Each day you get updated on the total number of corona cases in Nepal. Sadly, these are not just cases, these are people and families who undergo a period of immense turmoil with uncertainty looming their heads. One such family was mine. I, my husband, and my daughter were tested positive at the beginning of August. We were this super careful family, read a lot on google, washed our hands a bit too much, wore masks wherever we went but most importantly didn’t go out unless necessary. Despite these precautions, we got exposed to the virus and this came as a huge shock to me and my family. Today a month has passed, and we are out of self-isolation after being tested negative. Except for normal fatigue, we three are healthy like never before. However, the stress and experiences that we underwent between our positive and negative results are worth sharing to show how the COVID-19 is more than just a virus. It demands discipline, perseverance, tons of will power, and an army of people to support you.

My husband was the first one to be tested positive, but he isolated himself immediately after he suspected minor COVID symptoms. He stopped stepping out of the room, stopped going to the office, and prepared everyone that he may have contracted the virus so that no outsider would come into our house and vice versa. The day he got tested, the PCR was administered not just to the rest of the family but everyone in his proximity including his colleagues and employees. And I can say with immense pride that because of his sensibility, none of the other members of our family or his employees/colleagues were tested positive, except me and my daughter who shared the room with him before he isolated himself. My daughter and I too isolated ourselves from the rest of the family after he developed suspected symptoms which helped us contain the virus in our family.

No one is prepared to welcome a life-threatening virus into their lives, and I am not an exception. As soon as we got positive, I realized that all the information to date in Nepal is around ways to prevent the virus but nothing on what needs to be done if at all one contracts it. “Stay Home, Stay Safe” no longer seemed to work for my family nor did the lady’s advice on the telephone. I also looked for support groups in Nepal but found none which made me resort to desperate measures like messaging Abhishek Bachhan who had recently undergone his corona treatment around the same time. But having lived a 20 days long isolation, I have come to realize that a corona patient needs two types of support: medical and psychological. Having the best of doctors in family and proximity, we got teleconsulting and all the necessary services that a corona patient gets in home isolation.

As for being psychologically strong, we had no option but to be one. My husband and I were symptomatic whereas our daughter an asymptomatic. My husband’s symptoms were more severe than mine but mine made me nauseous and dehydrated having lost my sense of taste and smell. Amidst this, my daughter was highly active and was agitated for being confined to two rooms. She missed playing on the lawn and kept waving at her grandparents from the window. She didn’t know what to do, nor did I. I was struggling between mine and my husband’s heath and my daughter’s helplessness. Thankfully I had watched the movie “Life is Beautiful” and applied that in my life with my daughter when we were in this chaos. She is a huge fan of Frozen and the character: Elsa who isolates herself in the room when she becomes aware of her power of turning everything into ice. So, I told her she has become like Elsa and cannot go out as she may make everything frozen. This helped her cope up with the situation well but to date, she thinks she makes people frozen and keeps making that Elsa power pose which needs some fixing. The other thing that helped her cope well was her frequent tiny Santa gifts from my parents outside our door. This made her excited and look forward to the next day. But it was not easy being a COVID patient and a caretaker all at once especially when your toddler is a “threenager”. No matter how calm I sound right now, I’ve had many emotional meltdowns and sleepless nights when all this was going on. In the initial days of isolation, I tried my best to play with her but as soon as I became a bit active, it felt like a fog was hovering my head and I was unable to do anything. There are also times when I dozed off while feeding my daughter and woke up again when she nudged me. There are times when I felt what my daughter would do if both of us, her parents, collapse there. But the most horrific of all was when my daughter banged her head accidentally while playing and started bleeding. That was the day I completely broke down thinking where we will take her if at all she needs stitching as she was still positive but thankfully it wasn’t a deep cut and it healed soon.

Giving up as parents is not an option. We are parents before ourselves which is challenging but it also doubled our will power to fight the virus as hard as we could because that innocent soul right before us didn’t know what was going on and kept throwing her bright smile at us. I was off social media for a few days to avoid discouraging news. We took one-day-at a time and our loved ones kept sending us their best wishes and a daily dose of positivity which helped us recover each day. Our parents and siblings kept checking on us and went above and beyond everything to give us the best that they can when we were in the isolation. Not to forget our “Bhai and Baini” at home who served us tirelessly through this and we are truly grateful to each one of them.

It felt like a play that we had to perform but there was a huge team in the green room to help us and cheer us up. Our support system was pretty strong be it our families, friends, or our colleagues. Everything was taken care of and all we had to do was strengthen our immunity and will power. Despite the horrific news and videos, we had watched earlier, I kept telling myself and my husband that we need to have immense faith in our bodies and that this tiny obnoxious virus is nothing compared to what we are and can be. No matter how stupid that may sound, this arrogance helped me overcome this virus. And if we were to see the positive side of the situation; it gave us time to spend with each other, embrace our vulnerabilities, and be each other’s strength. The day when we were waiting for our results felt like the biggest exam of our lives and as I stand here today, I can say that we have passed it with flying colors.

But when all this was going on, I felt a void and an urge to talk to someone going through a similar situation as mine to know those basic and practical things that kept popping in my head while in isolation. Though I wish none of this happens to you and your family, I also know that with the increasing cases in Nepal; you should at least be prepared. So, with whatever I have learned, I would like to share with you some practical hacks that may help you if at all any of you or your loved ones test positive and decide to go for home isolation:

Isolation Hacks for Infected People:

· Develop clear communication with your family to isolate oneself in case he/she develops any alleged COVID-19 symptoms. Make sure that strict rules are set to facilitate a member’s isolation without infecting the rest of the family.

· Make sure you inform people whom you had come near; be it your family, friends, or colleagues.

· Set aside a room for the infected person who needs to be isolated. Make sure it is airy. Make sure that no one uses the same restroom as him/her.

· Along with the room, the person needs to have a different set of utensils like plates, cups, bowls, spoons, water bottles, etc. He/she also needs to be given utensil washing bars/detergents so that he/she can wash them in the restroom itself.

· Each time a person from the family goes to give the isolated person his/her meal, please make sure that the person communicates with the isolated person over the phone regarding the utensils that are necessary to be kept outside. This is to avoid any contact whatsoever. The same needs to be done once the food gets delivered.

· Washing the utensils in the restroom can be challenging so, first, it needs to be cleaner and more hygienic. Make sure you wash the basin with soap and water each time you use the restroom.

· Have a trash bag ready where you can throw all the dry things and for the left-over food, please flush them so that it doesn’t clog your sink.

· Have a nice stock of disinfectant spray at home and spray it each time you use the restroom.

· If possible, do not put the carpet on the floor (for an isolated person) so that it’ll be easier for you to clean the room. If you are a bit better, clean it with a disinfectant like lizol.

· Using vacuum cleaners is not recommended.

Personal Care/Hygiene:

· Once you test positive, connect yourself with doctors and hospitals that are providing services to the COVID patients. As for me, I used the “Housepital” service from Star Hospital that allowed me to get my blood tested and daily teleconsultation with my doctor.

· Buy an oximeter and monitor your oxygen level and your heartbeat regularly. The same goes for your temperature. I noted them down and updated my doctor regularly.

· In case, your oxygen is fluctuating; it is best to go to the hospital. But in minor cases, with close consultation with your doctor, you can buy an oxygen concentrator at home. Kindly note that when in oxygen support, you have to keep monitoring your oxygen level and notify your doctor in case there is a drastic drop in your oxygen level like below 90 as you may need to be hospitalized.

· If you feel strong enough, shower with warm water and change your clothes daily.

· Steam twice a day. You can get the steamer in pharmacies or departmental stores. Clean the steamer with soap and warm water after each use.

· Gargle with salt and hot water twice a day.

· If possible, practice “Neti”. My husband says it helped him a lot. But do not share the Neti utensil with anyone.

· Have “Giloy” tea as it boosts your immunity and also has that soothing effect. Being brought up in a family embracing traditional herbs, I am a huge fan of Ayurveda and have immense faith in it. My father kept filling my stock of Guduchi (Giloy) Tea, Ashwagandha, and other calming herbs which helped me recover.

· Drink lemon water and lots of hot water.

· Do not google too much. It WON’T help you.

· Try to stay positive. Talk to people who make you laugh immediately. Listen to some good music. Watch something funny and sleep as much as you can.

· Seek counseling if needed. There is no harm in doing that.

· Keep your spirits high. Corona doesn’t equate to death. Many have come out of it with flying colors and always have faith in your body.

Ending your isolation:

· Do not go and hug your family members as soon as you test negative.

· Make sure you clean your room first and disinfect/fumigate it.

· Put your laundry in a boiling care setting and wash them with hot water and detergent for at least two hours.

· Disinfect the utensils that you used during your isolation days with warm water and soap.

· Take a shower and wear clean ironed clothes before you go see your loved ones.

· Even if you test negative, you must put your masks on along with your family members to ensure each other’s safety. A person testing negative is also vulnerable to getting re-infected even though the chances are minimal.

· Get in touch with your doctor and do all the necessary post COVID check-ups to ensure your health and safety.

· Do get yourself registered as a plasma donor in hospitals that you are in touch with. It may save lives.

Please note that all these are based on my experiences and may vary from a person to person and one family to the other. It cannot also be considered as medical advice. But the whole point is to start sharing these stories so that together we form a support group to help people and families undergoing this and break the stigma around them. This is also my attempt to call upon all the recovered people to come out. Having undergone COVID is not a crime and there should be no shame attached to it whatsoever. No one likes to be sick and no we do not spread the virus even after being negative. In fact, in many countries like America, a person needs to isolate him/herself for a minimum of 14 days and may break his/her isolation if they have been asymptomatic for three consecutive days without even getting re-tested for, he/she becomes non-infectious.

And for the rest of you, let us not stigmatize COVID patients, let us empathize with them as it can happen to anyone. Let us create an atmosphere of love and support so that together we combat this virus. We were lucky to be surrounded by our family and friends but not everyone is this lucky which makes me think that God has been kind that it happen to us and did not happen to a family that has no access to healthcare, nutritious food, needful medicines, support or a privilege to even isolate. Many are staying in rented rooms, while their families are back home and I have been hearing stories about how they are being harassed if at all they test positive. This is not the time to spread hatred. This is the time to show your support and solidarity. Be there for them. Call them. Ask them what they need and do the best as you can because if tomorrow you become positive; they’ll do the same for you.

Special thanks to my brother Dr. Shail Rupakheti and Dr. Chanda Karki for always being there to support us and for ensuring that we get the best medical treatment while in isolation; Dr. Subash Pant, Dr. Pratim Pradhan, Dr. Kishore Pandey, Dr. Sabina Bhattarai, Dr. Anil Pokhrel and Dr. Subodh Sagar Dhakal for providing us their valuable teleconsulting. Ms. Suvekchya Luitel and Ms. Pratikchya Dhakal from Star Hospital for managing our tele-appointments. Health workers from Star Hospital and Kathmandu Medical College (KMC) for performing PCR tests at home even if it meant risking their lives and last but not the least, our big salute to Binod Dai who came and took our blood samples even while we were in isolation