“In the peak stage of the pandemic, I used to get calls from people who were in panic after they were diagnosed of covid or when they were denied beds at the hospital. I used to advise them to isolate themselves first at home, used to prescribe medications based on symptoms and I used to start my monitoring,” says Dr Chitralekha.
She further says in the first wave she monitored around 250 covid -19 patients and in the second wave, approximately 800 to 900 patients who were under home isolation. “I used to get 50 to 60 phone calls of new patients daily. I also used to get phone calls from medical officers of Government hospitals, PHC and CHC and also other private doctors as they had many queries regarding their covid 19 patients. My aim while treating patients under home isolation has always been to diagnose as many patients early, treat them early and prevent drop in spo2 and prevent further progression of disease by referring patients to the hospital on time. Covid 19 management is finally all about TIME! This is the reason I tried to help other doctors in this timely covid-19 home management by helping them detect the pattern of covid fever and predicting the course.”
This pandemic has been weird yet an important learning period in my life. Over the months, I realised how working in a Covid ward has changed my outlook towards life. I value people in my life more than before: our families, friends and people who we see every day. We should treasure each moment we get to spend with them. But, being a young doctor, seeing all these deaths and unfortunate losses to the families makes me sad. Sometimes the patient load of covid patients and their severe illnesses makes me physically and mentally exhausted. Yet my family has been so supportive throughout the pandemic. My parents did not resist when I told them about my decision to see covid 19 patients at the Covid ward. The full hospital and covid unit staff has been always supportive to me throughout the pandemic. The senior most doctors in my hospital Dr. Oscar Rebello, Dr. Vijay Naik were my support system who always encouraged and supported me at every step during this pandemic.
