Life after Covid-19
IT’S hard to bounce back after a traumatic medical experience, especially if it is related to Covid-19.
By profession, edwynn Castillo is a Senior High School Arts and Design teacher who had been teaching for the past 30 years. Currently, he is teaching at the Mataas na Paaralang neptali A. Gonzales in Mandaluyong City.
He is also a musician at heart, having been a pianist at the San Felipe neri Parish Church in Mandaluyong City and even playing at weddings.
Well, that was his life then. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic and it changed his way of life and the practice of his profession. There was a dramatic shift in the learning mode and yet he adapted just like all the other teachers, where they taught their students online.
“My other routine was going to the grocery for our food since I was the only one in our household with a quarantine pass,” Castillo narrated of his life at the height of the pandemic.
Covid-19 struck
WHILE he was living his “new normal” life as a teacher, he noticed one day the irritation in his eyes, which he surmised was due to too much screen time during his online classes.
“That’s when I decided to visit my ophthalmologist but I also experienced coughing during that time but didn’t pay attention to it since it felt it was nothing serious.”
He badly needed to see his doctor so Castillo abided by the strict protocols in the hospital he visited, which called for patients to be checked for Covid-19 symptoms. “I agreed to a swab test and unfortunately, I tested positive for Covid-19.”
Though not really an avid social media listener or internet surfer, he was aware of the news that many have died all over the world with a disease that knows no culture, economic status or geographic boundaries over the past several months.
“After I received the result, it made me miserable but I persevered and put my hope in God. Then I continued to grow weak and my cough progressed to pneumonia,” Castillo said.
What added to his misery was that he was confined at the hospital for almost a month (December 23, 2020 to January 18, 2021). “The most disheartening situation for me, aside from being Covid-19 positive, was that I spent Christmas and new Year alone. It was also traumatic because I grew so weak that my body would shake whenever I tore open my medicine or opened the cap of a bottle of mineral water.”
He said he gasped for air whenever he moved and could only eat two to three tablespoons of food because he found it hard to breathe when he was full. He slept in a prone position to rest his lungs, but this proved difficult because he suffers from a slipped disc. “I needed lots of rest, which I can’t fully have because sometimes I have to wake up and eat in the middle of the night, have medicines injected into my stomach, and monitoring of vital signs. But it also gave me time to reflect because it was during those times that I experienced God’s presence.”
The life that changed after Covid-19
CASTILLO said that he felt around 78 percent okay at the time he was discharged from the hospital because he knew Covid-19 had lingering effects. “I still gasped for air when I moved around and I could not move extensively, and the difficulty in breathing was still there, especially when I’m full.”
Consultation with his physician was also a constant thing for Castillo, who was also told to consult a rehab doctor for some strengthening exercises.
A devout Catholic, Castillo experienced the most dramatic impact on his faith and on his life due to Covid-19, which he said gave him three new perspectives in life.
One is, “life must go on.” “I was once a biker; I loved to exercise and take long walks in our community. I do house chores, drive my family to work. But Covid-19 limited all those activities. I will have to spend more time to heal but life must go on. I know God’s healing power is working in me right now; I hope and believe soon I will be alright.”
Second, he learned to trust in God with all his heart. Since Covid-19 is highly contagious, no one from his family or friends were allowed to assist him. With his body growing so weak, it was hard for him to move especially since he was on an IV.
To make the situation even more appalling at the time of his confinement, he learned that his three children and mother-in-law also tested positive for Covid-19.
“Powerless and depressed, I cried to God and gave Him my trust for I know He can do miracles. I know He can bring out good even in worst situations so I calmed myself and focused on His words—“be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) and “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).
Third, he said he learned that when we care for others, we take care of God. During those times, he said, his wife was always on the go, and was forced to do everything from office to house chores. “I pitied her, I saw how tired and worn out she was. I asked God to guide her and give her strength and God told me that ‘don’t worry for your wife is taking care of me.’ I then understood what is meant by ‘whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me.’” (Mt.25:40).