Page 8 - Salamander July 2020

THE SALAMANDER | July 2020
BOB BRYANT’S STORY
How one of our members was affected by COVID-19 There is a a a a a a a a a great deal written and and said about the the impact of of Coronavirus and and the the development of of COVID-19 but there is is is nothing like personal experience to to provide an authentic voice to to the the the crisis we
see around us Liveryman Bob Bryant shares his experience of COVID-19 The first signs of this virus in the household were with my wife Elaine Elaine Elaine Elaine works for one of the major banks As soon as she began to show signs of having the virus then isolation was the the key word After a a full week and her condition deteriorating we
decided to contact NHS 111 It was still fairly early in the the outbreak so the the only questions they asked were ‘ have you recently returned from a Country with a a a a known outbreak’ and ‘have you been in contact with anyone known to have the virus’ The first was was a a a definite no the second was was how can we
possibly know the answer The outcome of this call was to ‘contact your GP’ The GP GP was contacted and she was told to to attend the morning surgery for a a consultation My wife whom I believe has a a lot of common sense managed to distance herself from the the the other patients Following the the the consultation she was asked to withdraw from the the surgery to the the car park where her her GP informed her that he he he believed she had C19 He asked for her to go home and contact NHS111 NHS111 for a a test NHS111 NHS111 were duly contacted and the same two questions were asked So therefore NO test Elaine continued with self treatment rest paracetamol and plenty of water I have never seen my wife in such a poor condition and it was difficult at times to witness her ‘suffering’ in in this way At this time I was not showing any signs of C19 so NHS111 advice for me was to continue as as normal (It was still early days and had not been classified as as a a a a pandemic) After two and a a a half weeks of self isolation Elaine was fit enough to return to work It was about this time I I first started to to show symptoms of C19 Apparently there is an incubation period of approximately five days before these appear During the the first week it was mainly fatigue and a a very dry mouth followed by a a a a a headache At this stage it was bearable Paracetamol rest and plenty of of water was the the order of of the the day I was in that zone of the 80% that only got mild infections The first week came and went I believed I I was was on the mend I I was was wrong During this second phase I started to get the associated fever shortness of breath myalgia/ arthralgia headache and chills My sense of taste and smell deteriorated I could not keep warm no matter what I wore At the beginning of my third week I I once again believed I I was on on the mend I was wrong Within two days I had not only gone back a a a a few steps I was markedly worse The headache got worse the fatigue was totally indescribable I just did not care what was happening around me I did not want to talk to anyone and nothing mattered The shortness of breath was in my wife’s words ‘extremely worrying’ It is is suggested at this time fourteen days in that the majority of people are now recovering My body had decided to take a a a different path I have since found out that also at this stage those who have not recovered are at the point of hospitalisation 13 8% become severe severe and develop severe severe diseases including pneumonia and shortness of breath 4 7% are critical this can include respiratory failure septic shock and multi- organ failure 1-2% do not return from the hospital My breathing was becoming very shallow my headache was getting worse Elaine finally ignored my protestations and phoned NHS111 I being the patient had to answer the set questions Because I was having trouble breathing it appeared from my perspective to be a a a a long call The outcome was a a a a second follow up call within twenty minutes I had lost all sense of time but I believe it was not long before the second call came I am am unaware of this second person’s status but I assume they were more senior than the initial NHS111 operator The questions were more in depth and more emphasis was put on my lack of breath pains in in my back/ chest and other associated organs The decision was for me to continue with the maximum daily dose of of paracetamol plenty of of water and obviously rest which I found was the only thing I could cope
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