COURTESY MIRROR JUNE 6
Fever between 100-101, no cough’
A 60-year-old man shares his story of testing positive for Covid and his recovery
| Kumaran.P@timesgroup.com
TWEETS@kumaranp_Mirror
The Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) on Friday marked World Environment Day in a unique way. The guest of honour, and rightly so, was a person who had recovered from Covid-19. He joined doctors from BMRCI to plant saplings in the hospital campus on Friday.
On the occasion, Dr Jayanthi CR, director-cum-dean BMCRI said, “We need to preserve our environment and ensure that we reduce our carbon foot print.”
Bhagavan S, the 63-year-old resident of Bengaluru who recovered from Covid-19 said the treatment he (and his wife, who also tested positive along with him) received at Victoria hospital was much better than the private hospital from where he was shifted.
Speaking to BM, Bhagavan said, “When my wife and I were in Peru we were told that all travellers need to leave the country within 12-0-clock the same night. We both managed to get to the Indian Embassy and to the airport to leave to India. We reached Miami and then, we got a flight to Mumbai and then to Bengaluru. Throughout this 50-hour journey, I used many public toilets. I have diabetes too. In Mumbai, we were not stamped and not asked to quarantine ourselves since we said we were going to Bengaluru. When we reached here, my temperature was checked and it was normal and hence they asked us to go home. This was March 19 and then there were no restrictions on domestic flights. On March 22, I started developing temperature and I took paracetamol. My wife started feeling feverish by evening too.”
Both of them rushed to KC General hospital and when their temperature was checked, it was normal. “But still I asked the doctors to test us. I wasn’t convinced with the results which were normal, so I went to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) where both of us got tested for Covid. The next day, I got a call from BBMP that both of us had tested positive. We got admitted to RGICD but I asked them to shift us to a private hospital, which they did. (This was in the early days of Covid when there was no set protocol for treatment and private hospitals were admitting Covid patients). Here my condition deteriorated and the doctors advised me to go to a dedicated Covid hospital with an ICU facility. That’s when we came to Victoria Hospital with some apprehension. But I was amazed at the facilities here and the treatment we received,” said Bhagavan.
During his entire stay at Victoria Hospital, he says he only suffered from fever which varied between 100 and 101 F. He said he did not have cough either. The doctors started me on Hydroxychloroquine and a few other medicines for five days. I recovered within a few days and my wife and I were discharged on April 11.”
Bhagavan says he experienced fatigue for at least eight to 10 days after being discharged. After that I started doing yoga and a few breathing exercises. The actual period in which I was sick was not very critical. But that is my experience. The recovery rate in our country is high,” he ends.
Both Bhagavan and his wife are healthy and back to their regular activities.