“Kinsa ni ba? Ayaw gud pag-joke,” my voice was shaking, heart jumping out of my body, with sweat cascading generously like waterfalls.
It was past 9 p.m. when I called an unknown number after receiving a message, from that same number, saying that I tested positive for Covid-19. While a part of me was scared of the truth, a bigger part of me prayed that it was just a prank. It happened over two months ago but I could still remember the flood of emotions that I felt that night as if it happened yesterday.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I’d catch the virus. I mean, who dreams of that?
It started with a migraine on September 1, and I blamed work for it. Sorry!
I finished quite a lot of tasks in the last two weeks of August, and I was editing a video until the wee hours of the morning on that day. It wasn’t until the 4th of September when I frantically swam in a pool of worry and anxiety because I had lost my sense of smell and taste.
“Patay na jud ko ani” my mind repeated endlessly while I got tested at VSMMC.
My mind was all over the place, desperately convincing myself that I’ve got nothing to worry about since I’ve been working out persistently since April; I’ve been eating healthy, organic, and natural food; and I had a flu shot in August so this is just an effect.
The only Covid-19 symptom I had was the loss of taste and smell. Nothing to worry about, Romayne. Nothing to do--Well, eventually I landed in CCMC’s isolation ward for Covid-19 patients.
Kuya Makoy, a nurse from CCMC, greeted me as soon as I entered the ward. Only, he wasn’t a ward nurse at that moment, he was a patient because he, too, tested positive.
Getting the virus changed my life.
Although I only had mild symptoms, getting stuck in a white-colored room with fluorescent lights faintly glaring at one spot made me realize a multitude of things-- both the good and the bad.
Bad, because unconsciously, I wanted to pin the blame on someone or something- which is wrong and toxic in all angles.
There’s no use in blaming someone because it wouldn’t change anything. It made me realize that when you’re stuck in a situation that took place in the past, the only “cure” for that is to work on the present to have a better future.
Good, because one, I was humbled. Two, it changed my perspective on life.
The virus doesn’t choose anyone. Just because you got the virus doesn’t automatically mean you’re “pasaway” or careless. Even healthcare workers who’re wrapped in PPEs test positive. It’s a viral infection that shouldn’t boil down to who’s responsible and who’s not.
Getting out of the ward was a breath of fresh air. I wouldn’t have gotten the strength to get better if it weren’t for my family especially my Mom; friends; colleagues; and my significant other.
Maybe God wanted me to learn a life-lesson, maybe He didn’t. But whatever the reason for that chaotic plot twist, one thing’s for sure, you’ve got to drink your vitamins.
Just kidding.
Strive to get better, to become better.