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Coronavirus (COVID-19): My experience of testing positive Kathryn S S Dayananda
After finishing the morning hand trauma list, I sat in the doctor’s office with my colleague, who was known to be high-risk. We were discussing the options on how to record and publicise the exemplary and timely changes we felt our unit had made in order to prepare for the coronavirus pandemic...
Kathryn S S Dayananda is a Specialty Trainee in Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery for the Wales Deanery.
As a patient
As a colleague
I started to develop some nasal congestion and headache and decided to head home slightly earlier than usual. During the course of my 20-minute commute the headache progressed to such an extent that I went straight to bed. Within an hour I was feverish with flu-like symptoms. It was clear I was ill – was it the coronavirus or something else?
This was my longest period of absence for sick leave to-date having only had a total of 3-4 days off since qualifying in 2012. Although essential for my health and the health of others, being off work did not come easily or naturally to me.
I was desperately worried about my colleague. I messaged him urgently to let him know. I felt so awful for sitting with him despite distancing as much as possible. My symptoms progressed rapidly.
Prior to receiving my swab results I blamed myself for being lazy and inefficient with my time. I was frustrated at not being able to help out about the house or in work. I was exasperated by my inability to concentrate on anything.
“Most of all I worried about the staff, patients and public I could have infected without realising, especially my high-risk teammate and friend.”
I emailed, as per our local department guidelines, to enquire about testing and began the isolation process immediately. My husband kept away, slept in the spare room and used a separate bathroom. I had lost my appetite and had no energy to get up. I stayed in bed for three days. Gradually I developed a cough, although this wasn’t severe, and completely lost my sense of smell. I felt extremely achy and lethargic, suffered a vasovagal episode, and was short of breath despite minimal exertion. My resting heart rate had almost doubled and I was unable to undertake any activity in my home.
Gradually over the following 7-10 days I began improving, spending the majority of my time on the sofa resting. I received the call from Public Health Wales notifying me that my test was positive and wishing me a swift recovery.
16 | JTO | Volume 08 | Issue 02 | June 2020 | boa.ac.uk
Most of all I worried about the staff, patients and public I could have infected without realising, especially my highrisk teammate and friend. I felt extremely guilty that others would have to step into my on-call slots and other clinical commitments. I would say things like “I’m a team-player and I should be in work helping my friends and patients”.
As I began improving, I started to feel the cabin fever effects of isolation, yearning to get back to ‘normality’ and the dynamic hospital environment. Throughout my illness and return to work I have been fully supported by Consultants, colleagues and management. I returned directly onto the nightshift and the realisation that the hospital would be a very different place to how I left it soon dawned on me. I quickly caught up with a detailed Consultant lead handover. I found it reassuring to have at least a degree of immunity against the virus. I was
