Anubhav Bangari and his family contracted COVID-19 during the second wave.
While Anubhav recovered fast, his mother’s daunting battle with severe pneumonia, shortage of beds and oxygen gave him sleepless nights while he exposed himself to the risk of reinfection.
He pens how his family bravely fought through the virus and got closer to each other.
My fight with coronavirus has taught me some life lessons- most of all, anything is possible in life and all you just need to do is to be ready to fight.
My family & I got COVID-19 in the second wave when it began as these mild symptoms of fever.
My father and I thought it will go on its own, we just need to give it some time.
We all developed a high fever, which ultimately went on its own with some medicines of course.
But my mother’s fever just wouldn’t go away.
Meanwhile, the two week quarantine period was almost over and I tested negative for the virus.
So, the priority for me was now to bring my mother’s fever down, even though I knew the risks entailed since there was a big risk of reinfection.
We tried to bring it down by all means necessary meanwhile taking all the necessary precautions.
We started consulting with the doctors, but the medicines that were prescribed were not available in the shops anywhere.
Meanwhile, her fever of 102 F remained and we both got so worried.
Three days later, it finally came down to 99 F.
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When the fever really went away, I was so happy that my mother was feeling better.
But that happiness didn’t last very long as her reports came in.
My mother got her blood test report on 27th April which informed us that her CRP was high.
It was 32m mg/L which was way higher than a healthier person’s.
We started giving her blood thinners & steroids as prescribed by the doctors.
2 days later, we got her HRCT scan done in which she had a CT score of 16/25 & she has developed severe pneumonia.
We consulted with a doctor right away at a nearby hospital and started her treatment immediately at home.
We were informed that her situation will get worse and we might need to admit her soon.
This was all happening at the time when COVID was at its peak and it became so troublesome task to get her all the medical help.
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My father started blaming himself for being so late in starting her treatment.
I honestly never felt so helpless like this ever before.
Her oxygen levels were hovering around 90-92.
If the worst scenario would have come, and if we were too late to get her oxygen or a bed, things could have gone worse.
I couldn’t sleep those nights knowing her situation could go worse any time.
But some people reminded me that I needed to stay strong for my family.
And I did stay strong at least in front of my folks.
24 X 7 I monitored my mother and see if she needed anything.
Even during the night, I would go check on her whether she is breathing fine, which gave me a little bit of time to rest.
I was reassured as long as she was fine.
Thank god, her condition didn’t further deteriorate and I shall ever remain grateful for the same.
It was definitely the most challenging time that we as a family had to undergo.
Soon after all the sleepless nights, her recovery kicked in.
She was continually doing her breathing exercises and to this day she continues to do so.
I honestly have no idea how we got through this difficult time.
Maybe it was the doctors who gave me advice every step of the way or my friends who gave all the moral support I ever needed, maybe it was my one friend who arranged an oxygen cylinder for me.
Knowing that oxygen (if needed in an emergency) is available, I could finally get some hours of sleep.
Through my story, I also want to give respect to all the corona warriors out there who have been treating the patients in this pandemic and risking their lives.
A person in a white robe definitely saved my mother’s life.
My mother is still recovering and having that cylinder still made me feel guilty, wondering if somebody else needed it more than us.
Now we have given it to the person, who needs it more than we do.
However, it shouldn’t have been a predicament to save someone else’s life.
Meanwhile, I have seen people struggling to find basic necessities like oxygen or medicines because some people have decided to store them to hyperinflate the prices.
They are taking advantage & risking the lives of others just so that they could earn more money in a situation like this.
I am trying to be positive and look at the silver lining.
My family and I are closer than ever.
It’s not a burden if we shoulder it together.
My mom was one of the lucky ones who survived but maybe not lucky enough to avoid the lung infection.
Yet we are very grateful.
I can’t imagine what people are going through who are losing their family members, in spite of doing everything to save their loved ones.
Some people were kind enough to get us through all this, and I wish I could do the same and put this kindness forward out into the world.
The least we could do is, stay at home & stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Take care and stay safe.
Anubhav Bangari
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