On Feb. 14, it snowed heavily in Tianjin, the air turning cool and tasteless and the city, white and quiet. Such a scene made Wang Xin (not real name), who had failed to enjoy the outdoor air for 14 consecutive days, particularly excited.
Confirmed on Feb. 1 and discharged on 14, Wang Xin spent 14 short, and yet long days in Haihe Hospital, known as Tianjin's “Xiaotangshan”.
Catching fever
40-year-old Wang Xin, mother of a 12-year-old girl, lives in Zhaoxia Neighborhood Community, Baodi District. She works in the Baodi Department Store, responsible for business contact. On Jan. 23, she returned home after a day’s work and joined her family to count down for the Chinese New Year in an excited and warm atmosphere.
In the early morning, Jan. 24, Wang felt chest distress, which she assumed might be the result of getting up too early and did not care much about. At 8:00, she arrived in the Department Store. “When I came into the office, I felt a little cold, and toward noon I had a low fever,” said Wang. She returned home earlier than before as she felt sick all over. “I took some cold medicine, and the temperature returned to a normal level after a while."
On Jan. 24, the Tianjin COVID-19 Prevention and Control Leading Group made a decision, according to Tianjin’s Emergency Response Plan for the COVID-19 Epidemic and the current situation of epidemic prevention and control, to activate the first-level emergency response in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19.
On Jan. 25, Wang kept sharing information online about buying epidemic-prevention goods with friends and relatives and reminding them of staying at home and wearing a mask. She felt uncomfortable again, which was actually a sign once again of catching the virus. “It was mainly chest oppression, followed by low fever,” Wang recounted. The symptom repeated until Jan. 27, which she thought was simply fever caused by the common cold.
On Jan. 28, the Tianjin Headquarters of Epidemic Prevention and Control announced at a press conference that the Spring Festival holiday would be extended and citizens were reminded to seek medical attention immediately in case of fever, cough and other symptoms...
By Jan. 31, as her condition had shown no improvement, Wang was admitted to the fever clinic of the nearby Baodi Hospital of TCM.
Getting confirmed
After being examined in the hospital, Wang was assigned to a single ward for medical observation. “I was taken to a ward for infusion, and during the process, doctors kept coming in and asking me about my condition, and I began to feel that things were getting bad,” Wang recalled. A few hours later, her doctor told her that she had to be transferred to Baodi People’s Hospital for further diagnosis. Upon hearing this, Wang became nervous and worried.
In the early morning of Feb. 1, a doctor told Wang that she was tested positive. “At first, I didn’t understand and asked what ‘positive’ meant; the doctor then told me that I was confirmed as a COVID-19 case,” said Wang. She showed no panic on the result. “I didn’t expect to get infected. And I felt guilty and feared I might transmit the virus to others.” Wang cheered herself up while feeling upset about the disease. “I was sure that I would be cured. It was just an ordinary illness,” she continued.
After Wang was confirmed as a COVID-19 case, her families, as close contacts, were held under quarantine observation as required. A cosy Spring Festival get-together was destroyed by the outbreak of an epidemic and the family members, separated in different places, were very worried about each other.
“Isolation was also a kind of protection for them. My biggest concern was my daughter. She’s only 12 and I was afraid that she might feel mentally stressed.” Wang said she couldn’t fall asleep at night and had tears in her eyes thinking about her daughter. Fortunately, they could contact and inquire about each other’s situation by cell phone.
On the morning of Feb. 1, Wang was transferred to Haihe Hospital by an ambulance. “Because of my work, I often have to shuttle between downtown Tianjin and Baodi. But that day, when I was on my way to Haihe Hospital in the ambulance, I looked out the window and suddenly felt that the scene was so beautiful outside,” Wang said.
Receiving treatment
Haihe Hospital set up a “red zone” on Jan. 20 with 23 different wards equipped with 478 beds, all meeting the standard for receiving COVID-19 patients. The hospital, dubbed as Tianjin’s “Xiaotangshan”, was established in 2003 during the SARS epidemic, and it has now been standing trial again amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Wang began to receive treatment in Haihe Hospital, where she spent the first day taking various examinations. “The doctor gave me five tablets, two yellow, two red, one white, and there was also a packet of traditional Chinese medicine,” she said.
Wang began to suffer from chest distress and vomit on Feb. 2. “I couldn’t eat anything and felt sick at the sight of food.” She searched on her phone for video clips about eating food to stimulate her appetite. “Following the anchor in the video, I stuffed my mouth with food and chewed it hard,” Wang mentioned.
Wang received many phone calls from her relatives and friends during her stay in the hospital, but she never answered them, seeing those phone numbers so familiar to her. “I was afraid to answer for fear of losing control of my emotion.”
Wang remembered that the first snow of 2020 fell on the city four days after she was hospitalized. Standing by the window and looking at the snow-covered road outside, she felt like going out for a walk and to hold a handful of snow. As she lay in bed, filled with regrets, a nurse knocked at the door and came in with a bag in hand. “You want to play with snow?” Wang could not hold back her tears at that moment.
“We patients could talk with doctors and nurses all the time. And sometimes they did what they could to make me laugh,” Wang told the reporter, adding that the doctors were so considerate and caring as to make ward rounds every two hours or so; the nurses were there all the time to give infusions, deliver food, soothe the patients...While she trusted the doctors and nurses more and more, Wang calmed down gradually and started watching some funny videos on a tablet provided by the hospital.
“They have their kids, husbands and parents too, but they couldn’t return home for the New Year for our sake.” Wang Xin, as a patient, thought that she was isolated for her own reasons while the medical staffs were there for the sake of the patients, so they were really great.
Discharged from hospital
With four dishes and a soup, fruit, protein powder..., nutrition supply in the isolation ward was better than Wang expected. Meanwhile, she took her medicine on time every day according to the doctor’s advice with an even more active attitude than she had her meals.
Wang’s condition began to improve on Feb. 8. She had another CT scan. “My doctor told me I was better. And I could feel that myself. At least I had an appetite and didn’t have to force myself to eat.” Over the next few days, she said, the cough and fever symptoms gradually subsided and even disappeared.
On Feb. 12, a series of tests of Wang showed good results. Further evaluation by doctors indicated that she met the standard of being discharged. “Mentality is very important. We must have confidence and cooperate with the doctors, and the disease is not so horrible.” Wang Xin’s voice was powerful.
Speaking of the doctors and nurses who treated her, Wang said they were the ones she would most like to thank. “They are working so hard, and they have to work with protective suits on for 6 to 8 hours every day. Sometimes I’d think we patients are happier than they are because they’ve never stopped their steps.”
Wang Xin walked out of “Tianjin’s Xiaotangshan” in the afternoon of Feb. 14. “Through this experience, I’ve learned to cherish and be grateful for what I have. I should cherish the time with my families. However ordinary a day is, it does not come easy. I should be especially grateful to all those who have helped and supported me during this special period of time,” she concluded.
