Heart Attack or Covid????

I had my first covid symptoms two weeks ago (to the day). It was the end of my work day, my throat was on fire and I was exhausted. I tested positive the following morning, and Shaun and I started our 10 days of isolation. Days 1 to 8 went by quite quickly - I displayed mostly minor symptoms. Then day 9 happened.... 

At 15h21 on day 9 my friend Lana called. She had returned from abroad, and we had a little catch up session. While chatting to her I had an episode of some sort. I still cannot describe what happened - just am not able to put into words what I felt. It felt like a panic attack of sorts, or like something had gone very wrong in the inner workings of my body, like my head and chest were about to explode, like I was going to cry and vomit, like my entire body was in pain, like my body was going to stop working. All of these, and more. 

Shaun did not know what to do, and I screamed and swore at him in my panic. He called an ambulance. While waiting for the ambulance (they took FOREVER), and once the initial symptoms had decreased slightly in their intensity, Shaun helped me down the stairs to the bathroom, and then into the guest bedroom closest to the front door. The paramedics arrived, took my vitals (they were all normal), and told me that they believed it was a heart attack. My heart, soul, spirit and courage had been knocked out of me in one sentence. In 2009 a defective heart nearly killed me, so I believed they were right. After telling me I would be put into a Covid ward at hospital, I decided to stay at home. The last thing I wanted after a heart attack was to be reinfected with a different Covid strain. 

We started informing family and friends that we thought I had had a heart attack, but that I was okay at home. Our friend Julie was not having it, and sent me off to the ER. Shaun drove me to the ER where they did an ECG, revealing that I had not had a heart attack at all. My vitals were all normal, they gave me 2 Valiums and sent me home. At this stage, the symptoms had decreased in their intensity, but they were still very present. 

We got back home a few mins before the 10pm curfew. We have 2 cats. When we arrived home, Einstein was waiting at the door, but Kitsy was nowhere to be found, and she did not respond when we called her. We found her on the bed where the paramedics had seen me. She wouldn't get up. I put my hand on her to show her that her Daddy was okay. I spoke to her, caressed her. She looked at me with doe eyes, and I lied down next to her. Kitsy took my hand, held onto it tightly with both her paws, and looked straight into my eyes. She wouldn't allow anything to distract her, not even Einstein climbing over the 2 of us. I don't know how long we stayed in this position, but it was a long while before she let me go.

We went to bed, and by that time the Valiums had already taken effect and I fell asleep almost immediately. I had the most terrible dreams. Dreams where I was fully aware of what was happening around me in our bedroom, I knew I was dreaming, but couldn't wake up. Shaun got up during the night to check my vitals. I felt him doing this while dreaming, but couldn't wake up. At one stage my convulsions woke him and he rubbed my back. His touch stopped the body shakes, but not the dreams. When the first dream ended, I couldn't breathe, and neither could Kitsy. She was sleeping on me, and when I choked and was unable to breathe, she choked too, jumped off the bed, coughed a few times, then recovered. I heard all of this while I was sleeping. 

The dream was like a TV without an aerial auto searching for channels. I saw scenes from my life move across my vision so fast, accompanied by the feelings associated with them, causing convulsions. After Kitsy left I knew I was dying, and I just wanted it to end. I don't remember my next dream, but I remember preparing myself for death. Worrying about how Shaun would react to waking next to my corpse. 

When our daily 5am alarm went off I was happy. Happy that I'd die with Shaun and we'd get to say goodbye. Shaun woke up and I told him I was going soon, and that he had to hold me. He did. I didn't go though. 

We tried to call the ambulance but there was no answer, so Shaun took me back to the ER. Once there, the same doctor saw me, told me my vitals were still normal and that I could go home. I refused, and told him to check me into the COVID ward. 

When I started writing this I didn't realise how long it would be. I'll continue the story soon, still lots more to tell...