendent.. Meanwhile my husband started packing up his stuff and I started cleaning house and making arrangements for his isolation at home (as we were kind of sure being a doctor couple)...
But again this was not the end of our suffering n Medical superintendent denied for it... I cried hell out of my lung but had no option but to accept it... I had to gather courage to keep my husband's motivation up as he was already fighting the devil inside him.. Unfortunately it was again a whole week to go for the next testing to be done...

We were deeply disappointed & depressed.. Our family was continuously asking us when his duties are going to get over and we were extending it with the help of one after another excuses (this was the most difficult part to be tackled)... On 6th of May day 22 of his admission they sent his sample again and we were waiting for the reports... It was 4th day (since the sample has been sent) but no response from doctors!

Day 23rd of his admission and we're still waiting for the report meanwhile a new guideline from health ministry got released that if any patient is not having any symptoms since 10 days, can be discharged without testing as cases were rising so they had to reduce extra testing done for already known positive patients and the beds needed to be vacated for more needy patients..

Therefore we kept this point forward to the nodal officer, luckily he agreed and got passed by medical superintendent as well... Finally on 9th of May at night my husband got response from nodal officer of being discharged next day..

We were very happy but had fear of getting smashed back as before... Therefore even after being assured that this was exactly going to work this time and he will be home soon, I couldn't sleep whole night.. Anyhow we spent night and morning we started waiting for the discharge procedure to begin... It was 24th day on 10 may and about 12:30 pm he got confirmation that he's getting discharged... But the problem was to get an ambulance for transportation which was very difficult as many patients were there to be transported... After whole day's hassle for ambulance n few worrisome response from the hospital personnel about the ambulance and transportation issues, somehow, he managed to come home by 7 pm🥰 and this made my life lively again after long long time of pain, tension & wait......

We're here again joining back to our duties after completing our quarantine period (almost after a month)!

I don't know what others feel for us... But, here, I really compassionately saluted myself for this!🙏🏻😇

To conclude this I just want to say what I realized that difficult situations come to make you stronger only!

With Thankful regards to everyone for their support, prayers n blessings for us during this tough time!!!!😇🙏🏻

By- Dr. Nimisha and Dr. Prashant

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