The Malaysian Insight

“LUCKY to be alive” is how some recovered Covid-19 patients said they feel after a harrowing battle with the virus.

Still struggling with post-infection recovery, two of them share their experience so others will know the terrible effect of the coronavirus on the body and so Malaysians will take lockdown restrictions seriously as the country fights its worst surge in infections a year since the onset of the pandemic.

Recovery is not a “win”

Photographer Soh Teong Kok’s Covid-19 symptoms were bad enough to put him in a coma. He spent four days in a hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU).

Now recovered, he still feels tired easily and is prone to bouts of coughing.

“One should not claim victory over the virus or be arrogant.

“Once you get infected, there is a long recovery ahead. Though I have recovered, I don’t dare say that I have won against the virus.

“The virus is smart. The first time I got tested, the results came back negative, which was false,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Soh said he experienced a high fever on April 21 and decided to go for a PCR test.

His results came back negative but he felt exhausted physically and mentally and he was also suffering from insomnia.

When he went back for another test on April 30, he was so tired he almost collapsed and needed to use a wheelchair.

“After the repeat test, they took me to the ICU where I was intubated.”

He woke up from his four-day coma to be told that he was a Category 5 patient, which meant the need for a ventilator to help him breathe.

“Once you wake up, you are considered to be in a safer zone, but you still need continued observation. This is the first time my body was hooked up to so many machines.”

Upon discharge, Soh posted a picture of himself on social media. The bruises on his neck from the intubation were still obvious.

The loneliness and fear of being kept in isolation, hanging between life and death, have also left a mark on his memory.

Along with his photo on social media, he posted, “When the doctors and nurses leave, my only company are the cold machines and a small window. I felt the happiest when the nurse comes back to check on my progress or when I’m taken for a CT scan, as I’m finally able to leave the room.”

He said he also had to fight the urge to unplug himself from the machines and run out of the ICU.

Once he was transferred to a normal ward, Soh faced a new set of challenges. It took him two to three days to get used to eating, drinking and using the toilet.

“Even though I was in the normal ward, I still had to rely on machines to breathe and a feeding tube. I could only swallow water very slowly.”

‘My lungs are still damaged’

Sharon Toh, who tested positive for the virus after dining with a friend at a restaurant, was a Category 4 patient and agreed to taking an antiviral influenza drug being trialled for Covid-19 treatment. There is still no cure for the coronavirus.

Before being admitted, she isolated herself at home after her friend tested positive, and did a test on April 22 after experiencing fever, sore throat, flu, cough, diarrhoea and body aches to the extent she couldn’t get out of bed.

Her results came back positive the next day and she recalls feeling fearful that her condition would deteriorate quickly as she had Hepatitis B before.

“I was diagnosed with Hepatitis B four years ago and it had damaged my lungs. I knew with Covid-19, my condition would be worse as the virus attacks the lungs.”

On April 25, she went to a clinic to get tagged and was told to go home and pack. She was sent to an isolation centre the same day, where nurses detected low oxygen levels, prompting her immediate admission to a hospital’s ICU.

“I remember wondering if I would come out alive.

“At 9pm, I was admitted to the ICU as my condition had become very bad. I had a fever of 39.6°C and the X-ray showed that the virus was attacking my lungs.”

Toh fell into a coma soon after that. When she woke up, she consented to the use of the drug Favipiravir, normally used in treating influenza, but with side effects to the liver and kidneys.

“With no other options and to save my lungs, I signed the consent form that will allow the doctors to use the drug on me, even with the bad side effects,” she said.

The first six days on the drug, Toh said she had a persistent fever of 38.6°C.

“I had to use a wet towel all day to bring down the fever. I was reliant on oxygen and, in a matter of days, I had used up six oxygen cylinders.

“After five days on Favipiravir, my condition worsened and my oxygen level was also low. My lungs looked bad too,” she said.

The doctors then prescribed her with steroids and sent her to the ICU again on May 1 where she was intubated.

“I was hooked up to a ventilator, a catheter, and blood pressure and heart monitors.

“That night my heart rate dropped to below 40 (60 to 100 is normal) and as the night passed my heart rate went up. I escaped death.”

Although her oxygen levels improved the next day, she still had a fever, difficulty breathing and a cough.

On May 6, she was transferred to the regular ward after completing the steroid treatment. She was discharged on May 14, but the doctors told her the damage to her lung was already done.

“My body is still very weak. I can’t stand to sit for too long and I feel breathless very easily. I feel dizzy all the time and just want to lie down.”

Unlike Soh, Toh is not on any medication but is taking supplements to help her body recover.

She plans to go for a check-up after two weeks to check on her condition and discuss follow-up treatments. – May 23, 2021.