Corona Diaries - 11

I’m finding that I may forget things especially with how bland they days are becoming. I’ll try to catch up to the present day.

Saturday April 18th

Day 7 Jaber Hospital

The days started to merge into one another. Half way there. 7 days down, 7 days to go hopefully. My friend visited and I spent an hour talking to her, she was in full gear and suffocating but she stayed the hour that she does everyday. Ordered sushi for lunch, I knew I still couldn’t taste anything yet; I just wanted something I knew tasted good. Blogged and read a book. I fell asleep watching Outlander.

Sunday April 19th

Day 8 Jaber Hospital

Finished my hydroxychloroquine doses. My shortness of breath had improved dramatically. I started walking around the room. I reached 10,000 steps on my Fitbit, just walking from the window to the door, back and forth. I could reach 6 seconds and then become out of breath. I wrote the blog post about my mother; that was very emotional for me. I felt exhausted that day and remembered falling asleep at 8:30pm.

Monday April 20th

Day 9 Jaber Hospital

Another day. Spent it with blogging, reading, phone calls, watched a movie. More phone calls and video calls. Bored out of my brains. Did my breathing exercises and reached 7.5 seconds. My cough was still annoying me but it wasn’t as bad as before. I still couldn’t smell anything.

Tuesday April 21st

Day 10 Jaber Hospital

Just another day, surviving at Jaber Hospital. Wrote the blog post about my brother, forcing him to read it. Dad started translating my posts to arabic, just to pass the time. We spent a phone call with him putting the whole first post on google translate and going over it together. Received a huge jug of cold brew from my friends. Ordered sushi again but I still couldn’t taste it. I could reach 12 seconds with my breathing exercises! Watched more Outlander and had three way video calls with my family and three way phone calls with my friends.

Wednesday April 22nd

Day 11 Jaber Hospital

The day of the swab! It was 12 days from my original swab back at Amiri. That felt so long ago. I woke up extra early and took the most scalding shower every. I wanted to do whatever I could to wash away any coronavirus. I waited patiently for the doctor to swab me. He came at around 9 am and it took him 3 attempts to get it because I kept pushing his hand away. I wouldn’t wish the swab on anyone, even my worst enemy. It’s the most irritating and painful feeling imaginable. It felt like he was scraping the inside of my brain. My eyes wouldn’t stop watering after and I sneezed 5 times. I took a paracetamol for the pain afterwards but it didn’t seem to help.

I spent my day trying to keep busy. There was a kung fu panda marathon on TV. I love cartoons so that passed the day nicely. I was talking to my dad on facetime and went to the toilet to get something. I could smell Dettol faintly because I let the cleaning lady clean the room earlier. I told my dad that I had started smelling again and he became so happy; he got up to pray that instant. That made me feel hopeful that Enshallah my result will be negative.

Whilst I was speaking to my brother, I got a message on my phone saying “NEGATIVE”. It was 9:15 pm, from one of the sweetest doctors who work at Jaber Hospital. Without telling her, she herself was following up my results and sent a message to give me the good news. My brother started jumping up and down and ran upstairs to tell my father. They wondered why I wasn’t too excited. I was hopeful but I wasn’t that optimistic. I knew we would have to wait for the next swab tomorrow before calling this good news. Nonetheless, I slept that night excited to be going home soon.

Thursday April 23rd

Day 12 Jaber Hospital

The day of the third swab! I tried to stay positive; as positive as I could. I took another scalding hot shower and wished happy thoughts. The new doctor came in at 10 am. I told him about the three attempts yesterday but he didn’t say anything. I couldn’t tell if he was smiling or not through his mask. His swab was the worst of them all. I felt like my brain was on fire and then explode. Even now, writing this more than 24 hours later, I can still feel the pain. He just walked away afterwards and my eyes couldn’t stop watering. I took paracetamol again, knowing that it would do nothing for the pain.

I spent the day finishing my blog post, reflecting on the past 2 weeks. I spoke to my closest friends and was thinking of ways to pass by the time for the next 2 weeks, when I would be in home quarantine. I really want a good quality treadmill because I have to start running again and I won’t be able to leave the house.

I had an orange at lunch that I could taste and that made me hopeful. The corona was leaving my body slowly. First the fever left, then the shortness of breath; now my smell and taste were coming back slowly. As much as I hate you corona, you’ve made me appreciate so many things. You’ve made me appreciate life and so many things that we take for granted on a daily basis. I miss fresh air. I miss going to work everyday. I miss my morning coffee with my friends. I miss my couch and my house. I miss hugging my father and kissing my brothers. I miss visiting my mother, as the cemetery is now closed to visitors. I miss tasting good food and smelling bukhoor and perfumes. I want to smell the flowers that are filling my room. I promise to appreciate life so much more corona, just please leave me and stay away.

I waited for my friend’s message that night but didn’t get one. Then at midnight I got a message from her…