On Monday 16th November 2020, I started sneezing a few times at the office. Not long after that, my nose started dripping and I felt feverish in the evening. I thought I had the normal flu, so I went to see the doctor and got an MC for the next day. The doctor told me my flu could be due to the weather.
I felt terrible the next day, my temperature was 37.2 and I felt feverish and tired. My body started to ache, especially my lower back and my feet. I remember sleeping for the whole day and I felt that I had lost my strength. I took another MC on Wednesday. Both doctors thought I had the normal flu.
I got back to work on Thursday and Friday, my nose had stopped dripping but I developed a sore throat, and I lost my sense of taste and smell. Yet, I still had this flu-like feeling on my nose, the feeling I had was not like the normal kind of flu, and seriously it made me super tired.
My mom was rather paranoid about me losing my sense of taste and smell and persuaded me to take the Covid-19 swab test on Sunday 22nd November 2020. I finally went to get it done. It was very very uncomfortable when the doctor inserted the swab down my nose. Yet I was pretty calm about the whole thing and thought it was very unlikely for me to contract Covid-19.
Monday 23rd November 2020, I received a call from the hospital when I was wrapping up my work to go home. "Ms Kimberly, I have a bad news for you. Your swab test result is positive," the doctor on the other line told me. I was unable to believe it at first, I think I froze for a few seconds there. The doctor then told me what should I do next, and that someone from the Ministry of Health/ KKM will contact me soon, most probably the next day. I remember I was shaking while holding the phone talking to the doctor. I tried to remain steady and called my boyfriend, whom I had the closest contact with, then my parents, and my boss.
I did not go to work the next day, and was waiting for KKM to call me. I packed all my stuff, thinking I most likely have to stay at the hospital for 14 days. A doctor from the Petaling District Health Division called me in the morning, asking for my close contact details and telling me that the the Sungai Buloh Hospital will contact me soon and a transport will be arranged for me to get to the hospital.
I spent the whole morning and afternoon in my room that day. I remember feeling really tired, but in my heart I wanted to pray and talk to God. So with all of my strength, I sang this worship song, I could feel my heart sinking and holding on to God, and tears started rolling down my eyes non stop. The chorus of the song got my heart and I cried even more. "虽然我的肉体
和我的心肠 渐渐地衰退 但是神是我心里的力量 是我的福分直到永远. "
(My body and mind may fail, but God is my strength and my portion forever.)
I prayed to God earnestly that my family, especially my parents who are of the high risk group, and my boyfriend and his family will be safe and would not contract this virus. In my heart, I felt connected and had this unexplainable feeling of peace filling me, knowing that God is with me and He is in control.
At night around 8pm, I got a call from the hospital, saying that they will send an ambulance in 30 minutes to come and get me.
Finally, the ambulance came, it was surreal. I thought to myself, "Wow, can't believe that I would have this moment too, to ride in an ambulance as a patient". I got up the ambulance, waved goodbye to my parents, but inside of me I was heartbroken to leave my loved ones. The driver switched on the siren, and it sped off in the rain. I remember feeling afraid sitting alone in the dark, looking at the rain drops. I did not have this feeling at first, but at that moment I was afraid of what might happen to me and my loved ones, tears started falling down and I wiped them off. It was a rather emotional ride to the hospital.
I spent 3 days and 3 nights at the hospital (It was kinda late - day 8 when I found out I had Covid-19). This introverted part of me was glad that I got the bed in the corner at the end. I shared this ward with 6 other Covid-19 patients, all of them were older than me. On my first night at 12am, the doctor came and woke me up to draw my blood. Then at 1am, the doctor woke me up again to take a chest X-ray.
Everything was acceptable there, can't really say much about the food because I couldn't taste! I didn't get to wear the 4 sets of clothes I brought because we had to wear the hospital gowns. The nurses were friendly and helpful. But the toilet, tsk tsk, I only saw them cleaning it on the 3rd day after I arrived. Overall my stay at the hospital was quite a relaxing one.
Chilling at night after dinner
This was lunch on day 2 :)
Dinner on day 3
So here's the thing that I would like to share the most out of this experience.
This patient next to me, Kimberley (My name is Kimberly too. I know right, what are the odds! And in my heart I know this was not just a mere coincidence, God must have planned this!), began talking to me. She is in her 50's and is also a Christian who loves God. (I was thrilled when I found out about this.) She began to share with me about her story battling Covid-19, and her near death experience of how she saw shadows and heard voices. She was praying non stop and it was a journey to a spiritual awakening and that the demonic forces were strong and real. She even told me that someone once predicted that she will not live pass 50 years old, but she has now recovered and living strong in God. How the enemy would lie to us and he's a father of lies! She shared that with every spoon of food and sip of drink she takes, she declares that she's taking the body and the blood of Christ, and that Christ heals her body. And this was the most vivid conversation I had with her. She said that we should love people with our heart, and when we do this, the floodgates of Heaven open (Wow), the love of God will come down upon these people, and they will get to know God. There are also some details that are too personal to share here, I only keep these in my heart. :)
Kimberley's words have encouraged me, and I will not forget this encounter. She left on the 3rd day I arrived, and I left on the next day. I felt like God just arranged all this so that he could speak to me through her!
On the forth day of my stay, the nurse told me that I could be discharged. The doctor explained to me that there's this new finding that after day 10 (They started counting from the first day when you got your first symptom), that the virus in me is not contagious anymore and I could even return to work. It was soooooo good to be home again.
Meanwhile, my family and my boyfriend are still undergoing quarantine for 14 days, and will be released on 10th December 2020. All of them were tested negative. This is also hard to believe, because I had close contact with them, and all I could say is that it is really God's protection over them. Again, this thought hit me, that God has only allowed this to Covid-19 to come upon me (But it won't harm me), and only me alone. He must have something to teach me through this as well.
Now it has been 9 days since I was discharged and my sense of taste and smell are like 90% recovered. I would like to thank all my family members and friends for your care and support for us during this tough time. I hope that you will continue to stay safe, take extra precautions and please get tested even if it's just a normal flu, because you'll never know. Hope you are blessed by this short story!
Sincerely yours,
Kim
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