She defeats Covid, shocked by loss of kin

Ahighly diabetic Sheema Rizvi, 63, successfully battled Covid-19 and returned home on April 24 after a 17-day stay at Era Medical College, Lucknow.

But there was a shock in store for this housewife when she reached home. She noticed that her son Mehwer Masood and other family members looked very sad. It was only then that Sheema was told that during her stay in hospital, nine relatives, including two nieces, a sister-in-law, three cousins and three other extended family members succumbed to Covid-19. All of them used to live separately.

Sheema was shocked to hear of their passing away especially as there had been no problem when she went to hospital on April 7.

“I was devastated on hearing about the passing away of my loved ones. I just couldn’t imagine that so many people would go away so soon,” said Sheema who always takes insulin before meals.

This senior citizen is yet to fully come to terms with the losses she has suffered.

Sheema developed symptoms for Covid-19 on April 1 like mild fever, chest infection and cough. The problem was compounded by the loss of appetite that resulted in weakness. These symptoms were enough for her family doctor to advise an RT-PCR report.

On April 7, she got the report in which she tested positive for Covid-19.

“There was not too much of a shortage of beds in hospitals then. My son got a referral letter for Era Medical College and he took me in our private car on April 7 night,” the homemaker said.

“Doctors of the hospital received me at the gate and asked for the entire medical history report. My son briefed them that I am highly diabetic. But the doctors said they will look after me and the family should not worry much.”

Sheema carried all the previous medical reports and an Android phone in hospital to stay connected with family members via video calls. “But unfortunately, the phone developed a snag and WhatsApp, video conferencing were not just possible,” she said.

“I became panicky in the first two days as I was away from my family. My oxygen level dropped to 88. Slowly, I got accustomed to the hospital routine. The doctors would call the family on a daily basis to give health updates about all my vitals like BP (blood pressure) every day. Gradually, I started recovering even though the process was slow because I was diabetic. The doctors and other medical staff took great care. Since I had co-morbidity, they administered insulin doses before meals,” she said.

Sheema was on oxygen support for 15 days and she was under observation in the isolation ward for the last two days.

She was discharged on April 24. All the while, the family kept her motivated by calling her regularly. “All my stress would disappear when I got to hear the voice of my one- year-old grandson over the phone during my stay in hospital,” she said.

While Sheema was in hospital, some of her extended family members succumbed to Covid-19. “My son never told me all of that (when she was in hospital). I came to know only when I returned home. My WhatsApp was not working during the hospital stay,” she said.

Her advice to those battling Covid-19 is to stay positive and weed out all negativity from the mindset.

“Keep your faith in God when one is helpless and clueless. Family support works as a medicine and gives a boost to a speedy recovery,” she said.