Coronavirus in Argentina | Diary of an infected person: the “sick 13” recounts the day to day of his recovery

Nelson Martinez, a 51-year-old man who lives in Recoleta and is in charge of a building, identifies himself as the “coronavirus case 13“. Hospitalized and isolated in a room at the Muñiz hospital, he found a unique way to share his experience with the rest of the Argentines and the world: a blog that recounts the day to day of the infection.

“Case 13” begins his story in a first post titled “Life is beautiful. May no virus take away the joy of living it fully.” In the post he tells that he toured with Claudia, his partner, northern Italy and Slovenia. “A dream trip“He described the trip and said that halfway through the trip” the existence of the virus in the regions “they had visited reached their ears.

“From Bologna to Argentina we had all the care that the Italian authorities indicated. We were traveling and the virus always came from behind. It was to get to a city and find out that cases had been discovered in the city we had left. The attitude was always the same, never being afraid of the virus, always taking precautions and enjoying our holidays, “he explained.

Returning to Buenos Aires from Madrid by plane was not easy: “Each sneeze was a missile with toxic warheads“, related the man who, although he crossed out Milan and Venice from the trip, could not avoid the coronavirus.

The couple arrived on March 5 at the Ezeiza airport where he found a panorama that he did not expect. “They are welcome from Italy,” they told us, “and therefore, enter the country without any type of control, none, none, absolutely none,” he complained.

After having breakfast at a fast food place and receiving a gracious coffee, they started back to the case in a car with a driver. They decided not to have contact with anyone, at least that day. The next one was different: “We got up, had breakfast and went out to do those typical and so beautiful things at the beginning of the month, pay bills, away from the contact of people. One day with the batteries full, I remember that I did a thousand things and one iron health, I didn’t notice the tiredness “.

On March 7 the symptoms began. “The early morning began with decline, muscle aches from head to toe, dry cough and rising temperature. We spent the whole day at home. Claudia did not have any symptoms, it was just me. I continued with the symptoms all day and in the afternoon the fever. My skin hurt and what alarmed me the most was that my teeth hurtIt was horrible, “he recalled.

The SAME call triggered the Coronavirus protocol. Nelson would be rushed to the Muñiz hospital. It’s isolation started in intensive care.

“Already in my PH of an environment, unfold my books, I set my table to my liking and I brought the bed closer so that everything was within my reach. I decided to try not to sleep during the day and to be standing and not always lying down”, The patient said about the room he would occupy since then.

Still not knowing if he was a carrier of the virus, “punctures began everywhere, in addition to the intravenous lines, and eight oral pills per day.” Then came the official confirmation and the appearance of symptoms in your partner.

It was not too many days when Nelson’s picture improved. “The doctors say that I am very well”, and thanked the messages of support: “They do not give an idea, how important it is for people who are isolated, to be able to count on all those who, even without knowing us, send us a message, a prayer, a force …”.

Referred to another room, the manager found himself “in a giant room with two positive cases.” “Nelson, you have been asymptomatic for a week and in optimal condition, we evaluated the possibility of doing the swab now to see if you can go,” said a doctor shortly after.

This Friday, the manager was able to bathe for the first time since he was hospitalized. “You can bathe me in a hot shower. A heavenly pleasure. I continue to thank God and learn to value even more what we have every day and we do not give importance. Something as common and simple as bathing was transformed, today, into a unique experience, an elixir of life. Super happy … And clean … haha, “he joked. The worst is over.