It All Started With an Upset Stomach…
It was a usual day for Abhay Singh, a 61-year-old family man who got up early in the morning to take his dogs for a walk. However, a sudden sign of an upset stomach followed by severe pain dragged him back home. He assumed that his healthy lifestyle supported by strict safety rules would not let him catch the virus, but it did come knocking. Not only did he suffer from the obvious symptoms but also a post-viral discomfort that stayed longer than the actual infection. Here is his story of battling with the most feared viral infection – COVID 19.
It has been over a year that the world is struggling to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation has brought suffering, fear and substantial loss of life around the globe. But, its impact is not shared equally. Some are terribly suffering due to poor conditions, while some are fighting back with their strong immune system. But what is wrong here is to think that it will not happen to you, because it can happen to any of us, be it young or old.
When the cases began to rise this year again, I and my family took enough precautions, and remained alert at all times. Wearing a mask, watching hands every now and then, and using hand sanitiser when exposed to outside things were religiously followed at my place, which made me assume that nothing can happen to us. But by the mid of March, all of us got infected, and the experience is shared below.
March 13, 2021: Like every other day, I was at the park with my dogs getting some fresh air and reaping the benefits of my yoga session. While performing one of the poses, I felt an unusual discomfort in my stomach. First I thought that it was indigestion due to last night’s meal, but the severe pain and sweating were alarming. Still thinking that it might be food poisoning, I immediately rushed back home to call my family doctor, took the prescribed medicine and went to sleep. By this time, there were no other signs of COVID-19, and my wife and children were feeling fine.
I got up in the afternoon feeling slightly better than before but with a mild fever and dry throat. Thinking it is because of the stomach infection and antibiotics, I spent the day having food and medication as my doctor suggested.
March 14, 2021: The next morning, I woke up with a 100-degree fever, and my throat was dry as a desert. By this time my wife had also started complaining of weakness and body ache. We were all in fear yet optimistic that it cannot be COVID until my 20-year-old son fainted. I immediately contacted the COVID-19 care facility in our area to get tested, and sadly we all were infected. Even my other 27-year-old son, who had no signs and symptoms.
The doctor prescribed us specific medicines and asked us to stay at home to avoid the risk of spreading the infection. The next 3 to 4 days went into isolation, and we had 7 more days to go until we completed a 14 days window to get tested again.
March 15 – 17, 2021: All of us were strictly following the doctor’s words with my wife and children getting better and their symptoms under control. However, my fever was still there and it was now accompanied by severe body ache and chest congestion. I kept on taking steam to ease the congestion, but it lasted for about 15 days that was double the recovery window for COVID-19 infection. Though under fear, the speedy recovery of my family kept my morale high.
On the last day of isolation, all my long-haul symptoms were gone, and my family was super fit. I praised all of us for braving the isolation period so well.
How to fight COVID-19?
Besides prescribed medications, we also found healing in the following nature’s roots that I would want to share with everyone battling the infection.
1. Herbal tea – Commonly called Kadha, it is prepared with Tulsi, jaggery powder (gur), cardamom (elaichi), cinnamon (dal-chini), black pepper (kali mirch), mulethi, giloy and ashwagandha. All these ingredients play an important role in boosting your immune system and curing the illness.
2. Camphor and carom seeds – Tie a piece of camphor and a tablespoon of carom seeds in a small piece of cloth. Smell it 10-15 times a day to maintain your oxygen level and ease coughs or congestion.
3. Salt and Carom seeds gargle – Mix a teaspoon of carom seeds, salt and a pinch of raw turmeric in water and bring it to a boil. Once lukewarm, it is ready for gargle. Do this twice a day to each cough and itchy or painful throat.
4. Steam inhalation – Inhale steam twice a day to clear your throat in case it catches the virus. It also helps in easing discomfort caused due to the common cold.
5. Nutritious diet – In addition to everything, having a balanced diet is extremely important. Include things like lentils, seasonal vegetables & fruits, and other food items rich in nutritional values to keep you strong from within.
6. Yoga and meditation – Yes, we also regularly practised yoga and meditation every morning for a minimum of an hour. Additionally, we also frequently played healing chants like the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra along with others to surround ourselves with some positive energy.
This was my story of battling the most fearful viral infection of today.
