June 4: One morning before returning to my hometown, I did a self-test to ensure my health and safety before leaving; after all, my mother at home is 92 years old, and the harm Covid 19 virus could bring should not be underestimated.
June 6: At noon, when I returned from Muar, I felt unwell along the way. My back hurt so badly that I thought it was a recurrence of an old injury, and I quickly took painkillers when I returned home. In the evening, I felt worse, so I went to a nearby clinic to consult a doctor. After the young and handsome doctor on duty did an RTK test for me, he confirmed that I was Covid 19 positive. Therefore, my husband immediately informed our family members to also do self tests, fearing that they may have been infected by me.
Precautions could not ward off the unexpected
When Covid Got to Me W R I T T E N B Y : N G S I E W Y E N T R A N S L A T E D B Y : P H O E B E C H E A H
Issue 52 Jul/Aug 2022
After going home to freshen up, I was ready to start living in isolation. When I came out of the bathroom, I found myself gradually losing control, my mind was empty, and my body was shaking. As soon as I laid down, my hands began to feel numb, and then I was completely stiff and unable to move. In the blurriness, I heard my husband and son talking loudly, one saying to pray for God's healing, the other saying to go to the hospital quickly I listened to my husband recounting the scene at that time. He said that I had been speaking incoherently, sometimes asking him to clean the house, and sometimes shouting out my late father and little sister’s names. My husband thought my time was running out and he rushed me to Universiti Malaya Medical Centre. It turned out that I had a high fever of around 40 degrees Celsius. After about three hours in the emergency room and getting an injection and intravenous drip, I slowly woke up from my rest. My hands and feet were no longer stiff, and the doctor said that I could go home and isolate myself.
Afterwards,
The next day, I felt sorry when I learned that my nephew was infected because of me
Fortunately, his situation was not too serious and he recovered a few days later. For me, I had not seen any improvement. I had to rely on fever medications to control my body temperature from time to time. I was lethargic. My throat was extremely sore, speaking and swallowing felt like being pricked by needles. My voice was completely hoarse. I kept blaming myself and thinking why and how was I infected?
A Sudden Shock
June 9: After ending an online meeting in the morning, I suddenly felt light headed when I stood up, so I immediately went to the nearby Covid-19 Assessment Centre (CAC) to consult a doctor. The doctor said that my blood pressure was high, measuring 180/100. I had fever symptoms so I had to be admitted to the hospital for observation. When I heard that I was going to Sg. Buloh Hospital, I was so frightened that my face went pale and my feet were weak, and I kept begging the doctor to let me go home. My husband asked the doctor, "What will happen if we don't go to the hospital?" The doctor said, "We will call the police, you may be fined up to RM10,000". Looking at how pitiful I was, my husband whispered to me, "If you don't want to go, then we shall take a chance. The doctor was definitely exaggerating, we will not necessarily be caught, but if we really were to be caught, we will pay the fine." Although I was very ill, I chose to comply when I heard that I could be arrested by the police and fined if I didn’t. After going home and packing up some necessities, we reported to the hospital.
I was placed in Ward 3, Bed 12. The facilities there were basic, there was no air conditioning, the toilet was far from my bed, and my heart was overwhelmed by helplessness But thank God, the medical staff were very kind, did various tests for me, drew blood, measured blood pressure, and patiently explained my condition to me. Looking at the layers of protective clothing on their bodies, I secretly admired their perseverance and hardships.
If you don't go to the hospital, we’ll call the police!
BASIC FACILITIES BUT EXCELLENT SERVICE
y heart was troubled, but under God's wings, I will be at ease
Quarantine ends Looking at the ceiling fans seemingly far away, I couldn't feel the coolness. I endured the heat and admired a few fat cats in the distance leisurely patrolling the ward Occasionally, a few small birds would fly in and circle around. My heart kept shouting, "How nice would it be if I could fly out like a bird!" How can I survive the stuffiness and this heat? I prayed to God in my heart, asking God to calm down my heart. God listened to my prayers, and a few hours later it rained heavily, and I was able to sleep peacefully that night. Under God's wings, I was made at ease and it made me trust in Him. Relying on God in the midst of illness is also a spiritual discipline. The next day, after a series of tests, the doctor said that I was not in serious condition, but I still needed to stay in the hospital for observation. June 10: In the afternoon, the doctor said that my blood pressure was back to normal, the fever had subsided, and I could go home to continue the isolation I was asked to go to a nearby government clinic for a follow-up consultation two weeks later. After seven days of isolation, I no longer had fever, my throat was less painful, and my voice gradually recovered. However, there were a bunch of after effects: coughing, headaches, shortness of breath, back pain, insomnia, exhaustion, lack of physical strength, poor appetite, and so on. Thanks to God's healing, these after effects disappeared one by one unknowingly. One day, a colleague asked me, "Yesterday you were as if going to cough your lungs out, why didn't I hear you cough at all today?" That's when I realised that I didn't cough anymore, and I quickly said to this colleague, "Jesus must have healed me!”
Looking back on my experience of contracting the Covid 19 virus, my heart is full of gratitude. Thank God for his care and that He has sent many angels around to pray for me, recommended different remedies, supplements, and so on. My siblings in my hometown were concerned about my medical condition and they called every day, which drew our bond stronger In addition to this, there was another big unexpected gain I lost four kilograms of weight in just a few days. I still remember when I went to the airport to pick up my daughter returning from overseas, she couldn't recognise her mother who had lost weight. I was not angry at all, but certainly delighted.
Listening to friends who have shared their experience of contracting the virus before was like listening to a stories. Although I knew that the process was never easy, I couldn't fully empathise that feeling. Now, after Covid 19 got to me, I can better understand the hardships patients go through.
Unexpected gains
The discomfort and pain experienced by someone is only felt by the individual alone, and it is difficult for a healthy and well person to understand the experience.
The suffering is only known to oneself
About the Writer: Ng Siew Yen
" I U N D E R S T A N D "
"I have walked through the path you are walking, I have experienced what you are experiencing, so I know. I
G O D S A Y S
fact, life is filled with uncertainties, accompanied with unfavourable events, such as the pain from illness, the lacking in life, losing loved ones, slanders and so on. We can choose to complain, but as Christians, we can choose to be grateful and experience God's grace by faith. Practise this in life to grow and to be fruitful, because Jesus said, ,
For easier commuting to school for the children, she moved from Puchong Putra Prima to Petaling Jaya in 2015 but continued serving and attending worship at Permai Chinese Methodist Church in Puchong with her husband and two children. She currently sits as a Director of Human Resources in a retail company She believes that when we do our best in all things and entrust the rest unto the Lord, the Lord will take care of it.
A TREASURE IN THE RUINS –
ANOTHER WONDERFUL TESTIMONY ABOUT GOD’S LOVE TO ME! B y : M d m G a n H o n g E n g
On 24th April 2021, after a morning exercise with my friends, I was told by one of my friends that somebody had discarded quite a lot of books and some useful things near the field. I went to have a look and decided to bring back some very useful items for my friends The items I took were two cold boxes, one metal carrier, a roll of white paper, a lot of books and papers. (Note: The Bible comes together with the index tabs for my easy reference) I also loaded my carrier box (which I used for the vegetables and fruits bought in Pasar Malam last time) with many books and papers to bring back for Caleb, a brother in Christ who collects old newspapers. As I reached home and checked through the books in my carrier box, I saw an item wrapped in old newspapers. It looked like a book to me, and it was wrapped with Sin Chew Daily Newspaper dated 27th January 2019 (Sunday).
When I unwrapped the old newspaper, I was astonished by what was right in front of me! It was a large print Chinese Bible with full index tabs. I have been wanting to have a large print Bible so much! God knew my needs and gifted the Bible to me so unexpectedly “God is so wonderful!”, I uttered out loud and praised God joyfully. If I did not go and get the books and papers for brother Caleb, I would not have received this Bible from God! Once again, God amazed me with His wonderful works It was indeed another wonderful testimony about God’s love to me! Thank you, Lord! Editor: Ocean Chan ▪ Proofreaders: Deborah Chow, Choo Ting Hou ▪ Designer: Esther Ng Please send articles & feedback to: permaisnapshot@gmail.com Interested to join the editorial team? Scan the ministry's QR code or speak to us at 016 3374560
