‘…remember COVID-19 when you vote in May 2022. Not only does each vote count, but who you vote for can mean your life or death if you mistakenly choose someone who mismanages a pandemic the way those in office today have mismanaged this one.’
THIRTY days ago you would have found me inside cubicle A-11 of the Emergency Room of St. Luke’s Medical Center, BGC. Not that you would have been allowed inside in the first place, as I was in that part of the emergency room that was exclusively devoted to COVID-19 patients ranging from moderate to critical in status. Cubicle A-11 was a plastic enclosed one, as was every cubicle and even the nurses’ station, making me say to myself “no wonder the plastic you used to be able to buy at National Bookstore to cover books with is running low.”
The letter “A,” I was told, stood for “Adult”; across me I could see the C cubicles, and from the way the patients in those cubicles were hooked up to machines think C stood for “Critical.” I too had a machine next to me inside my cubicle but it was a Philips High Flow Machine that at one point was pumping 100% oxygen through my nose; thankfully I was never on a mechanical ventilator — but I could see the ventilators working for those in the C-row of cubicles every time I’d sit up to try to break the monotony of lying from side to side on the ER bed.
On the one hand, the image of those on C-row honestly wasn’t an encouraging sight to see; but on the other it made me even more determined to get better by the day and get out and back into the COVID world.
I was admitted on March 31 and discharged April 12. St. Luke’s asked me to quarantine for four days post-discharge, though I chose to follow the Red Cross protocol of quarantining for 14 days instead. Oh, I wasn’t swabbed prior to being allowed to go home; when I asked the Red Cross if I should get swabbed I was told by former Health Secretary Dr. Paulyn Ubial that it wasn’t encouraged because people can still be positive even a month after being deemed recovered! So I guess you will all have to just take my word for it that I (cough, cough) am no longer (cough) infectious.
What I am, still, is determined. Determined to comment even if, as we know, many people in power do not like to hear comments unless it’s to praise them to the high heavens for doing things we elected them to do in the first place.
(This is one moment when I like biting those onion-skinned ones and then telling them I had COVID, if only to give them a scare!)
At the same time, I’d like to tell as many people as possible that the best way to survive this pandemic is to rely on our own self discipline because relying on government is like buying the last ticket on the Titanic. Except that in the Philippine version of that great doomed ship every seat on the lifeboats are already reserved for the officers and crew and the rest of us will have to fend for ourselves.
So to friends willing to listen (and even to those not so willing, he-he) I give four pieces of advice. The first one is to make sure you are a member of PhilHealth. This state agency, favorite of plunderers, is such an important life saver when it comes to paying your hospital bills. I know that many are wary of the agency because of all the stories about pocketed funds — but not being a member is not the right reaction to those stories. Instead, the next administration will just have to do what no other administration before it has done — sweep out the corrupt network within and without, and install fund managers who will put those of Elon Musk’s (or even Warren Buffet himself!!) to shame!
Second, get yourself a personal health insurance. PhilHealth will not be able to cover everything. And the balance can still be a substantial one. Having a health insurance policy in your back pocket will go a long way in easing your worries about the financial cost of a stay in the hospital.
Third: stay in shape. Just as “shape” can come in many forms for everyone, so is staying in shape different for each of us. I suspect that my decision to get into high intensity interval training in April of last year figured prominently in my ability to battle back and defeat the virus. And knowing that I am slowly easing myself back into my old routine. Find what works for you, but stay in shape — especially for your heart and your lungs.
And finally — remember COVID-19 when you vote in May 2022. Not only does each vote count, but who you vote for can mean your life or death if you mistakenly choose someone who mismanages a pandemic the way those in office today have mismanaged this one. One criteria to look for: does your candidate rush to a private hospital when he gets sick even when he is in public office? If the answer is yes then you know that this person will not care for the public health system as much as he should — why should he? That should give you reason to pause — even if the candidate is a good friend of yours.
So there. My COVID-19 thoughts. Which I hope will help even just at least one Filipino escape the harrowing experience I went through!
