Getting infected with COVID-19 is not a death sentence, and hundreds of Filipinos, including photographer Jo Avila, have successfully overcome the viral respiratory disease.
Avila wrote about his experience in a now-viral Facebook post that appeared two weeks ago, where he said he first had himself checked in an Antipolo City hospital on March 16 after suffering from diarrhea for two days.
“While in the ER (emergency room), they took a stool sample, hooked me up to an IV and allowed me to sleep for two hours. Since the results of the stool sample showed no trace of bacteria, I was prescribed medicine and oral rehydration salts and sent home,” the 51-year-old Avila said in his post, which has been shared almost 7,000 times.
Despite being given a clean bill of health, Avila went back to the same hospital six days later because he still had diarrhea, aside from having a cough and cold. He was declared a suspected COVID-19 case, but Avila couldn’t be admitted to the same hospital because 20 of their nurses were under quarantine.
“My wife and I started to think of other hospitals where I could be admitted. Antipolo and Metro Manila hospitals were already at full capacity,” Avila said. “At this point, my dad and elder brother had been informed about my situation. With their help, arrangements had been made for an ambulance to pick me up at home and bring me to QualiMed [Hospital] in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.”
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Avila was given a slew of tests at QualiMed, such as a CT scan, X-Ray, and blood samples. On March 24, he met Dr. Mark Pasayan, an infectious disease specialist.
“He explained to me about my symptoms and how he suspected that I was COVID-19 positive based on my symptoms. Dr. Pasayan sought my consent to proceed with the treatment based on the assumption that I had COVID-19 even if the results of the swab test had not been returned yet,” Avila said. “He reasoned [that] early intervention is key to successfully treating COVID-19. If the results come back negative, then the treatment would be stopped and nothing would have been lost.”
The photographer, who later tested positive of the coronavirus, was treated with medicine that was typically used by HIV-positive patients. During several weeks of receiving treatments, he lost weight, life became a routine, and he had to deal with insomnia and the silence in his hospital room. Like most COVID-19 patients, Avila was left alone in his room, and his family was forbidden to visit him due to the highly transmissible nature of the coronavirus.
“I would spend the day resting. I would end up being too well-rested in the evening to fall asleep. I kept the bathroom light on and the door slightly ajar to act as a nightlight. It became tiresome staring into the darkness waiting for sleep to come,” he said.
“I could hear sounds that I didn’t want to hear. I heard someone coughing loudly as I lay down in bed. I heard what sounded like someone trying to get air into their lungs.”
Avila needed two negative results to be cleared of COVID-19, and it was on April 1, when he took his fourth, and what turned out to be his last, swab test. When the results came out, he noticed that his nurses and doctors walked into his room without wearing their personal protective equipment (PPE)
“I saw a strange sight a few days later [after I took my test]. My doctor and two nurses walked into my room with their PPE headgear off. It took me a few seconds to realize that the April 1 swab result had come back negative as well,” he said.
Avila has gone back home, and in an e-mail interview with Coconuts Manila he said he has not experienced any form of discrimination, and that his neigbors were even very supportive.
“We had neighbors who would drop by to bring food, coffee, vegetables or offer to buy what my family needed. One neighbor sent us breakfast during my first morning back home. We had a neighbor who volunteered to go to the drug store to buy the medicine that I needed to take after I got out of the hospital. Another neighbor donated the multi-vitamins that were part of my prescription,” he said.
To manage his anxiety during his almost 20-day confinement, he brought a lot of stuff with him to the hospital.
“I had a duffel bag that contained clothes, toiletries and slippers. I had a small backpack with me that contained my mobile devices, AC charger (adapter) and headphones. I would read online articles, watch moves and anime, read manga, browse social media and call, message or video chat with my family, parents, and siblings,” he recalled.
Avila, who has lost almost 25 pounds, said he is now in good health, although he has to wait for a month before he could go back to cycling because he has been told to give his lungs some time to recuperate. After his story became viral, he has been receiving messages from complete strangers who fear that they may have been infected with the coronavirus.
“Some of them wish to compare their current symptoms with the symptoms that I had. I always tell them to get over the dread and fear and encourage them to get tested either at the hospital or by their City Health Officer,” he said.
“Others are worried about their friends, family members or loved ones who are currently in the hospital because of COVID-19. The messages that make me sad are from those who have been tested to be COVID- 19 positive, but cannot be accommodated by any nearby hospital because they are at full capacity. The curve not flattening makes me sad and I am worried for those who are in need of medical attention.”
Do you know of anyone who has successfully recovered from COVID-19? Tell us about them by leaving a comment below or tweeting to @CoconutsManila.
