After testing positive for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) more than 40 days ago, Neaz Subhan remains in isolation, where he has been waging a quiet battle against despair, while hoping to use what he is learning in order to help others.
“…There are a number of lessons that I [have] learnt while in isolation. These are things that we knew all the time but we take them for granted… You realise simple things, the value of them. There is air that you want to breathe from the outside but you can’t do that. It doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter what you have… I learnt a lesson of contentment, the lesson of humanity, patience….you are really humbled by all of this. You are humbled. It brings you down,” Subhan recently told Sunday Stabroek in an interview.
Subhan, an Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) member, was an observer for the country’s general and regional elections when he began to experience symptoms.
Because of his duties, Subhan had spent most of his days at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Headquarters in Kingston, Georgetown. “The last I would have been there would have been the 13th of March. Around the 16th of March, I felt like I was getting like some fever,” he said.
A few days passed and the fever remained. As a result, Subhan decided to seek medical attention at a private hospital in George-town. There, he received medication and he was subsequently sent on his way.
However, as the days went by he started to experience a cough.
By that time, Guyana had recently recorded its first COVID-19 case.
As such, not wanting to take any risk, Subhan took a decision to isolate himself. “…..I would have isolated immediately. On my own. You couldn’t take a chance because remember you are coughing, you don’t want to take a chance,” he noted.
Subhan remained at his home while he sent his other family members to stay at another residence. “I had actually overcome the fever and whatever but then I had a little bit of underlying condition with the heart. I had like an irregular beat…..The thing with my heart is that I had an irregular beat about two years or so. I sought medical attention, I was put on medication, I use the medication, it helped and I never went back. So when this happened… I said let me check it out,” Subhan explained.
As a result, he said he journeyed to the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI) on the 28th of March. It was while there that he coughed, which raised an alarm. “Whilst I was there, I coughed a bit and they alerted the COVID team and the next day I was tested,” Subhan recalled.
He was subsequently confirmed to be positive and Subhan was taken into isolation. He was initially taken to the COVID-19 facility at Diamond and was subsequently transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), where he remains to date.
Subhan’s was initially deemed to be in critical condition and he was admitted in the Intensive COVID Care Unit (ICCU). However, after spending two nights there, he improved and was moved to the recovery room.
According to Subhan, how or where he might have contracted the disease, remains a mystery to him. “A complete mystery because I didn’t travel, I didn’t come into contact with anybody knowingly. I was at GECOM, home,” he said.
Up to yesterday, the Health Ministry said the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Guyana was 97, with 10 deaths. Thirty-five persons have since fully recovered. Subhan is hoping to join their numbers soon.
‘The difficult part’
Subhan has since been retested several times and has found to still to be COVID-19 positive. “There were three consecutive positives. The next one, I think, it was a negative and the very next one was a positive, so I had case of having a negative and a positive,” he said.
He was recently retested again and is currently awaiting the results.
Once that result returns negative, Subhan will be subjected to another test and if there is a negative result, he will be deemed clear. However, if he remains positive, he will remain in isolation.
Subhan admitted that he had been grappling with “serious” bouts of depression in recent years and he said his diagnosis with COVID-19 has taken a toll on his mental health.
“It wasn’t easy. When I was in Diamond, the very first thing that dawned upon me was, ‘How am I going to survive 14 days?’ And I think I sat there for about two hours, staring at a blank wall in disbelief of what the moment was and then gradually it started to dawn upon me that I can’t—because I suffered tremendous, a serious amount of depression during 2016 and 2019 and depression that I basically carried alone. I didn’t let anyone know, not my family or anybody but I had help,” he related.
The hardest aspect of the fight, Subhan said, is adapting to being confined to a room. “…It’s the most challenging part of all of it. Despite all the good treatment and the nice people, at the end of the day you are in a room. You are confined. Fresh air—then you realise how precious it is. The difficult part was to be mentally strong,” he noted.
Subhan told Sunday Stabroek that due to the metal stress he has endured while struggling to fight the disease, he has been directed to the Public health Ministry’s Mental Health Department. “For the last week or two, they have been making contact with me, talking to me and so on,” he stated.
At one point, Subhan said, he was “extremely dejected” and felt like giving up. However, he said he had to motivate himself.
“…I realised that I cannot afford to slip back or try to take it on…I had to push myself, to say well look you know what I have to do this. I had to keep doing that. So whenever there was a positive test that came back, naturally I am human, I was extremely dejected to the point where I felt like if I, you know, I probably will just let loose… but then somehow, somewhere another part of me said no you can’t do this,” Subhan said.
“So despite the tears and everything—and there were a number of tears—you got to pull yourself back up and say ‘Hey let me look for the next day that will come.’ When that comes, the cycle is repeated and repeated and repeated,” he added.
Could not have asked for better treatment’
Despite his continued positive testing, Subhan said he is feeling “extremely good” when compared with how he felt when he was first diagnosed to now. “I exercise twice a day. I eat regularly,” he said.
During the period, he said he has been using the “relevant” medication. “They would have given me what is relevant in terms of a lot of different antibiotics and whatever was relevant to ensure that the heart, blood pressure, whatever was relevant,” Subhan said.
While there are several factors which played a key role in his recovery thus far, Subhan said the fundamental ones were his support system and most importantly the level of health care he has been receiving.
“I can tell you, they (medical staff) did a lot of work…they did a fantastic job in terms of the care, ’round the clock, 24-hour care. These doctor and nurses are very professional, they are very accessible, they work with you. I think they also understand that mental state the patient can be in and I think they are very cognisant about that so they try to make it light and whatever but I could not have asked for better treatment… I could not. I was really impressed,” Subhan expressed.
Subhan further related that people from all parts of the world have been reaching out to him with well wishes.
“It was things like that, that made me feel that, you know, I am not alone in all of this. Not just me and my family but many persons from various countries. It was things like that, that keeps you going,” he said, before noting, “Of course you look forward to, you know, doing things that you want to do and hoping that at some point you would be able to get a chance to do that so it was the expectation part of it was also important.”
‘Not a joke’
Subhan said COVID-19 is “not a joke” and should be taken “very” seriously.
He said persons need to recognize the importance of taking the necessary precautions and to follow the protocols not only to protect themselves but also those around them.
“If you don’t, then you are putting other people at risk. And, for me, I become so worried when I see certain images appearing, [people] doing whatever it is. I know people have to do whatever they have to, I know life goes on but at the same time, we have to be extremely, extremely careful and I don’t know if that is happening holistically. I know some people are going that but I would want to encourage everybody to do that,” Subhan explained.
“People need to take this thing very seriously. This is not a joke. We may have taken things for granted but this is not a joke….it is not a joke. You have to take it seriously and understand this thing. It is no joke that people have died. Thousands of people have died,” he added.
Subhan said he does not wish for anyone to experience what he did.
“I wouldn’t want anybody to go through what I would have seen. Given the main fact that you are isolated, even though you are okay but you are isolated, I don’t want people to go through that,” he said.
Coping with COVID-19 stress
During a recent COVID-19 Dr Util Thomas, Director of the Mental Health Unit at the Ministry of Public Health, noted that many citizens are finding it hard to adjust to the changes brought by COVID-19.
“The stress associated with this period is manifesting in different ways for some of us; lack of sleep, constant fear, anger, confusion, frustration, anxiety and depression are what we face daily,” Thomas said before she shared the following tips for coping during the COVID-19 pandemic:
♦ First and foremost, ensure that you are talking to someone you trust about your problems, your thoughts and your feelings. Even if that person cannot solve the problem, just talking sometimes is enough. A problem shared is a problem halved. When we talk about a problem, our brain releases chemicals which ease the symptoms of stress. Vice versa, we must be ready to listen to others so that they too can have the same benefits. Listen without being judgmental or forcing persons to talk.
♦ Ensure that you know what help is available in your local community, and in the country at large, so that you can solve your problems or overcome challenges. Some of the help available may include: the religious groups, non-governmental organizations, the health care facilities where health care workers are found, ministries and other government departments, clubs, etc. Your problems are going to feel much more manageable, and you will feel much more hopeful and confident about getting through this pandemic if you are well informed of available supports.
♦ Everyone has strengths but sometimes we become so used to them that we tend to view them as ordinary and unremarkable. Look for them; that ability to overcome, the ability to endure, the ability to see beyond the moment. Look deep inside and recognize those strengths, skills and achievements and use them to get through this period.
♦ In your day to day routine do not fill your time with unrealistic tasks that you may not be able to accomplish instead, prioritize focus on those that can be easily completed so as to reduce the size of the to do list. This will reduce stress and increase our sense of achievement. Giving you the opportunity and drive to focus on the larger tasks.
♦ Set aside time for yourself every day when you neglect your personal time everything else suffers. So, find the time to look after you. Include restarting old hobbies such as reading, cooking, sewing, playing a musical instrument, knitting, board games ,art, decorating, gardening, keeping pets, listening to music among other things.
♦ Stay connected with family, friends, workmates and whatever clubs, organizations or social groups you may belong to. Fulfillment of basic social needs such as love, belonging and connectedness, brings a feeling of security and contentment which is very important in preventing depression.
♦ Exercise, sleep and eat healthy every day. These are powerful stress busters and natural anti-depressants.
♦ If you are taking medications for any pre-existing conditions remember to take them every day as prescribed by your health care provider.
♦ Do not use alcohol and other substances of abuse such as marijuana and cocaine to deal with stressful situations. This only adds to the problems by worsening behavior and adding to issues of misuse and can also affect your immune system making it easier for you to become infected with the coronavirus.
♦ Manage the time spent looking or listening to media that can be upsetting and increase your feeling of hopelessness and panic. Instead seek information from the Ministry of Public Health and PAHO website and Facebook page which are credible sources. Consume only enough information to keep yourself and others safe.
♦ Stay positive. Journaling twice per week about things we are grateful for has been shown to have powerful positive effects on emotional wellbeing.
♦ And of course, when in doubt, seek help from the Mental Health Unit or any other health care worker.
