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From Survivor to Victor: A Testimonial by Dr. Susan John, Baptist Mission Hospital, Tezpur, Assam
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Over the past few months, our world has
gone through much turmoil, un- like never before. Entire coun- tries shut down, economies col- lapsed, schools and businesses closed, travel restrictions en- forced and everyone was forced to stay home. Fear and uncer- tainty became prevalent, physi- cal distancing and social isola- tion became the norm.
We couldn’t move outside our homes without a mask, all because of a 0 .1 um sized particle of protein (to get some perspective, that would be 1/1000th the size of a strand of your hair) . Talk about small! We couldn’t thank Joseph Lister enough for teaching us about hand- washing, even as we started adjusting to the new normal way of doing life . The entire scientific community grappled with understanding this stealthy little virus . All the health systems braced to rise up to fight this global pandemic!
I am part of a health team situ- ated at a remote Mission Hospital in Tezpur, Assam . The virus initially be- gan as something that had originated from bats in China, and we were told to be prepared, and we did that . Over the next few months as the virus swept through the entire world, wearing PPE became second nature to us, even as we now had to ‘triage’ all our patients . Strategies changed often . The senior doctors had to attend multiple semi- nars and webinars and pore through numerous guidelines day-in and day-
out . Finally, predictions came true as the peak hit India in July-August and cases started to surge .
Initially, we weren’t admitting Covid patients but had to refer any suspected patients to the nearby Government Center . It broke our hearts every time we had to make tough decisions of re- ferring sick patients . We had to say “no”, to desperate, sometimes angry relatives . We had to wear PPE through the heat of summer . The hospital was also strug- gling due to dwindling patient numbers, and added to that, we had to endure the struggles of our patients who were not able to access care due to multiple rea- sons . We were trying our best, but life was tough and challenging, and we just needed a break...
That’s when it struck, the virus had invaded... me .
I badly wanted it to be just a normal cold, but the rapid test came back posi- tive, and a strong positive at that, and I had to be isolated in my hostel room for the next 17 days . There were many ques- tions at the back of my mind, like why was this happening? Did I do something wrong? But then there was also this calm assurance that God had allowed this and that He would carry me through . His re- assurance was that, “In all things God works together for good, for them that love God, for them that have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28) . I could trust Him .
It was tough during the initial few days, with the fever and blocked nose, and my parents back home were deeply concerned for my well-being . But that settled soon . It was a bit lonely so I kept myself busy reading and leaning more