Covid-19 新型コロナウイルス 【2021.01.27 Wednesday 21:17】 |
I am sharing my Covid-19 experience here. But please forgive me if my use of medical terminology is wrong as I am not a medical person.
日本語バージョンは英語の下に続きます(Japanese version will follow after English)。
In December 2020, I had a severe case of Covid-19 pneumonia and almost died when my oxygen saturation (SpO2) dropped to the 70%. I stared feeling ill a few days after arriving in Cape Town. But I wrongly thought I did not have Covid-19 so stayed in bed until my friend who is a medical doctor took me to a hospital to get tested for Covid-19. I was running a temperature of 40 degrees for 5 days with no appetite and dry cough.
Fortunately, with the proper hospitalization and specialists care, I survived and returned home in Durban on Jan 1, 2021.
I went to Cape Town to help my daughter who delivered their first son on Nov 23. Instead of giving any help, I gave Covid-19 to my son-in-law. So, my daughter had to face the toughest situation where her mother was almost dying in the ICU, her husband in complete isolation from them, and a three-week-old infant. The only good thing was that my daughter and grandson did not get infected.
I was admitted in a well-equipped private hospital in Cape Town, called Vincent Pallotti Hospital where I was moved from High Care to ICU to High Care depending on my conditions.
Due to the doctor's last-minute decision, I was not put on a ventilator, and the high-concentration oxygen therapy seemed to have worked. After 11 days of hospitalization, I was discharged and went back to my daughter’s house. In those 11 days, the hospital beds were full at the end, and some patients were turned away. I was lucky to have been admitted in the hospital without any delay.
I had no idea that the doctors had told my family that I was in critical condition. Believe it or not, from my ICU bed at that critical timing, I was on the phone texting and planning with my business affiliate for next year's work. I do remember the doctor told me, "The next 48 hours would be critical. You must have the strong will to live.” My SpO2 level went down in the 70s. But strangely I cannot recall I had any trouble breathing.
Apparently, this might be a condition called "Happy Hypoxia," in which the patient's brain does not recognize that he or she is in such a serious condition. The reason why so many people die suddenly from Covid-19 may come from this. If you are not treated at a medical institution at this state, you could die without even knowing that you are in a very dangerous state.
I received a lot of messages from my friends and people I met on social media. Since it was a hospital in South Africa, the rules were not so strict, and I could use my phone even in the ICU. I can't tell you how happy I was to read these messages when I was still conscious.
I have many memories of my time in the ICU. One is that both my arteries and veins were very difficult to identify. Although the nurses sweated and worked hard, they were not very successful, and I had to have dozens of needles stuck in me, which was quite painful.
The whole hospital was also in turmoil, sometimes breakfast was served after 10:00 a.m. I was very hungry and securing my food was one of my missions. And the food delivered by my daughter and friends in Cape Town were often lost and took some time to find me in the hospital. But I don't want to blame the hospital just because of my experiences, since I know how chaotic it was.
When I was in the ICU, I tried to express my gratitude to the nurses by simply saying "Thank you". Every time they wiped me down, gave me medicine, or checked my blood pressure or oxygen saturation, I would say "Thank you" to them. Of course, I was grateful to them, but in South Africa, if you don't do a good job of self-promotion like this, you can often be forgotten.
And the most important thing was that I had to make sure that the drip of H2O was supplied continuously. The hyperoxia therapy came through my nose, which means that if you don't get the supply of H2O in your nose along with it, you will feel a severe pain in the back of your nose. In Japan, for example, I don't think there is such a thing as running out of H2O, but in South Africa, it happened. So, I made sure to get a sense of how long it would take for the H2O to run out and send a sign to the nurses before it run out.
Another vivid memory from the ICU was to catch the flies that were invading the ICU rooms. Since I was lying on the bed connected to various intravenous drips, my body was not so free. So, after much trial and error, I came up with the strategy of leaving a little protein drink for low blood sugar to lure the flies into the drink. Every night, at least two of them entered the antsy goblet of this protein drink. Call me a “professional Patient” in the ICU.
During my stay in the hospital, of course, I had my share of frustrations, but I didn't want to let that depress me, so when I got a nurse who had a bad attitude or was bad at giving injections, I would have my imaginary perfect nurse come right up next to me and comfort me. “It'll be over soon," she/he said.
The most painful memory in the ICU was a patient who was in the ICU at the same time as me. She cried all day long, saying she wanted to go home. "My daughter can't stop drinking and I'm worried about my granddaughter. She may not be eating everyday." It was hard enough to get Covid-19, but she also had to worry about her daughter and granddaughter. I felt useless but there was nothing I could do.
Now, it's been almost a month since I left the hospital, and as for the aftereffects, I feel a decline in my eyesight, physical strength, motor skills and memory. During the month I was in Cape Town, I slept most of the time in bed, so I lost a lot of muscle and even walking was difficult. The mere two-hour flight from Cape Town to Durban left me exhausted.
After returning to Durban, I began to receive daily news of the deaths from Covid-19. Those are the people I knew well, not distant acquaintances. Those are the people I shared some quality time with. I feel absolutely shattered as I learn so many of my dear friends are gone now.
I am reminded how lucky I was. I would like to thank you all for your encouragement and prayers. They meant the world to me.
Lastly, my utmost gratitude goes to my family, Kanji, Shoko, Adir, Lina, Eriko, Azino and Lei! They supported me throughout my battle with Covid-19. Thank you.
2020年12月、新型コロナを重症化させて酸素飽和度が70%台まで下がり死にかけましたが、何とか生還して自宅に戻りました。娘の出産の手助けにいったのに、娘婿にコロナを移し、娘は生後3週間の乳児を抱えて危篤の母、陽性隔離の夫、どれだけ不安だったか。役に立つどころかとんでもないお荷物になってしまい、ただただ申し訳ない思いでした。でも、幸いなことに娘と孫は感染させずに済みました。感謝です。
私がお世話になったのは、ケープタウンの設備の整った民間病院で、High Care→ ICU→ High Careと病状に応じて病室を移動しました。医師のギリギリの判断で、人工呼吸器のお世話になることなく、高濃度酸素治療が功を奏したようです。一重に幸運でした。11日間の入院で最後の方は病床が一杯になり、断られる患者さんもいたようです。
本人は医師が家族に危篤状態を伝えていたことも知らず、「これから48時間が勝負」と言われていた中日に、取引先と来年の仕事の調整までしていた、という本当に不思議な病状でした。酸素飽和度が70台、80台まで下がっていたのに本人は呼吸が苦しいとも意識していませんでした。
どうもこれは、「幸せな低酸素状態―Happy Hypoxia」と呼ばれる病状で、本人は自分が重篤な状態でも脳がそういう状態を意識させていない、という可能性もあるらしいです。新型コロナで急死される方が多いのは、こういった状態で医療機関で治療を受けていなかったら、自分がかなり危険な状態にあることさえ知らず亡くなってしまうからかもしれません。
私の友人やSNSで知り合った方々からたくさんのメッセージをいただきました。南アの病院ですので、それほど規則は厳しくなく、ICUの中でもスマホの使用は許されていました。意識がはっきりしていた時にどれほど嬉しく読ませていただいたか。ありがとうございました。
ICUでの思い出はいろいろあるのですが、一つは私の動脈も静脈も血管が非常に分かりにくく、看護師さんたちが汗をかいてがんばってくれたのですが、なかなか成功せず、注射針を何十回も刺されてかなり痛い思いをしました。 また、病院全体もかなり混乱していて、朝食が10時過ぎになったり、娘やケープタウンの知人から届けてもらった差し入れが12時間以上迷子になったりしました。が、どれだけ病院が混乱していたかがよく分かるので、私の今回の経験だけで病院を非難しようとは思いません。
ICUにいて、心掛けたのは、看護師さんたちにとにかく「Thank you」と、感謝の気持ちを伝えることです。体を拭いてもらう、薬を飲ませてもらう、血圧や酸素飽和度の検査をしてもらうたびに「ありがとう」と伝えていました。彼らへの感謝の気持ちはもちろんなのですが、南アではこういう風に自己アピールを上手にしないと忘れられてしまうことが多いのですよね。
そして、一番重要だったのは、高酸素治療を鼻から吸引していたのですが、これは水分も一緒に鼻にいれないと、ものすごい圧力で酸素が入れられるので、水分が切れた途端、鼻の奥に激痛が走るのです。まあ、例えば日本であれば、こういった水分の点滴などを切らす、ということはないと思うのですが、南アでは起こってしまうのです。そこで、自分でだいたいの水分が無くなる時間の感覚をつかんで、早め早めに看護師さんたちに「もうすぐ無くなると思うよ〜」とサインを送ることを怠りませんでした。
あと、ICUでの思い出?は、なんとICUの病室内にハエが侵入してくるので、そのハエをいかに捕まえるか、ということにもエネルギーを使っていました。だいたいいろいろな点滴に繋がれてベッドに横になっているので、そう体が自由にはなりませんでした。で、いろいろ試した中たどり着いたのは、低血糖になった時用のプロテイン飲料を少し残しておいて、そのドリンクの中にハエをおびき寄せる、という戦略でした。毎晩、最低でも2匹はこのプロテインドリンクのアリジゴクに入っていただきました。
入院中、もちろん不満なこともあったのですが、気持ちをそれで落ち込ませるのは不本意なので、態度が悪かったり、注射が本当に下手な看護師さんに当たった時は、想像上のカンペキな看護師さんにその隣にすっと来ていただいて、慰めてもらっていました。「すぐ終わりますよ」って。
ICUで一番辛かったのは、私と同時期にICUにいた患者さんのことです。一日中、さめざめと泣くのです。早く家に帰りたいと。彼女が、「私の娘はお酒が切れなくて、孫娘がちゃんとご飯をもらっているかが心配なのよ」と泣くのを聞いて、自分の病状だけでなく、子どもたち、孫たちのことを心配するのはなんと切ないことなんだろうと思いました。何の力にもなれない自分が歯がゆかったです。
さて、退院して間もなく1か月になりますが、後遺症としては、視力、体力、手足の動かし方、記憶力に衰えを感じます。ケープタウンにいた1か月、ほとんど寝ていたので、筋肉がごっそり落ち、歩くことさえ困難でした。たかだか2時間ほどのケープタウン→ダーバンの飛行機での移動で疲労困憊しました。
ダーバンに戻ってから、知人・友人の家族や友人と言った、実際によく知っている人たちのコロナでの訃報が毎日届くようになりました。自分がいかに幸運だったかを改めて実感しております。皆様の励ましやお祈りのおかげだと思っております。本当にありがとうございました。
最後に、支えてくれた家族には感謝の言葉もありません。寛慈、翔子、アディア、里奈、えり子、アジーノ、怜依、本当にありがとう。
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author : y-mineko
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