QUARANTINE - DAY 43 - 17th April 2020
Today on Day 43 of quarantine, Palestine Prisoners day is marked. This is a day when Palestinians remind the world about the men, women and children who are being held in Israeli prisons waiting and hoping to be reunited with their families one day soon
Many thanks for the emails expressing interest in the virtual coffee morning/cookery classes. I will send out emails with invitations and ingredients needed tomorrow.
Roseanne Al Sha'ar: 35 days with the Coronavirus and the war continues! Whenever you come face to face with illness , pain, and death, your life changes radically, and never returns to the way it was before. This is my story ...
My name is Rosanne Al Sha'ar from Beit Jala, and I became infected with Coronavirus. The virus was transferred to me when I was in my workplace. Initially, I learned that a number of my colleagues were carrying the virus, so I did the examination and it turned out that the result was negative, that is, I was not carrying the virus. But that night I began to show clear symptoms, soreness and tinnitus in the ears, chills in my body, very strong headache, and aches in the lower back and legs. When I rechecked, it turned out to be a positive result, meaning I was carrying the virus, which did not surprise me much.
I was informed that I had one hour to prepare my bag to leave my home and go to the National Rehabilitation Center where people with the virus were being treated. The most difficult feeling was while I was preparing my suitcase - I was not going on a trip or a holiday, I was going to an unknown location. I was going to be treated for the virus to which thousands of people around the world were losing her lives. I could not even bid farewell, hug or kiss my family. It all happened so quickly and at great distances. The National Rehabilitation Center is divided into two parts, the first for people with symptoms but not needing treatment, and the second is the intensive care department for infected people who have symptoms and need treatment. When I got to the center, I went to the first department for asymptomatic people. However, when my symptoms returned, I was transferred to the intensive care unit. I was completely isolated in a very small room without any connection to the outside world for a week, receiving treatment. I was diagnosed with moderate to severe infection.
The first days of treatment were the most difficult, my headache was unbearable, and I was being treated with intravenous medication - these needles were very painful as well, and from the severity of my head pain I was vomiting a lot. The treatment phase was arduous, I was taking treatments for malaria and swine flu. The treatments caused weakness in my body, dizziness and nausea and I could not even raise my head. I also had minor lung inflammation and inflammation in my ears. The treatment phase lasted approximately 3 weeks.
Now that I'm recovering, I have stopped taking all the medications and analgesics, and am focussing more on vitamins and hot drinks with honey, lemon and citrus to strengthen my immune system. Last week, I was checked and found to be negative, meaning that my body is free of the virus. In the process of treating this virus, there is a follow up wherein they examine the patient three times. If the result of the examination is negative three times, the patient can leave the center. Indeed, I did two consecutive checks and the two were negative, and while I was waiting for the result of the third examination, I prepared my things and my bag in the hope that I would leave, but I was surprised that the third result came back positive - this cursed virus either returned to my body or did not leave it originally and was hiding. This, of course, caused my mental health to decline a lot. “Don't insult me, my enemy, if I fall, I will stand up,” "لا تشمتي بي يا عدوتي إن سقطت أقوم،" I stood up to my reality - the checks and results, and got back up again on my feet. I resolved to recover quickly to return to my family, my life partner, and my loved ones. I resolved with all my strength to leave the center and return to my life stronger than before. I then announced that I would be hospitalized soon and decided to trust that I had fully recovered, and indeed when I re-examined the result was negative. I still have two tests, but I am sure I will return to my home soon and be among my loved ones for the upcoming Easter, which I will announce on the day of my victory over the disease. It is easy to trust and say that we believe, but this faith is tested in difficult circumstances, when we see that thousands around us lose their lives due to a virus that is not visible to the naked eye, when we are face face to face with danger, death and loss, then we realize how important it is to have strong faith. I always wondered, why me? Why me exactly?
But this experience made me realize that I am a very strong woman, and that my faith in the Lord is great. Through it, the Lord taught me to trust and not to doubt my heart. I believe that I entered this experience in order to be reborn, and to change the way I think, to return to my service as a teacher of children and youth and to tell you how the Lord made me and glorified me.
My war is still going on. My boss, Nicolas Kawas, and his sister, Marianne, are still in quarantine. We have prayer meetings together and we encourage each other from the word of the Lord. For he is the one who said My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness. I believe that God has allowed this pandemic to happen in order to realize how small we are, our helplessness, and how great he is, and to return to him - to return to the important and fundamental things in life, and to stop running after worldly matters. I hope that everyone benefits from this period, and that life does not return to normal without a real change in the souls of people. My message to everyone is please do not underestimate the matter, as the virus is not easy. I ask everyone to stay in their homes and abide by all the precautions set out by the Ministry of Health. Thank you. I also want to ask people to consider the feelings of people who were infected with the virus. I am fully aware of their fears, and I have expectations that when I leave and return to my normal life, people will have reservations about me and people like me who have had the virus. My message to them is not to be afraid of us, and to please be sensitive to our feelings. I would like to thank my family and fiancé for their constant support, and to all those who prayed for me and shared with me words of encouragement. A very special thanks to all the medical staff, and to the Palestinian National Center for Rehabilitation. To the Palestinian Authority and Health, for their great work in which they operate on the frontline of this disease. To the Lord I say, My soul has been delivered to you, and my body has been delivered to you.
You are my Lord today, yesterday and forever!
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