"I had hesitations sharing this to the public in the fear of being bashed," posted mom-of-two Cai de Leon, an intellectual property (IP) specialist and a Homebuddies Facebook page moderator in her private Facebook account last night. "I can already imagine hearing people say 'Yan kasi, bakit pa kayo lumalabas?'"

But she decided to post so that people will learn from her ongoing battle with COVID-19. She is still in the hospital, and as of this writing, she is on her third day. She proceeds to explain that, like most individuals and families, they went out because the alert level went down. "We were allowed to bring the kids out and break their quarantine fatigue."

It was on Dec. 27 when the couple decided to go to the mall. They were headed to the beach and none of the sandals fit the kids anymore. She also needed new shades so they passed by another store to buy a new pair. They left for the beach the next day, Dec. 28. On the road home that night on Dec. 30, she started experiencing a terrible migraine. "I thought it was because of the flashing lights. I was trying to be awake on the way home because I was helping my husband Jon read the signages. I was also experiencing body pains that night," she remembers.

On Dec. 31, she was aware that she was becoming more irritable. She was very sleepy to the point that it was difficult for her to get up. "I was in so much pain, but I tried to get out of the bed, because I needed to prep for New Year's Eve dinner for Jon, kids, and in-laws. By this time, I was experiencing sore throat, terrible body aches, and worst migraine ever. Lesson learned: Isolate immediately even if you don't know what type of sickness you have."

Her sore throat worsened with cough and phlegm by Jan. 1. She had slight fever that day but kept excusing herself from the get-together, because she kept taking naps. By Jan. 2, she had a fever of 38.5C, even her blood pressure was elevated. She also took antigen tests on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, both negative. It was only on Jan. 2 when the antigen test result came out positive.

The couple immediately informed everyone of the results and asked them to go on self-quarantine, and booked RT-PCR test for the whole household on that same day for reconfirmation of results, with Cai in isolation in the house.

On Jan. 3 around 2 to 3 a.m., her temperature was around 40.2C. "I couldn't lower down my temperature." Grateful for friends who were still awake at that time, one of them suggested to apply a wet towel on her forehead. She didn't want to wake her husband up who was sleeping in the other room with their two boys.

In less than 24 hours, within Jan. 3, the results came out and she was the only one positive. Their driver, with car windows open, brought her to the hospital as her husband is still in quarantine. "I agreed to be confined in the hospital because even strong independent women need to choose their battles. A battle against COVID-19 is not for me to handle."

"My fever peaked 40.2, my BP went really high, my oxygen dipped to 94, and I was having hallucinations," she tells Manila Bulletin Lifestyle. "It all happened in the wee hours of the night and since I was isolated no one was there to help me. Nahihiya ako to wake up my husband who had a hard time putting the kids to sleep." It was then that she realized that she needed the medical help from the experts.

She also shared some pictures of medicines that were prescribed to her, including melatonin and MolnaFlu. "This is my lifesaver It is still considered an experimental drug in the Philippines, but it has a compassionate special permit. I just had to sign a waiver," she explains.

"If you know someone exhibiting flu-like symptoms, please tell them to isolate immediately, and get tested with the right testing method at the right time (best is oropharyngeal or saliva RT-PCR). Do not tell them 'wala yan, flu lang yan,' because it might give the patient a wrong sense of confidence and not consider isolating anymore. Imagine them going out laden with heavy viral load of COVID-19 mingling with unvaccinated people," she continues.

Now on her fourth day in the hospital, she hopes to get discharged soon. "Depending on the lab results. COVID-19 can damage other organs. Meron lang binabantayan na parameter. If ok na, maybe I can be discharged na tomorrow or Saturday," she tells Manila Bulletin Lifestyle. "Home care and home quarantine will continue," she reiterates.

She ends the post with a reminder to trust the vaccine. "I honestly believe I wouldn't have pulled through if I wasn't completely vaccinated. I am also very fortunate to have received my booster shot long before my infection."