Through dark days

Photo by Jorge Cortés on Unsplash

Sorry if I have not been updating my blog the past few weeks. So many things have happened and if you also follow me on my other social media accounts, you’d probably know all of it by now. 

It’s hard to update when it’s an unfortunate event over another. Our family went through a tough time recently and it did send most of us to our knees. 

Just to give you a quick rundown, the uncle that I mentioned in my previous blog post died from COVID last March 27. We thought he was pulling through during the first couple of days but it went downhill from there. It was a sad, sad day for all of us and I can’t imagine how painful it was for my cousin, especially when she’s left all alone now. 

This uncle was still confined when his older brother—another uncle—was rushed to the hospital and was later tested positive for COVID as well. This other uncle wasn’t even aware that his younger brother died until the time he also succumbed to the virus mere four days after on March 31. It was too much for the whole family because we were still reeling from the passing of the first uncle and we haven’t even fully grieved yet when we were given another blow. 

Meanwhile, my cousin who was tested positive suffered heart complications and developed pulmonary edema she had to be confined. However, all hospitals were full and would not accommodate her. Left without a choice she stayed home to recuperate. After days of anxiety and stress, her condition miraculously improved and there is no need for her to be confined anymore. Small wins are still the biggest blessings. 

My nephew was asymptomatic and has recovered fully. 

10 days into our isolation (after being exposed to our nephew), my older brother manifested mild symptoms of COVID (sore throat, slight fever, and loss of taste and smell) so he was RT-PCR tested again. He immediately went on isolation at home after his swab test even if the results will take days. Kuya did so as he already assumed he is positive just to be sure. 

On Good Friday, results came showing that he’s indeed positive. That panicked everyone—most of all me—since I share a room with him. I was quick to place plastic covers around and made sure the room is well-ventilated by opening up all windows and resisted the urge to turn on the AC. Disinfecting the entire household was done three times a day and we wear masks even while at home. It’s good that he only had mild symptoms and that none of us had any in the entire 14 days of his isolation. He’s fine now but he chose to stay home and not go out unless truly necessary as he fears reinfection.

Mommy (a senior) and my younger brother (with comorbidity) had their 1st dose of the COVID vaccine yesterday. This somewhat gave all of us some peace of mind because for the past few weeks all of us here at home were just highly strung with all that has happened. Every day I worry about my mom, especially after she complained of chest pains some days ago. It’s good that she has no other symptoms like fever and cough and her blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation are all normal. Our doctor said that her anxiety might be triggering her heartburn. At least now that she’s taking her medications for her gastroesophageal reflux disease and hasn’t complained of chest pressure since.

We never thought that we’ll ever be this close to COVID enough that we’ll lose two relatives in a week from it. We never thought that family members and relatives would be part of the growing statistic. It’s almost surreal.

We are still reeling.