GILGIT:
I lived my worst nightmare. It was not the coronavirus, but the prolonged treatment (read: observation) in isolation that made it a hellish experience. Imagine being confined to a small room with no social interaction for almost a month. Doctors and nurses were the only visitors, who also checked on me once or twice a day.
If you are sick, you need your loved ones around you. The feeling of having someone who cares about you gives you the strength to fight illness. Conversely, social isolation makes you more vulnerable to illness. Your immune system does not respond properly in isolation and it takes longer for you to heal.
In my case, it wasn’t just me; my wife also shared the ordeal of isolation at Mohammadabad Hospital, Danyore, Gilgit-Baltistan. Interestingly, she had no symptoms, but tested positive for the virus. We were both in the isolation room, while our five children were at home – alone and worried.
The ordeal began after a trip to Iran. My wife and I went in a group of 22 pilgrims to visit the holy shrines of Iran. We stayed mainly in Qom, although our pilgrimage also took us to Mashhad and neighboring Iraq.
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On February 22, we were preparing to return to Pakistan when we learned of the outbreak of a contagious disease in Qom. Until then, I didn’t know much about the coronavirus.
On February 25, we took a flight to Lahore. At Tehran airport, no one is allowed to board without screening. None of us were sick. At the Lahore airport we were screened again. We went to Rawalpindi where we stayed for two days. While the other pilgrims dispersed, we took a bus to Gilgit on February 28 and reached our village Nomal, about 15 km from Gilgit town, in the evening.
At night I had a fever. I took it to help with travel fatigue, took some over-the-counter painkillers from my neighbor, and tried to sleep. That didn’t help. I started to get chills.
The next morning, I called the Gilgit District Headquarters Hospital and told the doctors about my trip and my fever. A team of doctors immediately came to see me and my wife. We were then taken by ambulance to the DHQ hospital. They took samples to test us for the new coronavirus, while we were transferred to the civil hospital pool. The samples were sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad for PCR testing as the facility was not available in Gilgit-Baltistan. I lost my appetite but tried to stuff myself so I could muster up some energy to fight my illness. After a few days, our test reports were received from the NIH: we were both positive for COVID-19.
After the diagnosis, they transferred us to Mohammadabad Hospital, where we were to stay for the next 25 days. Interestingly, my fever was gone, while I had no cough, muscle aches, sore throat, or shortness of breath. My appetite returned to normal (I started eating more than usual). My wife remained asymptomatic throughout this time.
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I am a 51 year old ex-military and my wife is 45. I had heard that the coronavirus could be deadly for people my age and older. The doctors tried to reassure me. But honestly, I wasn’t scared at all. It is part of our faith that every living thing must die one day. I knew that if I was destined to die, I would die no matter what. But if my time is not up, this virus will never be able to kill me.
We were tested multiple times during our nightmare 25 day stay. We had no symptoms, but we would still test positive. I heard that my wife’s reports were mixed up with those of another NIH patient.
Fortunately, in the meantime, the PCR testing center was made available in Gilgit and we were tested locally for the first time. The results were negative and a repeat test a day later confirmed that the virus was outside our body. It was a huge relief.
We were released from the hospital on March 28, but the doctors said we should avoid socializing for 14 days. We rented a house in Gilgit town to spend these two weeks here. It has now been five days and we are counting down the days until we are completely safe.
My advice to patients: do not fear this virus. Keep your faith in God and strengthen your will, Inshallah you will overcome it. To everyone else, I say take every precaution possible. If not out of concern about the virus, consider the ordeal that isolation can create.
(Reported to Naveed Hussain)