MY Ozzie friends experince having covid 19

This is where our community discusses almost anything! While we're mainly a Cambodia expat discussion forum and talk about expat life here, we debate about almost everything. Even if you're a tourist passing through Southeast Asia and want to connect with expatriates living and working in Cambodia, this is the first section of our site that you should check out. Our members start their own discussions or post links to other blogs and/or news articles they find interesting and want to chat about. So join in the fun and start new topics, or feel free to comment on anything our community members have already started! We also have some Khmer members here as well, but English is the main language used on CEO. You're welcome to have a look around, and if you decide you want to participate, you can become a part our international expat community by signing up for a free account.
User avatar
phuketrichard
Expatriate
Posts: 16790
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 5:17 pm
Reputation: 5733
Location: Atlantis
Aruba

MY Ozzie friends experince having covid 19

Post by phuketrichard »

good friend of mine got it and lived to tell the tale.
This is the note he sent out out his friends..

Having just been given clearance to re-join the world after 19 days in isolation due to infection by COVID-19 I wanted to thank you for your support during this period, and also explain what the experience was like – which may go some way to explaining why you rarely heard from me!
I am not sure where I picked up the virus, but I am assuming it was in my last day or so in Paris where I was held up a day due to a flight cancellation. Although I was being very vigilant as far as hand washing etc went I did go to a music performance on my last night and think this is the most likely place to have picked up the infection.
At any rate I arrived home feeling no ill effects and got on with life, until feeling a little feverish and tired a week after returning. I immediately isolated at home, spoke with my doctor, who wanted me to wait one day before testing, which I did, but clearly my health was going backward.
The test itself is a challenge, which involves a probe going up the back of your nose (although I have also seen throat tests on TV, so not sure what dictates which test you have). From this day forward for two and half weeks I became and stayed very ill! The result of the test come in on a Saturday and it was no surprise to was affirmative. My wife Janine then immediately had a test and she too was positive, so I had infected her. My wish then was that no one else had been infected by me, and now with the test of time it appears that that is the case, quick isolation meant I did not spread the virus outside of my apartment.
The virus effects everybody differently, but from my experience it was horrendous! I have heard of people doing recovery videos logs etc. but this was not a possibility for me. My body ached all day, I slept (fitfully) almost all day, and only got out of bed for essentials. I was not able to concentrate and could not even read, listen to music or the radio. My entire day was spent lying in silence, just feeling very uncomfortable with body aches and headaches.
One strange impact was my sense of taste went firstly way over to the salt side of things, anything I tried to eat tasted so salty I could not eat it, and after a little time my taste (or lack of) just made all food lose appeal. My weight dropped to 60k, and I was also dehydrated as fluids also were just very hard to digest. Sucking a flavoured ice block was the most assessible food intake of my day.
As a very committed small business operator I could not believe that I was both not capable of reading and responding to emails, but also just so fatigued I could not even think about my business. To go several weeks without any input into my business is still a shock to me. I must particularly thank Aimee and Shane for holding the office together for me.
During this time your well wishes via text, email or phone call probably got no more than a 30 second response from me, as even this little effort would leave me fatigued for the next forty five minutes or more – so sorry for my brief interactions!
The package of virus, fatigue, pain, dehydration, also added light headedness, vomiting and diarrhea after a few days, so I was clearly heading backwards, and Janine tried to get me admitted to hospital. This was such an exhausting process with multiple phone interviews from medics of various types that I am sure it made things worse for me. It became very clear that if you have the virus and could breathe the “system” did not want you anywhere near a hospital for fear of you spreading the virus there. While I understand this, I am also not totally happy with this policy, as I am sure several days of severe issues for me could have been avoided with a drip and strong pain relief (the type of quick turnaround support which appears to have been given to Peter Dutton, Tom Hanks etc.).
Anyway, I am coming out of the fight, and while cleared by the Health Department to rejoin the world, I am still very weak and will probably take several more days to get back my strength, concentration and appetite. So look forward to finding out what is happening in your world, and my business and returning to some normality as the days progress.
Thank you for your support during this period, and a special thank you to Janine without whose support I do not think I could have got to this point of recovery.
Keep washing your hands and maintaining your social distancing. I look forward to catching up soon.
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
User avatar
Captain Bonez
Baked
Posts: 1155
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2014 6:44 pm
Reputation: 1101
Location: La-Z-Boy
Nigeria

Re: MY Ozzie friends experince having covid 19

Post by Captain Bonez »

phuketrichard wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2020 10:41 am
One strange impact was my sense of taste went firstly way over to the salt side of things, anything I tried to eat tasted so salty I could not eat it, and after a little time my taste (or lack of) just made all food lose appeal
I had the same thing once when i was in hospital a while ago. Just one day they brought me food and i thought maybe they'd accidentally fucked it up with too much salt, then over the next day or 2 it just got worse. Sucks a lot when you're starving but everything tastes like the ocean.
If you enjoy noise pollution and obnoxious driving practices, Phnom Penh is the place for you!

This.
User avatar
Username Taken
Raven
Posts: 13897
Joined: Mon May 19, 2014 6:53 pm
Reputation: 5962
Cambodia

Re: MY Ozzie friends experince having covid 19

Post by Username Taken »

@phuketrichard , may I ask your friend's age? Any known medical conditions?

TIA
User avatar
phuketrichard
Expatriate
Posts: 16790
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 5:17 pm
Reputation: 5733
Location: Atlantis
Aruba

Re: MY Ozzie friends experince having covid 19

Post by phuketrichard »

Username Taken wrote: Thu Apr 09, 2020 11:55 am @phuketrichard , may I ask your friend's age? Any known medical conditions?

TIA
i think like 64 or so,
no conditions i am aware of, at least none he has ever mentioned
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bobby66, Khmu Nation, Moe and 1358 guests