COVID as Crown or My Life
BY CYNTHIA U. SANTIAGO
FIRST, let me answer your questions…
- How did we get COVID?
Yes, WE– because Ed got COVID too.
So how did we get it?
God knows from Day 1, Ed and I followed protocols— wash hands, wear face mask and face shield, observe distancing. At right, observing protocols, August 21, 2020.
Okay, confession: We didn’t stay home 100 percent. See, we were un- techie.
I particularly did not know, didn’t bother to learn how to do official business online— I had millennial staff who did
this for me while I did what I only knew all my life—write, edit, write edit.
LESSON: Be flexible enough to learn what’s new—even if you’re already 70.
Heniway, once a month, we went to our acupuncture doctor for health checkup, and because we didn’t know how to do things online, we took time after our checkup to do essentials–we went to our bank to withdraw cash, then paid our bills, then bought our groceries for the month.
But Ed likes to have fresh meat and fish. I like fresh fruits and vegetables. There was this guy pushing a cart of the goodies we wanted right along our street– yes, Mamang Kariton. Lately, there appeared more Mamangs Kariton—those who lost their job following the Quarantines.
And Ed now and then went down to buy the fresh stuff from them.
So, perhaps, somewhere in those excursions, COVID caught on us.
LESSON: Be quick to change your ways and adjust to your clear
and present situation.
- What were the symptoms?
Cough. Early January up to March 2021, I was already coughing— a COVID symptom. But I thought I was just coughing because of the cold weather during that time.
Diarrhea. Then, Ed and I suffered diarrhea, another COVID symptom. But we thought this was due to our irregular diet.
No sense of smell. I had this spray deodorant to get rid of foul smell in our
toilet. I couldn’t smell the scent. But I was like, because the spray was kind of old already and so it must had already expired. Didn’t occur to me to tie this with COVID.
Hyperacidity. Following prescriptions to avoid COVID, we drank lots of pineapple juice, said to be rich in Vitamin C that wards off COVID. But perhaps because he had too much juice, Ed suffered hyperacidity, so the more he could not eat properly. He became so weak that we went and consulted our acu doc, Dr. Eddie Concepcion.
LESSON: Pay attention! Get professional help ASAP.
Our doctor recommended that I go already for a COVID SWAB.
Why just me? Why not both Ed and me?
Well, he said, if I have it, most likely, Ed would have had it too.
So, from the doc’s clinic, we went straight to this clinic offering swab service. Four days after my swab, I got the chilling sentence: I was COVID positive. And yes, later test showed Ed had it too. And, SHOCK!
I was like, we have neighbors who went out to work every day. I see on Facebook friends who travel, celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, eating together, side by side, and, take note, without masks, face shields…
Not that I wished they would, but they didn’t get COVID.
SO, OKAY. WHY US?
1.We needed to be horrified. At the outset, I guess like a hundred dozens, we hardly pay attention to COVID. Not that we were not aware of its horror. It’s all the daily news harped about.
But we were busy beating deadlines for publications we serve distributed to worldwide chapters of The Feast, the faith gathering of our Light of Jesus Family founded by Bro. Bo Sanchez.
2.Others needed to be horrified. Early on, it was difficult to get everybody to follow protocols, believe in vaccines—so that we’d all achieve herd immunity. What? Herd? Unheard of. Or, naaah, won’t hear of it.
We are in media. So, I guess if someone like us would encounter COVID— lungs-to-lungs—imperfect as we are, we could be Poster Couple about its horror. And maybe, someone, even just one, would also be afraid and listen.
Now you know why I am exposing the gory details of my COVID. Okay, whether you’re not yet afraid or already are, read on…
3.We still have a mission here. Read on…
NEXT: WHY WE GOT HEALED
