DOCTORS are
always the source of answers and hope for many who trust them with the lives of
sick loved ones during a health crisis.
At some point,
it becomes easy to think of doctors as super-humans who are immune to fear.
People who do not get sick much, and do not worry about sickness as they know
what to prescribe.
The doctor is
always the hero in medical drama. The doctor cannot be a victim. However a
local doctor’s brush with Covid-19 has shown that the virus affects all, and
that stigma is the bigger virus than the actual disease itself. Even he was
fooled by a RDT test, which assured him that he was Covid-19 free.
Specialist
psychiatrist and deputy director of mental health services in the ministry of
health and child care, Dr Sacrifice Chirisa at some point needed a mental
health expert to help him deal with fear and anxiety after he and some of his
family members tested positive for Covid-19.
He was probably
one of the first medical practitioners to test positive and he could not hide
his joy in a YouTube video he shared recently, on testing PCR negative, totally
recovered and symptom free, after what he describes as a nightmare.
This is his
story: “My journey started beginning of July, probably around the 3rd or 4th.
At that time, my wife is the one who started having symptoms and she told me
that she was having a fever, for just about two or three days shortly after, I
started feeling the symptoms and she recovered within three or four days. We
went to a laboratory to have Covid-19 tests done, the RDT tests, it was on a
Sunday afternoon, I remember, we were having a bad fever. When the results came
back, we had both tested negative and that gave us a bit of comfort to say that
well it’s just the flue,” said Dr Chirisa.
He said he got
worse and his health deteriorated, although his wife recovered from the fever.
However, his
thoughts were no longer on him being a potential Covid-19 patient, after both
he and his wife had tested RDT negative.
“During the
following week, she had fully recovered, but as for me, I progressively became
ill, the fever became magnified, I would feel so cold, even if I heaped
blankets or used the electric blanket that we had. I would still feel a fever
and the cold. Nothing could heat me up. I would sweat and I would drench my
pyjamas and sheets. I would actually sleep with a towel to wipe off sweat
during the night,” said Dr Chirisa.
He narrates how
his condition continued to deteriorate, as he kept thinking that the bout of
flue was particularly bad. After all he had tested negative with the RDT test.
Eventually,
when one day he could not even get up from his bed, Dr Chirisa said he had to
call around and arrange for a PCR test, which is more conclusive.
The results
confirmed these fears.
“I would have
the chills very much. I developed a persistent cough and I actually ended up
having chest pain. One of the days I couldn’t get up on a Friday, it was
terrible. I had lost my sense of smell and sense of taste. I couldn’t taste any
food, I lost my appetite. That prompted me to go for a PCR. I went to Lancet
(Laboratories) and got tested. And 24 hours later, I learnt that I was
positive.
“I don’t even
know where it came from, I cannot point to a person or a patient, or a
situation that I had been to, that I can say was the source. Up to now, I am
still baffled to say where it came from. Maybe it’s because of the widespread
community transmissions that are rampant now in the country,” said Dr Chirisa.
He said he made
arrangements with friends so that he could stock up on all the medication he
thought he would need and a number of antibiotics and relief medication were
prescribed by fellow doctors.
Dr Chirisa said
he also developed diarrhoea, among other symptoms. He also used home remedies
to up his chances of getting better.
“When that
happened the fever was continuing and I called a few friends of mine.
Physicians that are in the frontline in the Covid-19 treatment. They gave me
things that I could use and prescriptions that I could buy. I bought and used
Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, azithromycin and I also used antibiotics. I did
have a supply of chloroquine which I did not use and other medications. These
ones, my physician had instructed to use when I was now very sick. The fever
continued with the use even of antibiotics. I even developed a diarrhoea I’m
not sure if it was Covid-19, or the use of antibiotics as Covid-19 can also
cause diarrhoea.
“Over that
week, I was now also taking home remedies such as the zumbani tea, ginger,
lemon and I would maybe have four cups a day,” he narrated.
He said he was
afraid unlike what one would think of a medical practioner and specialist in
mental health.
The ordinary
person would think that it is easier for the mental health specialist to
process things. It would be easy to assume that someone in his shoes would be
immune to fear.
But he says he
was afraid. News of people dying in the country and around the world kept him
up on many nights. He was now one of the Covid-19 patients.
Daily
statistics on cases included him too, and it had a psychological bearing.
“The most
difficult thing that went through my mind was the psychosocial because I was in
the first 1 000 in the country. probably the first medical doctor to test
positive. I was afraid of dying because I had seen some people dying,” he said.
Dr Chirisa said
fear crept in when he considered that he had an underlying condition, hypertension.
He felt that meant somehow the odds were against him.
The mental
health expert narrates that he was irritable and did not eat or talk to people
who tried to reach out.
“I had an
underlying condition as I am hypertensive and on treatment. So, all those
thoughts came. I was not sleeping. I was quiet and I did not want to talk. So
many things could happen to you when you are in isolation,” he said.
His friends
threw medication over the gate. Probably, they were too afraid to get too close
to him as a Covid-19 patient. Getting too close would be too risky. But seeing
such demanded a lot of mental strength to process, and a psychosocial support.
“Friends would
come. They would bring supplies, medication or something like that and they
would literally throw the medication over the gate. They would stand back
there. I think obviously they needed to be safe as well,” he said.
Dr Chirisa said
his youngest son found it difficult to stay away from him, and soon got
infected with the virus bringing to three the number of infected family
members.
“While I was in
isolation, it was 21 days, my last born also became positive. He could not
understand the isolation process. He could not stay away from us. The rest of
the family that stayed away tested negative. My wife who was nursing me, also
became positive. My son was sick for just one day. The other two had mild forms
of Covid-19. I had the challenging one. However they have also tested negative.
I checked my temperature and my pulse every day,” said Dr Chirisa.
As a parting
shot, he encouraged people with underlying conditions to ensure they were well
managed so that should they test positive for Covid-19, they are not at risk of
too many health complications.
“The take home
message I give to people who have pre-existing medical conditions, do not wait
until you have Covid-19, this is the time to ensure that your condition is well
controlled. You do not want that upsurge because it will change how your body
reacts to Covid-19. There is stigma. I volunteered to come out, being a medical
practitioner. I had covid-19. It was not my fault. There’s nobody to blame.
There are a lot of people that are going to get Covid19. They must be treated
like human beings,” said Dr Chirisa.
He said people
needed support from friends and family to help recover and said mental wellness
had a bearing in the recovery of a patient.
“All you need
is support, all you need is care. We must try and break the stigma. I hope more
people will come out. I thank God that I am back at work. Ciovid-19 is real. If
you have Covid-19, do not just sit in bed. Feed yourself with positive news,
read a book or find something motivational. If you feel like you are struggling
with breathing and cannot speak a sentence without gasping, then go to
hospital. Early oxygen therapy is needed. Most people die because they would be
too sick and would have sought help late,” said Dr Chirisa. Chronicle
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