Struggling with Uncertainty: A Family Afflicted by COVID19 (the New Coronavirus)
Original article by Yue, Ying (岳颖), and Wang, Shan (王珊). Narrated by Feng, Hong (冯红). Translated by TianLi Song. Edited by Yunyi Zhu, Wuhao Chen.
[Translated Article] This article was originally published in The Lifeweek Magazine (三联生活周刊) on January 24th, 2020, in Chinese, by Xiaoben Wangshan. The original article can be found here.
“If my father does not survive this, he will remain a ‘suspected case’ until the very end of his life due to the lack of confirmation of diagnosis. We won’t even know whether the new coronavirus was the real culprit.”
My family lives in Huanggang, Hubei [a city near Wuhan, the center of the coronavirus outbreak]. All of the four members in my family, my parents, my younger brother, and myself, are suspected cases of the new coronavirus. My father has double pneumonia. According to the CT scan, the doctors were certain that he was infected by the new coronavirus. However, without enough test kits in the hospital, they were unable to confirm their diagnosis, and all they could do was to label him as a suspected case. Since [my father was] infected, my family has received two notices of critical illness. My mother’s symptoms were slightly less severe, but she was still quarantined in the hospital. My brother’s and my symptoms were better than my mother’s, and we were quarantined at our house.
I could not understand how my family got infected. My parents are at age 50. They are pretty healthy, despite the fact that my father had been hospitalized once and my mother had diabetes. In hindsight, [I think] the issue started on January 7, when my parents and I drove to Wuhan to pick up my younger brother from his university for the winter break. During our trip, my parents and I first went to a shopping mall that was less than 2 kilometers away from the Huanan Seafood Market [the place where the first few cases of COVID-19 were found]. With the celebration of the approaching Chinese New Year, the mall was crowded. At that time, we had no idea that the new coronavirus had emerged in Wuhan, and we did not see anyone wearing a face mask in the mall or on the street. After we left the shopping mall, we went on to another market before finally going to Wuhan to pick up my younger brother. One or two days after that, my father started to suffer from coughing, fever, fatigue, and loss of appetite. Four or five days later, he started to feel shortness of breath.
Everyone at that time thought my father was just having a cold, but after seeing his deteriorating health, we sent him to the local clinic to get a radiographic test and possibly a drip. My family started to become nervous as they thought my father might have pneumonia. The doctor at the clinic did not associate my father’s illness with the new coronavirus and treated him as if he had pneumonia. After having drips for a few days, my father’s illness worsened. I thought that the local health center might not be good enough, so on Jan. 19th, I brought him to Huanggang Central Hospital, the best hospital in Huanggang, our hometown. The checkup result came back on the same day. The hospital said that my father’s situation required immediate hospitalization in the ICU and sent an ambulance to pick up my father. However, on their way to the hospital, [the ambulance crew] received a phone call and said the hospital could no longer admit more patients and we had no choice but to take him back home.
My mother also received a checkup on that day. She started to show similar symptoms three to four days after my father did, though much milder. The lab result showed that my mother was also infected. My younger brother and I showed almost no symptoms at the time, but we were also tested because we had close contact with our parents. We were both categorized as suspected. Since I am married and live with my own family, my symptoms were the mildest. On the other hand, my younger brother brought my father to the hospital every day for drips, so his condition was not as good.
Later, we went to Tongji Huangzhou Hospital, another hospital in Huanggang, but the hospital refused to take us. We then went to Huanggang Central Hospital, and it also turned us away. They explained that they could only admit patients if the Health Commission agrees. Since there are only a few good hospitals in Huanggang, we could do nothing but plead with the hospitals. Finally, a warm-hearted hospital deputy director decided on their own behalf to admit my parents to Huanggang Central Hospital. Afterwards, I learned that hospitals were willing to take patients, but had to refuse because they didn’t have the resources to treat the patients. The entire respiratory infection department was set up temporarily by vacating one floor of the building. The doctors, too, were temporarily reassigned to this department.
My father was staying in a regular isolation ward (instead of the ICU, which was suggested). Given the shortage of medical resources, I understood this, and the doctor also agreed to transfer my father to an ICU if his condition became critical. Since January 20th, my parents have been hospitalized for five days. My mom’s condition has improved, but my father’s condition has become increasingly severe: he has shortness of breath, incontinence, and can no longer eat by himself. My mother has been taking care of him all along. I feel sad. If my father does not survive this, he will remain a ‘suspected case’ until the very end of his life due to the lack of confirmation of diagnosis. We won’t even know whether the new coronavirus was the real culprit. Last night, I suddenly received a phone call from my mother. She said she had been transferred to another hospital with poor facilities and she did not know the reason.
After my mother was transferred, finding someone to take care of my father became a big issue. Since the medical staff in the hospital were very busy, only the families could take care of the patients, so my brother decided to go. He asked the doctor whether he could have a set of protection suit, but a doctor explained that there were no protection suits left. My brother then asked: “Won’t that cause cross-infection?” The doctors felt sorry but said, “the hospital is under-staffed. If you wish to accompany the patient, don’t be afraid of the infection. Otherwise, you probably shouldn’t accompany the patient.” However, if we don’t take care of our father, who will?
Since my mother was transferred to another hospital, my father has been trying to eat a minimal amount of food in order to go to the bathroom less often. My brother and I are in self-quarantine. Except for buying necessities, we try our best to stay at home. Many people have been trying to call my father to show their care and worries, but I’ve tried my best to stop them since my father has been wearing oxygen masks and having difficulty speaking. As for me, I am also exhausted every day by communicating with the hospital, the government, and all the relatives. Since my father was diagnosed with coronavirus infection, I have been nervous all day long. With each critical illness notice form signed, the anxiety becomes harder to tolerate.
I go to the pharmacy every day to buy immunoglobulin, which is said to be good for the immune system. It costs us 10000 yuan [about 1600 USD] per day to let all family members take it. Since neither the hospitals nor the pharmacies have enough supply, I often need to visit several pharmacies before I can find one. The pharmacy workers told me that the original price of this medicine was 560 yuan [about 80 USD] per bottle, but it had surged to 720 yuan due to its popularity. [To avoid reselling for a profit,] the immunoglobulin I have bought will be sent directly to the hospital and assigned to the patients.
The anxiety is growing. Almost everyone on the street wears face masks. Afraid of being infected, families of the patients do not talk to each other. The doctors are also starting to use better protection equipment. When we first went to the hospital, the doctors were wearing only face masks, but now they also wear protective suits and goggles. My brother and I plan to stay at home and keep track of our conditions. If we do not have a cough or fever, we will go back to the hospital for another checkup; I am not sure, but that could mean that we have recovered. I really don’t know. One day when we were having our immunoglobulin injection, someone else was also getting it, saying that they weren’t infected but only wished to take preventive measures.
Besides getting immunoglobulin injections, my brother and I have been taking the Oseltamivir prescribed in the hospital, but I just learned on Weibo [Chinese Twitter] that it wouldn’t cure coronavirus. Then what about mine and my brother’s condition? What else can we do besides get immunoglobulin injections? I feel powerless.
Currently, there are twelve confirmed cases in Huanggang. Given the fact that all the doctors say they do not have tester kits, how did those twelve people get confirmed? I don’t understand. Apart from dealing with everything related to my family, I am always on Weibo to check news about the coronavirus. From the internet, I learned that many people fear Wuhan residents because of the virus. Will these twelve cases make them fear Huanggang, too? I really wish to transfer my father to a better hospital, but the local government’s policy is to have everyone treated locally to ensure “better” allocation of medical resources. I have to trust them: the government and the hospital.
