“I WAS on drugs daily. Sometimes, I‘d take eight tablets in the morning, 13 tablets in the afternoon, 10 at night. My system threw everything out! Water, food, soap and all disgusted me. But I’d look at the wall and force myself to stay hydrated — drank ORS. I fought to live! I fought!!!
The above statement is that of Oluwaseun Ayodeji, who tested positive for coronavirus, narrated her experience inside the isolation centre in Lagos State after she was discharged and was given a clean bill of health on Monday, March 30.
The experience was made known through her Twitter handle shortly after she was discharged earlier today, saying she contracted the disease during a post-Commonwealth event in the United Kingdom.
In a series of tweets, Oluwaseun shared various photographs of what she went through in the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba.
She wrote, “Life finds ways of throwing lemon at me. I’ve struggled with coming forward, but I want to inspire hope. I returned to Nigeria from the UK post-Commonwealth event and fell ill. As a responsible person, I self-isolated. Days after, I tested positive for Covid-19.
“Before returning, I had planned several interviews, I was scheduled to start a fantastic consultancy job & was also expecting to sign a contract worth millions. I lost them all. I had to self-isolate and also inform people I came in close contact with to get tested.
“My friend and I kept calling the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), to get tested. What if we didn’t persist? No info on my test result. At 12am, an ambulance was at my house. I woke from sleep and was crying. I got to isolation centre, but no one was there to receive me. I waited in the ambulance for two hours.
“The nurses eventually came out and treated me like a plague. I sat in the ambulance feeling rejected. No questions about how I felt. So many questions about my travel history. Same information I had provided to NCDC and Lagos State Government during profiling.
“After two hours, I was taken to my space. I felt lonely, bored and disconnected from the outside world. Few days after, another patient came in. We bonded. Days later, patients trooped in. Are people observing self-isolation and social distancing? I was so scared for Nigeria.”
Oluwaseun went further to talked about how tough and unbearable situation of things turned out to be in the isolation centre.
“The next days were tough. No appetite. The nausea, vomit and stooling was unbearable. I’m a blood type A and Covid-19 dealt with me. I’ll share daily symptoms and recovery process in a video tomorrow. I thought I was going to die and contemplated a succession plan for @StandtoEndRape.
“Days after, the doctors shared a good news that I tested negative. I shared this news with family and friends! My blood sample was taken and I also tried to donate my plasmapheresis to help others. I hoped to be discharged. I waited to be discharged, but for two days, nothing happened.
“I was unsure of what was going on. Why haven’t I been discharged? Should I be in the same ward? Could I get reinfected? I was worried but remained calm. On the third day, doctors said, ‘well, we worked with the info we had of you testing negative, but one result came back positive.’
“You’ll stay a few more days. You know we take nose, mouth and sputum samples. Am I still positive flushed face? I asked. No, you’re negative, the doctor replied. The doctor apologised for the delay. I was anxious to go home but remained calm. I wanted to be free from this pain.
“I continued the medication and asked to be in a separate ward. Sadly, I remained in the same ward as all others rooms were full. My ward had people who were positive. What if I get re-infected? For them, I was a beacon of hope and they needed me gone to register the progress.
“My family and friends were becoming anxious. People in my ward who earlier celebrated the news of my result suddenly lost hope. Why are you still here?
“You shouldn’t be here with us. You should be separated from us now…” People in my ward muttered. I tried to calm them.
“Today, I am proud to inform you that I murdered Covid-19 and have tested negative twice. I have been discharged,” Oluwaseun wrote on her Twitter handle.
She expressed appreciation for the efforts made by the Lagos state government, the health team and as well as the nurses in the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba.
Abeeb Alawiye formerly works with The ICIR as a Reporter/Social Media officer. Now work as a Senior Journalist with BBC News Yoruba. You can shoot him an email via Abeeb.alawiye@bbc.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @habsonfloww