Writing this and uploading them takes a longer time than I had planned, because well you may have guessed it, it was a long "battle" with Miss Rona. But here goes.
It was the sixth day of Chinese New Year. What an eventful day.
We (Adrian and I) experienced what felt like a hundred emotions all packed into one mind, body, and soul. I cannot find words to describe it. I also cannot speak for Adrian, because only he knows what was going on in his head - definitely too much was going on, I believe. Heh.
As the title says it, you have guessed it right.
It all started when Sofia started having a fever at about 5:30pm on Sunday. She had just woken up from her 2-hours noon nap with Alex and they were both in extremely good moods - which was quite rare.
They looked for food (snacks) but we fed them with chicken and eggs and yes, some CNY snacks after that. They played a while, and then I realized Sofia was slowing down and she went to get her pillow and pacifier - which was odd because usually when she is playing (and snacking), she will not just go get her pillow and pacifier.
Anyways, she then walked up to me and wanted to sit on my lap. I carried her and when she lay her entire body on me, that was when I felt her body heat. It was hot. She was hot. I quickly got up and fed her with Uphamol and put on a fever patch on her forehead and carried her on the couch.
She continued to rest on me, and after 30 minutes, I realized that she was not cooling down, so we got 2 small towels, wet them, and put them on her back and neck. Then, we prayed and I sat next to her for about an hour. She fell asleep, and I had the gut feeling that I needed to do the RTK test.
So, I did.
The first test, it was negative, but I looked at it before the 15 minutes were up so I was not sure if it was accurate. I left the room and came back and saw the second line, although faint it was there. But I was pretty sure that the kit was left there for more than 20 minutes, so that could be an invalid result.
I took the test again (thankful that we got like 9 boxes in the house hah) and put on a 15-minutes timer and kuai-kuai waited. True enough, the second line appeared, very faintly. This time, I called Adrian into the room and he was like, "Where got the second line!"
I was like, "It's right there! Very light but can see it"
Now, with my experiences of doing the pregnancy test kits, I know for a fact that a faint line usually (most of the time) means it is positive liau. I was sure that my second RTK test was positive. Adrian was very hesitant, so I took another test - just to be sure. True enough, the faint line appeared.
To cut the story short, we reached out to some friends and registered with BP Georgetown to get the PCR test done the next day.
It was 9pm when we decided to do the PCR test, but we have to wait till the next day so no choice. We all wore masks at home and explained to the kids that they also have to wear masks, and surprisingly they were okay with it. Phew.
BP Georgetown only opens from 11AM-1PM for those who want to do the PCR tests. We got there at about 10:45AM, and already we were behind about 50 people. We could tell that some of them were there to take the PCR tests for traveling purposes.
We were waiting in line till there were about 25 people left in front of us when Adrian's friend called him and told him that we can go straight inside because we have kids with us. So, we didn't have to wait in line. And we did. We went inside and within 15-minutes, we were done with the PCR tests.
Adrian went first, then me, then Alex, and then Sofia. The kids cried of course. In all honesty, I was more afraid of the PCR test than the Covid virus itself (in the beginning). Now that we went through the PCR test, it isn't that bad. Not that scary after all. But I accidentally grabbed the person's wrist when she was swabbing my throat. I apologized like ten times I think. I felt bad. Dahlah I high risk. I AM SORRY (AGAIN)!
So, we went home and waited. And at about 5AM, Adrian received a message on WhatsApp and asked me to check mine. We both didn't sleep well that night because of the constant worry and all. It's a lot.
I opened my PDF file, and it says, "Detected". Ugh.
Thankfully, the kids and Adrian's report came back, "Not Detected". So that was a big relief for us. We called our parents and they came and picked the kids up. I was immediately isolated in my own room.
At this point, I became very afraid. I know where my thoughts can go, and the moment when I saw Alex and Sofia walking out of the house, the first thought was, "Is this going to be the last time I get to see them?".
I had questions replaying in my head that are destructive but I didn't stop it. I even wanted to record videos for Alex and Sofia in case I could not make it. In case I die. It was a scary thought process, and it was making me more miserable than I already was.
In my head, I was planning to take videos dedicated to everyone that matters to me, and for Alex and Sofia, many videos for every year that they grow older that I don't get to be with them.
I didn't sleep well that night. Other than the fact that I was having crazy body-ache (felt like I have bruises all over me), and headaches that were just so crazy, I was worried to the max.
I woke up the next morning (I think it was just day 2 of my quarantine) and decided that I have to stop these thoughts. These are not from God. I will live, and I will pull through this.
So, I started thinking of what are the things that I want to do after this whole thing is over and what I want to eat and all. Hah.
I lost some sense of my taste and smell, so eating was not fun. Most (if not all) foods that I eat will end up having this weird bitter taste before I swallow them, so it was hard. But I needed to eat so I can continue taking panadol and have some energy. I also lost a few kgs throughout the quarantine period. I was at 50kg, and now I weighed about 48.5kg. Not a lot but I felt the difference.
Let me tell you this. When you are in the same room 24/7 for so many days, it is so easy to sloth around. On the second day, I slept most of the time, because of the headache and I hated it. I wanted to get up to work but I could not. My body just won't let me.
I think one of the hardest things during this quarantine is the fact that I was away from Adrian and the kids. Adrian was in the same house with me, but he was not allowed to come inside my room or speak with me for more than 10-seconds face to face and it was really hard. I mean, like a hug would mean the whole world and make me feel better but nope, we cannot have that.
Then, I had to watch Alex and Sofia through a screen - doing their daily things and that was unbelievably hard. Being away for 2 days is fine, but 7-10 days? That was crazy hard. I lost count of the number of times I broke down after each call I have with them.
I don't even want to have long uninterrupted showers or sleeps anymore. I want them, and I want them with me. But there is absolutely nothing I can do because my focus then was to heal and recover so we can all be reunited again.
The truth is, battling Covid-19 is not just physical. It is a lot on the mental. Many hours during my quarantine period, I failed mentally. I climbed onto my bed, hide under my blanket and mentally just fail. And because of that, I could not do anything. It was hard. Getting out of that paralyzing mental state is crazy hard.
Every day is a battle between my mind and my mind. Of course, there were days when physically, I needed to lie down on my bed most of the time because of the headaches and blocked nose and all. Whenever my mind wanders to the negative thoughts, I would switch on my Spotify and put on Christian songs and just soak in them. Those songs are everything.
So, on the last day of my isolation period, Adrian took me to Lam Wah Ee Hospital to get an x-ray done on my lungs. The reason for that trip was because I was still feeling a rather strong sense of breathlessness on my chest and I was not breathing normally. I was scared that I had to be admitted to the hospital and rely on those oxygen things, so I requested that we go get it done right away. I just needed to know if coronavirus got damaged my lungs or not. Heh.
The result came back all clear but I was given 1-week of mc to rest and recover. It is a post-covid thing and it will take time. We spent another night (after the end of my isolation period) away from the kids to sanitize the room and house and when we were reunited the next morning, it was everything and more.
I literally felt life coming back into my body. So please do not separate us, ever again. It was pure torture.
I love my children so much I think I will burst. Heh.
So after like a week, my dad and sister joined the covid club heh. My mom tested negative every day despite being in the same house (room at one point) for a week.
I worked from home to take care of my two kids during that week, and as we were getting excited to go back to grandparents' place and me to go back office, Adrian pulak tested positive. We suspected that he got the rona from one of his football games.
So, guess what?
The quarantine life continues and now, all four of us had to be quarantined at home. My MIL flew to KL that very same day when Adrian's test kit showed two lines. Heh.
It was really difficult to juggle work and making sure the two toddlers stay alive because I was not only juggling my work, I also had to make sure that the kids do not disturb Adrian when he is at work, which is so so difficult. The kids just want to play with him every time they see him at the table. It was cute but difficult.
We didn't separate the kids and Adrian, because we finally realized that they should also brave it through together. Sofia was already positive when Adrian was positive, so we just allow Alex to get them too, but he was tested negative day after day. Alex had a fever and some coughing too, but RTK won't show it.
This is a really unpopular opinion, but we (Adrian and I) think that if someone from the same household is tested positive for Covid, then the rest of the people who live in the same home should also just get it and quarantine and recover together. Of course, if you have high-risk people in the house, then this does not apply to you.
For us, this is like a 'sooner or later' kind of thing. A lot like chickenpox. And with us, we had to do a total of one 1-month of home quarantine (sort of) because we thought we could avoid getting it. Wrong. It's everywhere now, and it is better to get it as a family, than to 'take turns' and all. Again, many people do not agree with this. Neither did I, until we went through it, and we realized that we should just all get it at the same time. Heh.
So yeah, I can now safely say that my entire Khoo Family has gotten it except my mom, Sha Lynn, and Alex - although they were all exposed to it when the rest of us were at it. These 3 strong fellows. Heh.
What a pandemic story this is.
Till next time, bye now.