Memoirs of Young COVID-19 Patients

Park Seung Ji (26, University student, Discharged after 31 days): As there weren’t COVID-19 patients around me I think I did not take it seriously.

Kim Hyeong Jin (26, University student, Discharged after 32 days): When I see people roaming around, I feel they are living in a different world.

Lee Jeong Hwan (26, University student, Discharged after 57 days): For 2 weeks, I was in so much pain that I thought I could die.

Park Seung Ji: Absolutely senseless.

Kim Hyeong Jin: It’s a shame.

Lee Jeong Hwan: I can’t endure this.

Lee Jeong Hwan: No way. I couldn’t believe it.

Park Seung Ji: Same here. Same here.

Lee Jeong Hwan: I really couldn’t believe it. I was certain I wouldn’t get it. It was unbelievable that I was a COVID-19 patient.

Kim Hyeong Jin: My parents were with me and I thought, “What about my family?”

Park Seung Ji: I’m a COVID-19 patient? I’m doomed. I had dinner with my parents yesterday. This is a nightmare. A person was confirmed where I work part-time. I was worried while self-quarantining so I took a test and it came positive.

Lee Jeong Hwan: I was in Turkey as an exchange student and rushed back to Korea in April. As I didn’t have symptoms in Turkey, I don’t think I got it there. I think I was infected on the plane.

Kim Hyeong Jin: I was in New Jersey earlier this year. While I was self-quarantining after I returned I got the confirmation. I’m not exactly sure but I think I was infected in the U.S.
Today, I was confirmed to be infected. (with COVID-19) I was confirmed the day I felt the symptoms, so that was a relief. I didn’t come in contact with anyone. The symptoms I’m feeling now are similar to those of a cold. I’m coughing and feeling chills and some fever but my temperature still reads 37.1 degrees Celsius.

Lee Jeong Hwan: I took my temperature. It’s normal – at 36.3. I measure my oxygen saturation (SpO2) value with this. Everyday. My SpO2 value is 100 which is average. I was admitted into hospital and for 10 days I thought I was dying. It was like high fiving the Grim Reaper ten times. For ten days, I had burning fever and severe coughs. I couldn’t sleep because my body aches got so bad. The most I slept was about an hour?

Park Seung Ji: Life in the ward from Day 1. Hello. It’s my first time making a video. It’s been 24 days since I was admitted into hospital for COVID-19. Oh, the nurse just arrived. (I’ll measure your blood pressure.) They check my temperature and blood pressure 3 times a day. Normally, I sit down but they asked me to lie down today. The medical staff who enter the isolation unit always come in wearing protective gear. Twice a week, I take a COVID-19 test, a blood test and an X-Ray. Tomorrow’s the day I get tested. I’m okay with the blood test and X-Ray. But for the COVID-19 test, the cotton swab presses deep inside the nostril so it’s very painful.
It took 31 days for me to be discharged. I took the COVID-19 test twice a week. Once through the nostril and one in my throat. I had to test negative for both to leave the hospital.

Kim Hyeong Jin: Same with me. After being tested twice within 24 hours, the results had to be negative for me to leave. I was discharged after 32 days.

Lee Jeong Hwan: Back then, there were stronger standards for ending quarantine. We had to test negative twice in a row within 24 hours. I left quarantine after 57 days.

Park Seung Ji: You made it.

Kim Hyeong Jin: I have a question. Were you alone in the ward?

Lee Jeong Hwan: At first, there weren’t enough wards in Seoul so the rooms were shared by two patients. 25 days after I was admitted, I had my own room.

Kim Hyeong Jin: There were three of us in one room. It was tough when a roommate was discharged before me. You must have had a similar experience over those 57 days.

Lee Jeong Hwan: I uploaded a similar video on my vlog. When a guy who I shared a room with left first, I was envious and felt mixed emotions. I had never tested negative before but he’d tested negative several times and was discharged faster than I was. I felt conflicted at the time.
Last night, my ward-mate tested negative twice and was discharged. When I look around the empty bed, it feels so deserted and I keep thinking I want to leave too.

Kim Hyeong Jin: My symptoms weren’t too severe. Especially as I didn’t have lung-related illnesses, I was treated according to my symptoms. For fever, I took a fever reducer and for diarrhoea, anti-diarrheal medication. As I was getting my symptoms treated, I had no aftereffects either.

Park Seung Ji: I had weak symptoms too. They prescribed painkillers for pain. There isn’t yet a COVID-19 treatment. I felt frustrated, since I couldn’t know exactly when I would recover.

Lee Jeong Hwan: I was in so much pain from Day 1 in the ward. I took Kaletra and Kaletra is a treatment for AIDS.
I had severe side effects from taking Kaletra which caused more pain and I felt like I was dying. For instance, when I drank water my body wouldn’t absorb it. The water would simply leave my system when I,,, When I tried to eat, I felt it coming back up so I couldn’t eat or drink anything. At the time, I thought I could really die. It was so tough and painful…

Kim Hyeong Jin: I didn’t have any aftereffects.

Lee Jeong Hwan: When I think about it now, I did feel some aftereffects. I lost a lot of hair. I thought it was a passing symptom but it's still ongoing.

Park Seung Ji: I also lost a lot of hair when I was admitted into hospital. But I didn’t think it was an aftereffect and thought it was because I had long hair. Looking back now, I think it was one of the aftereffects.

Kim Hyeong Jin: Isolation units must block out air so you can’t open the windows. I could sense the warmth of the air outside, so the desperation to feel it against my skin really got me down.

Park Seung Ji: It was similar for me. As there’s no set period for recovery, I wondered when I would leave... The uncertainty was the hardest part to deal with.

Lee Jeong Hwan: For me the hardest thing was the distress when the pain got so severe. There was the stress of being kept in the isolation unit but the pain was something I’d never experienced before.

Lee Jeong Hwan: 34 days after being admitted, I took my 10th COVID-19 test. I've tested positive 10 straight times. I had high hopes, so the disappointment was great.
Even one negative thought turned into panic. When I saw negative comments online, I felt my thoughts could turn extreme. So I intentionally didn’t read anything and didn’t do anything.
Yes, hello. Yeah. Yeah. Oh really? Could you tell me the level of the virus that’s left? So it didn’t go down at all? Yes, alright. It’s positive....

Park Seung Ji: My mind was racing so rather than getting depressed, the isolation unit felt stuffy and suffocating. I wanted to leave but I couldn’t. I would just cry all day and sleep when I was worn out and after releasing all those tears, I felt better.

Kim Hyeong Jin: I found something meaningful to do which is how I overcame the blues. I shared my everyday life under COVID-19 treatment, and shared essential information with others.

Kim Hyeong Jin: Hello.

Kim Hyeong Jin: I began my vlog because there wasn’t enough information on the treatment process. When I read comments saying my video helped, I felt stronger and a sense of pride.

Park Seung Ji: After I tested positive, Your vlog was really helpful for me too.

Lee Jeong Hwan: I thought people would start avoiding or fearing me, if I told them I’d tested positive. But not a single person was like that. They wrote me letters to encourage me or phoned every morning to ask “Jeong-hwan, how are you?” I think this support kept me going until I was discharged.

Park Seung Ji: My parents left encouraging comments pretending to be other people. I truly felt I was loved.

Kim Hyeong Jin: My family was the first thought that came into my mind. I was with my parents at home. “What do I do about my family?” was my immediate reaction.

Park Seung Ji: My younger brother had passed the stage 1 of the civil servant exam. He’d only said hi to me but was listed as a person of contact so he had to self-quarantine for 2 weeks. He was supposed to prepare for the stage 2 physical test but he couldn’t run or train at all. So… the final result wasn’t good. When I see my brother going back to square one, it breaks my heart.

(Cluster infections spiked nationwide again since August. Looking at people who ignore precaution guidelines…)

Kim Hyeong Jin: If COVID-19 infections spike again, medical workers have to suffer again. If they’d obeyed distancing rules while gathering, the situation could be different… It’s a shame.

Lee Jeong Hwan: It made me think about how scary brainwashing is. About how scary brainwashing is, and how important it is to not be misled by fake news.

(The younger generation who ignore anti-epidemic rules and enjoy daily life...)

Park Seung Ji: It’s an embarrassment. They have to experience it to come to their senses. It’s such a shame.

Lee Jeong Hwan: I think we should enjoy our daily lives while abiding by prevention guidelines. It’s a problem when you ignore the rules in your day-to-day life. All I think about this is that they are selfish.

Kim Hyeong Jin: They’re gambling with their lives in a dice game. I wish they would think more prudently.

Park Seung Ji: The nurse gave me a bundle of plastic wraps the day before. I’m going to put them on later and disinfect my things. I’m taking my clothes and disposables to wash them thoroughly in the bathroom. Meanwhile, the nurse disinfects the ward so that it’s clean.

Kim Hyeong Jin: For 14 days, I’m planning to self-quarantine without coming into contact with anyone. After leaving the hospital, I don’t feel that excited. Of course, I’m joyful and happy but there are still other patients in the hospital. Medical workers also remain in that ward. So the emotions aren’t as simple as to only feel excitement.

Park Seung Ji: I’m finally home!