First-level Contact from Minsk: I’m in Hospital. It’s a Nightmare

What's going on in Belarusian hospitals.

Iryna, a 50-year-old resident of Minsk, was taken to hospital No. 3 on March 22 as a first-level contact. Before that, she was in the MIA hospital (Ministry of Internal Affairs), and now she's in the 10th hospital.

Iryna told her detailed story to Basta telegram channel:

- I got sick on February 24, I had the first symptoms. At first, I had a severe throat irritation. Then I felt strong fatigue and weakness. I felt so weak that I couldn't even drive; my reaction was poor. Then came dyspnea, chest ache, I felt like my chest was under pressure. I even told myself when walking on the street: "No, Ira, it's not pneumonia."

In the morning of March 1, I felt sick. I started choking. I called an ambulance, I was taken to the MIA hospital. They put me in a regular ward; treatment began. I felt bad. It's not the first time I have pneumonia and it's just impossible to describe these feelings. I couldn't walk. I have severe dyspnea when I walk now.

I was treated with good antibiotics in the MIA hospital. I spent there from 1 to 16 March. Then, a couple of days before discharge, my dyspnea was so severe that I could not take a breath. I have repeatedly told my doctor about this and got the answer that it was the consequences of pneumonia.

On March 16, I got an X-ray. They said that pneumonia had disappeared, but I didn't felt this way. There was still something wrong with my lungs, but I was discharged. On the morning of 17 March, I wake up at home and I can't get back on my feet because my leg had an inflammation of the lymph node. I called a doctor from the MIA polyclinic. He prescribed medication and I was on sick leave.

On March 18, I called an ambulance again. They came, listened, said that I had shallow breathing on the left and single crackles. I said I had just been discharged, showed an epicrisis. They took me to Hospital 4. I had another X-ray. It didn't show anything. The only thing the doctor told me: "You have SARS." They sent me home.

At home, I realize I still feel sick, I can't walk and I can't breathe because I don't get enough oxygen. When I was saturated, I saw my blood oxygen saturation was low. I tried to pull myself together anyway, decided to go outdoors and go to the store. On the way, I was about to lose consciousness. You just walk, then you get dizzy, it gets dark in your eyes. If there hadn't been a wall to lean on, I'd have probably lost consciousness again.

I call the ambulance again. It arrives and decides where to take me. I categorically refused the MIA hospital. I said that I had had no tests. I had crackles. As a result, I was taken to Hospital 3.

Again, I take X-rays. It shows resolving pneumonia. They make saturating. It is low. The doctor says it is as low as if I am a 95-year-old person, although I am 50 years old. I live an active life.

They start examining me. I tell the doctor that I cannot walk; I have severe dyspnea, feel dizzy and weak. I have C.T. of my lungs. It shows damage to some sections.

On March 28 I started choking at Hospital 3. I took another X-ray which showed nothing and then I had the first swab. The result was negative.

I had a paid ward. It was my condition because I wanted to be alone. But the ward was double. They put a woman over 60 who was coughing all the time. The head of the department told me not to be afraid. The woman suffered from thromboembolism.

Yesterday the woman's temperature rose to 38. I spend almost a day with her until they took her around 1 am. They took me a little later.

Now I'm in Hospital 10. The doctor still hasn't examined me. The examination was only in the waiting room.

It's awful... I'm very strong by nature, but now I feel scared. I have no idea what's going on in my lungs. I've been taken to the Physio Center in Novinky. The doctor's seen my C.T. They measured saturation again. It's 89, which is poor. I was taken back to the hospital and sent to the treatment room to breathe oxygen.

13 people were taken out of there today. Can you imagine? Only from this department. They're not all contagious. Some of them were first-level contacts like me. I was taken to Hospital 10. Sick people were taken to Hospital 4.

It's terrible. It's a nightmare.

Nothing's going on at Hospital 10 right now. I'm alone in the ward. There are five beds.

I need pressure medication all the time, but there's nothing. I told my son not to come because my mother has oncology and he may bring infection home. If she gets infected, I'll have a funeral in my family... Today I finally got my medication. No one cares. Stay here. Thank God you're still alive. That's it.

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