Battle against COVID-19

Deepesh Subedi, BSN-RN-BC   
Tennessee-USA

Dear friends,
God has a reason for everybody to play a role in this world and it took me 27 years to find mine. Now I do exactly what God has made me for: taking care of patients at the bedside and witness them heal.

Life gave me an opportunity to choose between two fairly unequal options: to make a decent living being a self-employed businessman or make a fair living being a nurse, but fully enjoy every aspect of my career. I chose the latter. So far I feel rewarded, fulfilled, satisfied, and complete with my decision and the differences I make in peoples’ lives each day at work.

My dream was to be where I am now in taking care of sick people. When it comes to patient care, I personally try to incorporate my positive attitude and morals as the first line of treatment. Being a bedside nurse, my presence radiates a strong immunity to those patients fighting against their illness. I often tell my patients that “I trade pills for smiles” and with no reflex to control, they radiate their smiles back to me. Those smiles are contagious. I voluntarily/involuntarily smile back at them. I can’t express how gratifying it feels to see them smile despite their pain and suffering. But with COVID-19 there is no pill to trade with a smile. All we have is love and support from friends and families.

These days, my role as a bedside nurse is needed more than ever; just like armed forces are needed during a war. I am a worrier, fighter, and soldier battling with this invisible enemy, the COVID-19. I am glad to be a member of this battalion representing the whole world with no boundaries, but scrubs and gowns. I wake up every day with the same inspiration and aspiration to put my patients first and shield them when needed.

On my most recent battle against COVID-19, I got injured with no major wounds, but some signs and symptoms, including loss of taste and generalized body aches. On 4th June 2020, I woke up with a weird smell and a sense of weakness. At first, I thought the tiredness was due to work. I am scheduled for Friday through Sunday. All are 12-hour shifts. I also did garden work that same week, but this was not the case. Already being exposed to COVID-19 positive patients at work put me on the radar as a high-risk group to contract the virus. As a result, I have been tested and confirmed positive for COVID-19. I feel fine except for the above-mentioned signs and symptoms.

I am fighting this invisible enemy (invading my system now) and can’t wait to get back to work to help more patients. Being COVID-19 positive, I personally feel how this virus physically, mentally, and emotionally affects the body, but being a frontline essential worker I don’t consider this epidemic as something new, neither will it be the last. God has a reason to expose this virus to me and the reason is to develop immunity against it so I can take care of more COVID-19 infected patients with less fear and, more knowledge and understanding. Even as I am falling, I am falling forward, waking up soon to be a stronger, experienced and bold nurse. Being able to donate convalescent plasma for those who needed an extra immunity to fight against the coronavirus was another fulfilling promise I ever made in my life. I wish we soon will live in the world free of COVID-19.

Thank you to my family, friends, and my employer for your love and support. I am fine and eager to come back to join the healthcare forcefully loaded with my experience and knowledge. Stay strong. We can win this battle together. None of us are alone.