Take The Virus Head On - Corona Survivor's Tale

Covid-19 - mere mention is so repulsive and unwelcome. At the same time it is a hard reality which the whole world is facing. We need to prepare ourselves to deal with the virus head on- both physically and mentally.

We had earlier shared a story of a family from New York who survived the Covid attack. We now bring you another Covid survivor's tale from Bengaluru, India. Through these stories we hope to spread positivity and help you to face the Covid pandemic stoically.

This is the story of Raaj Kumar (RK) and his family. Raaj is an engineer from BITS Pilani who has worked for more than 40 years. He has been the CEO of many companies including Praxair, JSW, GMR and Sinarmas in Jakarta. He now owns some solar assets and is an angel investor for startups.

Raaj and his wife, both senior citizens, contracted the Corona virus in July 2020. But thankfully both came out victorious. When we came to know of their story, we requested him to share it with us. He readily agreed. Raaj's story in his own words.

HB: Tell us about the area where you live. Was it affected by Covid and precautions that you took specially for your age group?

RK: We live in a green, well spread out and well maintained gated community comprising of 230 apartments in JP Nagar in South Bangalore. Till the first lockdown in March, I travelled quite a bit on work for nearly 20 days every month, mainly to Hyderabad and Delhi. Being 68, I didn't step out of the gated community since then. My wife Neeta who works for an NGO also didn't go out during and for a few weeks post lockdown, till beginning of June.

HB: Who was affected first in the family and what were the symptoms that were observed? It must have been a psychological shock.

RK: My wife’s NGO started helping Covid affected families and that is where we believe she got infected around July 15. She then started to show symptoms like persistent headache and recurring fever from 19th leading to her test on 23rd. Her result came positive on 24th and she was admitted into a private hospital on 25th July. This was, of course, a big shock for us. But it wasn't completely unexpected, given her engagement with the NGO and also because we had already started seeing a few positive cases in our apartment complex.

HB: Was there a need for hospitalisation and was it very difficult to get a bed as we read in the media?

RK: Neeta was advised hospitalization because, besides fever and headache, her oxygen concentration had also dropped down to 93. I believe availability of Covid beds in Bangalore isn't a serious issue. But getting the right place where she would feel good and stay positive was a bit of a challenge. We were lucky to get her into a private Covid care facility where she had a good room to herself and which was less than a km from our home. We were very worried to have left her all by herself. But now when we look back, I feel grateful that she had a comfortable stay and, most importantly, got excellent medical care.

HB: While your wife was hospitalised how did you keep your morale high as it was a life-threatening situation?

RK: We are a small and well-knit family. Our elder son Daksh and his wife Vineeta live in Singapore. So, we had fixed a routine - both of them would speak to her and her doctor in the morning and I will do that in the evening. Then all five of us would get together on a video call, talk about good things of life and put her to sleep. I think this is what kept us going. These were the longest five days of our lives, but I believe strength came from being and laughing together. Technology was indeed very helpful 👍

HB: Once your wife returned after hospitalisation it must have been a sense of big relief. Did anyone else get infected and when?

RK: Neeta was discharged from the hospital on 30th afternoon. Before she was hospitalised, I and our younger son, Akshat, were her primary contacts. We had taken some basic precautions. But when your wife is suffering from 101+ fever in the middle of the night and you need to keep cold towel on her forehead, you throw the precautions through the window and tend to challenge the virus to bring it on. I guess, this is what happened to me and Akshat on the night of 22nd. He didn't show any symptoms, but I started to get slight fever from 28th. We both took RT-PCR test on 30th. I was declared positive on 31st and Akshat stayed negative.

HB: What was the feeling when you also tested positive for Corona?

RK: I guess, the outcome of our tests was pretty much as expected. I was, therefore, much better prepared mentally and physically to deal with it. I had already reached out to the doctors who had treated Neeta. So along with RT-PCR test, we also did a range of blood tests as recommended by the doctors - Hb, CBC, ESR, CRP, Ferritin and D-dimer - and also chest x-ray. So while Covid test was positive for me, these other reports, coupled with consistently good oxygen concentration of 96-98%, pulse rate below 80 and breathing rate of 12-13 per minute, gave confidence to doctors that the infection was mild enough to be treated from home itself. I believe, all the immunity boosting home remedies that Neeta had been giving us for several weeks helped to contain the effect of this virus on our bodies. Of course, doctors prescribed 5 pills for 5 days. Fortunately, there was no need for extending the medication.

HB: Was there any specific treatment for you as a senior citizen?

RK: Nothing specific based on age. But I believe, the treatment regime gets more specific if infected person has other risk factors such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes. Both Neeta and I fortunately did not have any of it.

HB: Now that both of you are cured is there any message you would like to give our readers to face similar situation?

RK: A few suggestions: 1) Must take precautions like wearing masks and social distancing, but don't lock yourself up in fear of getting infected. Go out in fresh air, do some brisk walking and, of course, take immunity boosting home remedies like a concentrate made of cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, saunf and jeera boiled in water and cooled; 2) Pray that the bug won't hit you, but there is no need to panic if it does. Reach out to the doctors and follow their advice; 3) Keep cool. Once you are in safe hands of doctors and nursing staff, support them to treat you; 4) Living in isolation is challenging. So have your own PPE-Kit of Prayers, Pranayam, and Exercises. These, coupled with support from caring family and friends, go a long way in avoiding anxiety and getting good sleep, which is very essential for good recovery; 5) Avoid stress from any source, even newspapers and tv news. Disconnect from routine and do the unusual. My wife had gifted me a piano on my 65th birthday, which I hardly touched all of three years because I thought I was too busy working and traveling. But now I can play a couple of old Hindi songs thanks to Covid😀

Thank you Raaj for sharing your real life experience. It will certainly inspire our readers to tackle the virus with confidence. 

In order to spread positivity during the lockdown, we had posted the following seven stories. Just click on any title to browse the story.

I Got A New Life - A Corona Survivor's Tale

Breaking Free In Lockdown

Bouncing Back In Lockdown

Every Day Is A Sunday

Stay Home Stay Safe

Lockdown Is ... Happiness

Corona The Global Threat

Hope you are feeling stronger and more confident of dealing with the virus after reading our stories. Thanks for browsing.

Stay safe and stay healthy.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 15th Aug 2020

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