My Daily Journal of COVID19 infection

(Sorry again for this super late update... this is a retroactive update... I should have posted this 7 days ago... Too many things have happened!... I had problems using a laptop for many days...)  Today is Friday 24 September 2021. Today is Day 15 since my diagnosis two Fridays ago and Day 13 since my arrival at this isolation facility (CCF: "Community Care Facility") two Sundays ago. Today I await the results of my COVID PCR test yesterday. I was thinking they would call me or SMS me (today or tomorrow) to inform me of my result (just like what happened after I took my previous COVID test at my neighborhood clinic on 10 September). But that did not happen - they did not notify or update me regarding my test result.  Anyway, on another note, I wish to share the highlight of today - Today's lunch. It was the best meal I had at the facility so far!! In all the two weeks I was here!! Fried chicken drumlets. I haven't had fried chicken (whole pieces of wings/drumlets) al...

(Sorry for the late update... I should have posted this 3 days ago. Too many things have happened!)  Today is Thursday 23 September 2021. Today is Day 14 since my diagnosis two Fridays ago and Day 12 since my arrival at this isolation facility (CCF: "Community Care Facility") two Sundays ago. Yes, today was the day I was waiting for, for such a long time!! I arrived at this quarantine facility two weeks ago, on Sunday 12 Sep 2021. They didn't do any COVID test on me since then. (They did a blood test on me on 17 Sep, but that is an antibody test to check when I got infected, rather than whether I am positive or not. They did not explain it fully to me, but from my own general knowledge, I know covid antibodies are produced by the body's immune system to fight a covid infection. So when the amount of covid antibodies in my body has reached a certain level, it shows that I have been infected for a certain period of time.) Today is my first COVID test since I arrived at ...

Today is Wednesday 22 September 2021. Today is Day 13 since my diagnosis two Fridays ago and Day 11 since my arrival at this isolation facility two Sundays ago. Today my entire sleeping cycle was turned upside down.  I had mentioned (in one of my blog posts a few days ago) that I am used to sleeping between 3 to 5 am. However, today I slept from 3+pm (22 Sept) to 3+am (23 Sept) (with a 30 minute dinner break at 6.00 pm to 6.30 pm).  Apart from my disrupted sleeping cycle, there is nothing unusual to report today.  Everything else is normal.  No fever, no sore throat. (and no diarrhea - yesterday's diarrhea was a one-off thing). Cough and loss of smell remains. Today I started eating this packet of sweets which my sister gave me (I brought these with me when I packed my bags in my room at home 2 weeks ago): I can taste the sweetness and lemon flavour of the sweets. It is nice.  Tomorrow will be my COVID swab test at last. I have been waiting 2 weeks for it! What ...

 Today is Day 12 since my diagnosis two Fridays ago, and Day 10 since entering this isolation facility two Sundays ago. Today is Tuesday 21 September 2021. Summary: No fever, no sore throat.  Cough still the same, loss of smell & taste still the same. Yesterday I slept really late, like 8.30am (usually I sleep at between 3 to 5 am).  I slept till about 2pm plus. So that's about 5 hours of sleep.  Ok something weird happened this afternoon.  I had a bout of diarrhea in the afternoon! Went to the toilet twice with an upset stomach and watery stools. What could be the cause? I don't know.  Possibilities: -banana I ate in the fridge yesterday left by my roommate (or did I eat it 2 days ago?) -grapes I ate in the fridge yesterday (my sense of taste and smell are not working well, so I might not be able to tell if they have gone bad) -apple I ate in the fridge yesterday left by my roommate. (but it looked perfectly fine, big and red, was crunchy and juicy) -a...

Today is Day 11 since my diagnosis two Fridays ago, and Day 9 since entering this isolation facility two Sundays ago. Today is Monday 20 September 2021. This morning I overslept! I had been waking up at 8.00am every day for breakfast, but today I woke at around 10.30am.  I guess that's what happens when you no longer have a roommate. Nope, they didn't replace my roommate. I guess that is actually worse for me, to be staying alone, (since there would be nobody to report any problems if anything happens to me). But better in a way because I no longer have to listen to his phone conversations! Generally today is uneventful.  My cough got really bad this afternoon when I was coughing like crazy for a while.  But I am still not going to ask for cough medication as I never felt any cough medication ever helped with coughing. Also  I can smell my shampoo today slightly better than the previous 2 days. Instead of just smelling it when I put it on my hand, I can smell it when...

 Today is Day 10 since my diagnosis two Fridays ago, and Day 8 since entering the quarantine facility last Sunday. Today is Sunday 19 September 2021. I no longer have a fever so I will not be reporting my temperature on my blog posts anymore. Also, I don't have a sore throat anymore.  My cough still remains. My loss of smell and taste also persists. So.....What's news today? My roommate is discharged today! He has been with me for 7 days (he arrived at the facility on the same day as me). Reason? He has stayed 7 days here. Apparently, for people who are vaccinated, they only need to stay 7 days at the quarantine facility. Then, they are discharged regardless of test results. In fact, they didn't even do any test on him! Whereas for me, I have to test negative before I can qualify for discharge. Sidenote: After writing this blog for 10 days, this is the first blog post where I used the word "quarantine" to describe my stay here. Reason is because I thought the word...

Today is Day 9 since my diagnosis two Fridays ago, and Day 7 since entering this isolation facility last Sunday. Today is Saturday 18 September 2021. This is the first weekend I encountered since being sent to this isolation facility (or CCF, "Community Care Facility".) This morning my temperature was 36.3 deg C. Lowest reading ever! (actually my first reading was 35.5 deg C but I think that was an error, too low! So I retook my temp.) I feel no fever at all.  My sore throat is 99% gone now. I even gave some of my sore throat pills to my roommate because I am sure I won't be needing them anymore. My sense of smell & taste remains 90% non-functional. I am able to smell for 0.5 seconds if I take a strong sniff at something with a strong smell e.g. meat, but not more than that. My cough has improved a little bit since yesterday. But I am not going to bother reporting it or asking for medication for it, since it is not very severe. So what's the biggest news today?  M...

 Today is Day 8 since my diagnosis last Friday and Day 6 since I arrived at the isolation facility last Sunday. Today is Friday 17 September 2021. From Friday to Friday, we have come full circle! My temperature this morning was 37.6 deg C. It sounds high but trust me, I've never felt better. I don't feel feverish at all now!! The temperature looks high only because it's an oral thermometer, which are supposed to have higher readings than ear thermometers. It's been about 3 days since I have taken panadol. My sore throat is almost all gone too (but not completely gone). I don't even think taking sore throat pills are necessary now, even though I will just take them. As for the cough, yes, it is still on-going, but a bit better than yesterday. There are four highlights for today.  First Highlight - Blood Test They came to our room to draw blood for a blood test today at around 12pm. They almost wanted to come 1-2 days ago but said that the test was postponed or cancel...

Today is Day 7 since my diagnosis last Friday, and Day 5 since I arrived at the isolation facility last Sunday. Today is Thursday 16 September 2021. Phew! To think a whole week has gone by since my diagnosis! I am really getting used to the accommodation here. Now my roommate and I have a habit of opening the balcony doors once per day to air the room. It took a while for us to understand what temperature is comfortable for the other party. He prefers the temperature a bit cooler while i prefer it warmer. Morning temperature is 37.3 deg C. (but I don't feel any fever, I feel fine) SUMMARY FOR TODAY: -Cough is worsening today. I am now coughing once every 20-30 minutes instead of once every few hours. I can also feel the phlegm accumulating in my throat. -I discovered that my loss of smell and taste since Tuesday was not caused by blocked nose - it was a loss of smell and taste in itself! Because, now my nose is no longer blocked but yet my sense of smell and taste has not returned....

Today.... is Day 6 since my diagnosis last Friday, and my 4th day in the isolation facility (CCF). Today is Wednesday 15 September 2021. Morning temperature is 36.8 deg C. Hardly any fever. I did not take any panadol for the whole of today. BTW Some GREAT NEWS!! Today when I took a sip of water at 12pm.... GUESS WHAT I DISCOVERED??? I could gulp down the water without my throat feeling pain!! Woo Hooo!!!  Yayyyy!!! I had pain swallowing every single time since last Sunday night when I arrived at the isolation facility. To drink water without pain is amazing. The sore throat is not gone totally however, but it has improved a lot since yesterday. Oh and the food today (in fact since yesterday) seems to have improved from my first and second days at the CCF. At least for dinner today I got two meats, not just one? The bad news though, is that my nose is still blocked (so can't smell or taste much) and my cough is getting a little bit worse. I never really had cough for my covid infect...

Alright guys, it's Day 5 since my diagnosis last Friday and my 3rd day in the isolation facility.  Today is Tuesday 14 September 2021. In the morning my temperature was 37.1 deg C. That's a tiny bit of fever. I was still taking panadol but more sparingly. In the first 2-3 days of infection, I would take panadol 3 times per day. But now I am just taking panadol 1-2 times per day. My sore throat got worse today, the pain I feel when swallowing food or water has gotten more sharp. Ouch. THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY??? Blocked Nose and 90-100% loss of smell and taste, thanks to the blocked nose.  (Note: I am not sure if this loss of smell/taste is the same kind of loss of smell/taste that many other covid patients allude to, because this is caused by a blocked nose, and not really a loss of smell/taste in itself.) Ok I admit that the blocked nose is a gradual thing and did not suddenly start today, but began sometime yesterday (Monday). But I remembered that when I was eating the fish...

Today is Monday 13 September 2021. Today is the fourth day since my diagnosis and my first full day in the isolation facility (CCF - Community Care Facility) since I arrived last night. Thought I should share some photos, of my room, and the view outside my room. (let's face it - a blog without pictures is just too boring...)    Generally, throughout the day, my fever is on and off. Sore throat still persists. I think the sore throat got worse since I arrived - now I feel pain whenever I swallow anything, even just plain water, or just empty air.... My temperature in the morning was 37.7 degrees Celsius. Oximeter and heart rate readings are normal. (note: 37.7 sounds like a big jump from previous days, but actually this is because I am using a new thermometer, an oral thermometer, rather than a ear thermometer which I had been using in my previous days at home. Oral thermometer readings are known to be higher than ear thermometer readings.) Generally today was an uneventful da...

Today is Sunday 12 Sep 2021. This marks Day 3 since my covid positive diagnosis. Still having slight fever and sore throat. At around 12.45pm I received a call from MOH telling me that the pickup will arrive within 3-4 hours to send me (from home) to the isolation/containment facility. Phew! It was a great relief to receive that call.  I was told to pack clothes for 7 days, so I did.  The pickup van finally arrived around 6pm and took me to the isolation facility at Pasir Ris, which was on the opposite side of Singapore. Long trip. I was the only passenger in the van, and had to sit in a confined space with no windows and no aircon. There was a fan inside so it didn't feel too stuffy, but basically i was just breathing air in a confined space, with carbon dioxide slowly accumulating. There was a stretcher in the van. I thought I was lucky that my condition wasn't worse, otherwise I would be lying in the stretcher and having to "suffocate" in the same small space. I wa...

Today is day two since my COVID-19 diagnosis. It is Saturday 11 September. I am still at home. A contact tracing team from MOH (Ministry of Health) called me at around 12 pm to ask me who I live with and who are the people who I had been in contact with the last 5 days. So I think everyone I was in contact with are not supposed to leave their homes for the next 10 days. I was surprised they didn't ask about my meetings more than a week ago.  Also, the pickup team from MOH was supposed to pick me up today to send me somewhere for monitoring/isolation, but they never came. They also did not call me (they might have tried to call me at 12pm but it was a missed call - I was talking to the contact tracer at that exact same time). If it was two MOH departments trying to call me at the same time, it is unfortunate... they could have planned it better! Disappointed with their inefficiency as I am living with two elderly parents in their mid 70s and early 80s so the risk is quite high. Howe...

Friday 10 Sep 2021 Visited the doctor at around 11.30am. The clinic referred me to another clinic for the COVID test. I did ART and PCR tests at around 1pm. The results came out by 6pm. POSITIVE. I was told that a pickup will come for me tomorrow and I should start packing.  Actually the fever had subsided after I ate lunch at 2pm. Also I didn't feel fatigued anymore. 

This was on the night of Thursday 9 September 2021, or the wee morning hours of Friday 10 Sep 2021. I woke up at sometime in the middle of the night, between 1am and 5am, and felt feverish, fatigued and had a headache. It wasn't really a headache like a localised pain in a part of your head, but it felt like your entire head was immersed in a barrel of petrol and you felt groggy. That was the first sign of trouble. No cough, though the throat was a bit sore.