Pre-Covid – How I Got It
One day I left the safety of my home to hangout with my best friend on her birthday. I picked her up in my car, drove to KL Bird Park** then we had dinner together.
It was a simple celebration, not even a party. It was literally just the 2 of us the whole day.
**Before y’all say I deserve getting Covid for going to a public place, let me tell you it was WAY less crowded than malls and there were more birds than people there. During our whole time at the park I think we only saw like 15 people max as compared to thousands in malls.
Fast forward to 2 days later, I received a text from my best friend telling me her grandma just got tested positive for Covid-19 😟 So her whole family went and got tested themselves and their results all came out positive too.
I started panicking because I already felt feverish 🤒 that morning. So of course I went and got tested myself.
Testing for Covid – Polymerase Chain Reaction Test (PCR) & Antigen Rapid Test Kit (RTK-Ag)
I did my RTK test at QHC Medical Centre at USJ 10. I went around 9am and luckily enough managed to find a parking spot nearby.
I could feel my heart beating faster and faster as I was approaching the line because I already suspected I have Covid and I was worried I might infect the people there if they weren’t wearing their masks properly or stand too close to me.
So I made sure I wore my mask especially tighter that day (my goodness I could barely breathe and almost thought I would faint, thank God I didn’t).
Then it was finally my turn, a moment I dreaded. The long stick inside my nostril. I would describe it as more painful than my braces tooth extraction.
Thank God the swab test lasted for like 3 seconds and the moment was over. I thanked the doctor and left.
While on the way home I received an unknown call. Didn’t pick it up as I was driving but I received a Whatsapp message immediately after.
It was from the clinic telling me of my positive results.
It was fast because I did RTK instead of PCR which would take around 24 hours to know the result. RTK only takes 15 mins.
I parked at a housing area and broke down 😭 in the car. I called my friend to tell her and she kept telling me everything’s gonna be okay. Then the call of doom happened: DAD 😰
Instead of telling me everything’s gonna be okay like my friend, he did the opposite. He made me feel like I would rather die instead of facing it. He was so scared I would infect him he told me to pack my belongings and check myself into a quarantine centre immediately.
Tip: If you already have the symptoms and suspect you have Covid just do the PCR test because if you really are positive and you did RTK instead you’ll have to pay to do PCR after so that means paying double.
But if you do PCR then you don’t have to do RTK anymore. I only recommend doing the RTK test if you’re only doing the test because your work requires you to or etc.
RTK is slightly cheaper but you get the results almost immediately. Also for RTK your nostril will only be poked once. For PCR both nostrils will be violated 😞🥴
Confirmed Covid
Dad immediately left to get his swab test (his was negative phew) and we communicated through phone for my quarantine arrangements.
- I was to stay inside my room at ALL TIMES and not leave for anything at all.
- I can only use the connecting toilet to my room to shower and do my business.
- My dad would leave food for me outside my door and I need to wear a mask when I take them inside my room.
- The door to my room has to be closed at ALL TIMES and windows open for ventilation.
Quarantine wasn’t bad because I can live in any conditions as long as I have movies/series to accompany me 😝 I finished an 84 episodes Taiwan drama and more during my quarantine 🙈 My Mandarin actually improved! Being a banana, even I can understand more now 😂
Besides that, I entertained myself with snapchat and instagram filters. I watched TikTok to kill time. Life wasn’t that bad other than feeling very tired, and feeling like wanting to sleep all the time. But obviously it’s better if you’re not sick lah.
4 days after being a confirmed patient, I received a message from KKM telling me to check myself into CAC Shah Alam the morning after 😰 I was told to pack for a 3 days stay.
I was really sad because I prefer being quarantined at home. I’ve never been to camp or did National Service so I didn’t know how my life would be like living with a bunch of strangers.
So I packed and left for CAC Shah Alam (Stadium Malawati) the next day. I wore a sweater and sweatpants because according to my dad the quarantine centre is really cold. If only I knew I had to queue under the hot sun for about an hour 🥵
The guy in front of me was really chatty, so an hour queuing wasn’t so bad. He came with no bags so I asked where his bags were and he said he left them in the car. According to him, he most probably don’t have to be quarantined because he has no symptoms. It was then I noticed that most people there either didn’t bring a bag also or packed really lightly and I felt like such a joke 🤡 with my duffel and large tote bag.
Side Story:
While queuing I suddenly noticed my left eye vision was blocked by a large red thing. I asked the guy in front of me if something is on my glasses and he told me it was a red ant. Not the tiny red ant but the huge red ant 🐜 that when it bites you it hurts like a mother f*cker.
It must have fallen from the tree above when the wind blows. I quickly took off my glasses and after seeing how huge the red ant was I tried to flung it into outer space (me and my exaggeration) but I guess my force was too hard my glasses slipped from my hand and dropped onto the road!
As if I wasn’t already gaining attention from my clothing choices and 2 large bags, now more people turned to look at me as the crazy lady who threw her glasses onto the road 🤦♀️
Bad start to the day..
Back to the quarantine verdict:
I had to wait in line for 50 mins before it was my turn to check my blood pressure.
If your blood pressure is too high, you’ll be sent to Hospital Sungai Buloh (it happened to my friend’s grandma). I was really worried because my blood pressure is usually low 😨 Weirdly enough it was normal on that day and I was directed to queue in another line which will determine if I can continue quarantining at home or be sent to their quarantine centre.
I didn’t know beforehand that we could leave the place if our health is good enough, if I knew I wouldn’t have packed so much 😓
The second queuing takes about half an hour. The doctor asked me about my symptoms and home condition; if I have my own room and a connecting toilet which luckily I do.
He then asked if there are any high risk people staying in the home with me. I answered all his questions, he types them on his laptop and checks my MySejahtera records (presumably) to see if I had left home ever since being a confirmed Covid patient.
I guess my records are clean and general health satisfactory so he told me that he will approve me for home quarantine. Woohoo! That was probably one of the best news I’ve gotten so far for this year 😀
Beaming, I thanked him profusely and he gave me some papers to fill and then I was directed to queue at another line for home release order.
I handed over the paperwork and was given a pink tag to wear on my wrist, to let others know that I’m a Covid patient so if I ever leave home people can report me.
I had to declare my symptoms on Selangkah twice everyday until my tag was off. The first one needed to be filled before 1pm and the other before 11.59pm.
So home quarantine 2.0 started. Then on the 10th of May, I am finally FREE ✌️😄 By having the tag off, it also means that I can freely roam everywhere in my house again, not just confined in my own room.
….I can even leave my home entirely but I’d rather nottttt 😅
Timeline
25th April – Friend’s birthday
26th April – Started feeling like crap 💩
27th April – Friend told me her grandma tested positive. Her whole family went to get tested.
28th April – Friend’s whole family is sick
30th April – Went to get tested. Test came out positive. Started home quarantine.
4th May – Received text from KKM telling me to go CAC Shah Alam
5th May – Went to CAC Shah Alam and received a home quarantine order and begin recovery. Needs to wear a tag.
10th May – Back to CAC Shah Alam to remove tag. Can finally end quarantine.
Total number of days = 16
What I Did to Recover
Food
First thing first, buy vitamins to boost your immune system.
You need to consume vitamin C daily because your body doesn’t produce it. Vitamin C is easily available at any pharmacy or you can get them from fruits like oranges and grapefruits.
You will lose your appetite because one of the side effects is losing your sense of taste and smell so food won’t be as appetizing as they used to.
For this, I would suggest just eat whatever you would like to eat. Covid is not a disease that refrains you from eating anything so just order your favourite food. I had fried chickens 🍗 almost everyday hehe 😋
I was lucky enough to not completely lose my sense of taste and smell but it wasn’t as good as they used to, especially for liquid.
Don’t forget to drink plenty of water. I guess I’ve never actually drank 8 glasses of water per day ever in my life and I still haven’t 😅 but it was close to 8 cups when I was sick.
Rest
Rest, rest, REST. Whenever you feel like sleeping, just sleep 😪 It doesn’t matter what time it is outside.
When you have Covid and are quarantining inside your room, time doesn’t matter anymore. Do whatever you want. No one can boss you around. You need rest to recover.
Belongings
All my used clothes are left on a pile on the floor. Studies have shown that the virus can only live on fabrics for up to 2 days, and if left under the sun the virus will be gone faster.
So don’t wash them yet until they have been exposed to the sun for at least 2 days. Better yet, just compile them all and only wash them after you get your Covid patient tag off and just dump all of it in the washer, just your clothes. Don’t mix with other people’s clothes who are living with you.
I changed my bed sheets and dumped my pillows and plush toys in the washer as well. Basically everything that you are in contact with on a daily basis needs to be washed.
Post-Covid
And that’s how you recover from Covid, peeps. It’s not hard but at the same time it’s not as easy as it sounds.
During the whole ordeal my mental health was pretty bad 🙁 Especially the first few days when I had fever and joint pain as my symptoms. Sometimes I do feel like I could barely breathe and although it only lasted a while it was a very scary thing to experience. I suffer from anxiety and overthinking just makes everything worse.
Talking to people helps and doing things you enjoy to distract yourself makes it easier to go through. At one point when I was having difficulty breathing I thought of writing a goodbye note already 🤦♀️ but don’t be as dramatic as me okay, cause everything will be alright in the end!
I hope by sharing my experience people will know more about this disease and what to expect if it happens to you.
Last Piece of Advice
Wear a mask properly, please. Make sure your nose and mouth are covered. 🙅 Don’t share food and drinks with people who don’t live with you because you don’t know where they’ve been or who they have close contact with. Be it your closest friends or family (I shared a dish with my friend that day. Learned my lesson now).
If wanna meet up, go separately. Don’t pick them up 😬 cause a car is an enclosed space and with the AC on the virus is easily transmitted from one to another. If your friends and family say you’re being too much just send them this article. I don’t mind to take the blame for ya 😅 Safety is more important, okay?
Have some disposable gloves to wear when you’re out to buy groceries. Then immediately throw them away when you reach home. Or just dump them in a bin when you’re done with your shopping.
Lastly, buy a face shield. The good thing about face shields is you can wear them again and again. Because they’re made of plastic so it’s washable after each wear.
Thanks for reading about my experience, take care and stay safe everyone 😀
