With so much said over the social media on coronavirus; young people tend to think that the deadly virus cannot affect them especially when they have no history of an underlying health issue. If you think this way then you have to consider Bjonda Haliti to be a perfect example.
This young 22-year-old was a little apprehensive about sharing her experience with the rest of the world but when she did, many shared her tweets and she received much in terms of support, admiration and reassurance. Bjonda recently tested positive for COVID-19.
In a thread that has since gone viral, Bjonda described her symptoms and the actions she took to fight them. Bjonda Haliti's incredible Twitter thread, which was created to spread awareness on coronavirus has been shared over 162K times and counting.
Bjonda's coronavirus journey
In a series of tweets, Haliti takes readers back to the first day she began experiencing coronavirus symptoms. She said that on day one she felt slightly tired and had a sore throat and dry cough. Like so many other confirmed coronavirus patients, Haliti went to bed to sleep it off but awoke to feel far worse.
"I felt a lot of pressure in my head to the point I would have to cough softly to avoid the discomfort," she says. "That night, I experienced chills and had a fever.
She said that a major symptom that actually outdid every other symptom was that her eyes hurt real badly. She had tender and sore eyes. She did some research and concluded that this was just a migraine, but it didn't go away at all. Haliti slept all day but, when she once again awoke with a fever and low-energy level, she decided to go to the doctors.
The doctors prescribed some antibiotics and about 800 mg ibuprofen. She tried keeping herself hydrated and stocked up on lots of vitamins and probiotics. The next morning, Haliti's fever had abated, but she had begun experiencing a frightening new symptom: shortness of breath.
"It felt like I had bricks on my chest," she recalls, adding that it was at this point she wanted to test for coronavirus. However, getting tested proved incredibly difficult, and she was instead forced to self-quarantine and all she could think about was keeping her hydrated. Haliti once again woke up feeling terrible and, this time demanded that she be tested for coronavirus.
After pressing the doctors for a test, her doctor did agree but told her that she will not receive the test result for five days. She was told to self-isolate herself and continue with antibiotics. Slowly but steadily, Haliti's energy levels began to increase and her symptoms lessened until she was left with a "little heavier [than normal]" cough.
Her test results came positive and she continued to self-quarantine. "I will need to retest in order to be cleared," she says. "That's if I can find a doctor who's willing to retest me. Haven't had any luck so far. "Bjonda has received loads of support and love and she has been bombarded with one question in particular that 'How did she get the virus after all'.
As an answer, she states that she does not know about it. Counting the days of the week she said that she didn't move out on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and her cough started on Sunday. She believes that she was exposed to it at the bar/club one of those days. She stressed upon the importance of 'Social distancing' at the end of her Twitter thread.
The most important thing that we derive from her experience is that it is better to take care than panic if the virus strikes. It can be managed and Bjonda is living proof. The sooner we all start realizing the importance of isolation and social distancing; the sooner this menace will pass.
