Armen, who is 47 years old, fought the coronavirus for 42 days. Armen (his name has been changed; he did not wish to have his name published) does not know how he got infected. He said he must’ve gotten infected when he had to go to another hospital and came into contact with someone.
Armen is feeling fine now. He was released from the Artashat hospital on June 22nd. The hospital solely treats coronavirus patients.
“Those who believe that they won’t get infected or that the coronavirus isn’t real are wrong. You get infected so quickly that you won’t even have the time to understand what happened,” Armen said.
Until he went to the hospital, Armen was in isolation at a hotel in Tsaghkadzor as someone who came into contact with a coronavirus patient. After several days of staying there, he had a fever, which is when he was taken to the Nork Infection Hospital to take a test. The test result was positive and he was sent to the Artashat hospital. “When you find out that the test result is positive, you’re scared. First, you think about your family and your kids. But their test results were negative.”
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Armen said that he did not have any symptoms and he did not have any chronic illnesses. He had quit smoking several years ago. However, he had pneumonia in both of his lungs as a result of the coronavirus. Armen did not have a cough, diarrhea, or a loss of taste or smell. He did not experience the typical signs of the virus other than a high fever. Armen said that he checked his sense of taste with salt. “In the beginning, I was in a room at the Artashat hospital. My condition worsened after a few days. I wasn’t getting enough oxygen. I didn’t know what was happening. They immediately took me to the rehabilitation unit. I looked around me and I could see doctors all around me doing something. They turned on the ventilator. That’s when I realized what was happening; the doctors were fighting for me and my life,” the 47-year-old man said.
The doctors said that Armen was in critical condition for a long time, then they were able to improve his condition from critical to serious to stable. The doctors were just as happy as Armen and his family to see this progress. “I was fighting, too. When you begin to feel like it’s all over… you start to think about your family and kids,” Armen said, and joked, “You even start to think about your loans. I was looking around me and it was a terrible sight to see: one person was not even speaking or moving, the other was being fed by a nurse, and that’s when I realized how dangerous this virus is.”
Armen used a ventilator for approximately 25 days. He said that the feeling he had when they turned off the ventilator and he was able to breathe on his own again was indescribable. “I felt like I was born again. I realized how incredible it is to breathe on my own. I compared it to breathing with a ventilator and I realized how incredible breathing on my own really is.” Armen said that he did not feel alone at the hospital. “The doctors were by my side in the same way that one of my family members would have been. All the doctors, nurses, and others were by my side. I never felt alone.”
When they turned off the ventilator and Armen started to feel better, the first thing he did was call his family: his parent, wife, and children. His family had a party when he got home from the hospital. Armen is doing better now and he is not receiving treatment. His test result was negative, but he needs to remain in self-isolation for 14 days. He is still being careful. He said that his family members are upholding all the pandemic rules. He is impatiently waiting to return to work.
“I cannot adequately express my gratitude to the doctors who are working tirelessly and who are completely dedicated to their work. And now, when I look at the numbers every day, I feel pity. I do not understand why there are so many cases and why people are so indifferent. People need to think about themselves and their loved ones. This is everyone’s responsibility,” Armen said.
Nelly Babayan
“Aravot” daily
27.06.2020
