50 The Good, The Bad, and The Isolated

COVID-19 at the beginning felt almost unreal. I remember back in 2019, I was talking to one of my friends while walking home from school and told them “I really hope that virus doesn’t come to Canada”. My apologies, I jinxed us all. When the virus hit, I was 15 years old, having just started my second semester of the tenth grade. I was in Canada, living at home in Mississauga, Ontario.

My COVID-19 quarantine experience had its ups and downs. I am quite an introverted person, so when lockdowns were put in place I did not mind too much. Full lockdown was put in place in my area for the majority of 2020. My school shut down for the rest of my tenth-grade schoolyear and later moved its curriculum to an online model. When my school initially closed, I was really excited for the break I was going to get, but unbeknownst to me, that short break would turn into a year and a half-long staycation. Being cooped up inside for me was not too bad overall. Most of my hobbies, including music, art, watching movies, and gaming, are solitary, so lockdown gave me an outlet to engage in all of them more. The biggest change initially for me was my family dynamic. My brother is a plumber, so he remained home for a majority of the full lockdown, and my dad was an office worker, so he was able to set up a home office to work from. With my entire family constantly at home for the first time in years, it brought all of us closer together. Of course, there were times of quarantine-induced arguing, but overall, it was nice to be with my family all the time. Another change I immediately noticed was that because I was not going out to restaurants or getting fast food, and because I had the time to, I put more effort into cooking healthier meals at home. This brought out a passion for cooking that I did not know I had. 

Despite the positive changes that came out of quarantine, there were some daily challenges that we faced. One obstacle was shopping, specifically food shopping. People would panic buy at stores and there was barely anything on the shelves for the longest time. I once went into my local grocery store with my mom for some produce and sandwich bread to find almost everything barren, which was such a surreal experience. It was also difficult for my family when we could not see our friends and outside family members. We did manage to connect through apps such as FaceTime, which made the best out of the situation we were in. We taught my grandmother to use FaceTime, which helped us keep in contact, and I managed to move my Dungeons and Dragons games with my friends to an online format, giving us at least some form of socialization. Thinking back, I am very happy to have had such positive outlets during my time in lockdown. My constant contact, even through online means, with friends and family kept me optimistic during an overall bleak point. 

The greatest challenge I went through during Covid has to do with hospitals and doctors. In 2021, after full lockdown was lifted, but quarantine measures were still being upheld, I was diagnosed with a heart condition called Atrial Fibrillation. Due to quarantines, I missed many routine doctors’ appointments, and because I did not want to worry anyone, I kept quiet when I knew something was wrong. It was not until I went in for a checkup at the beginning of the summer of 2021 that my family doctor questioned if I had a heart murmur, which was totally normal according to them. I then needed to get follow up tests.Due to quarantine measures these took extremely long to book. Months later, I needed to be hospitalized after having persistent cardiac symptoms over a 24-hour period. I was fortunate enough to get into the emergency room quickly as I had no Covid symptoms and passed the screening tests, and it was there that I was formally diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation. This condition is extremely rare for my age as I was 16 at the time of diagnosis, and it is common for individuals over 50. I was moved to McMaster Children’s Hospital and remained there for three days. I was allotted a personal room thanks to Covid protocols, but I was only ever allowed one visitor, so I was not able to see my brother or dad during the whole experience.

The combination of Covid and my rare condition made treatment especially difficult. I was sent home with a medication that was not effective. It took months of guessing from doctors over Zoom calls to get me a correct prescription, and even longer to find a proper cardiologist. I was left without explanations for such a long time that I felt helpless. I had to return to the emergency room on one occasion because of my condition.  The hospital I went to was overcrowded and my vitals went back to normal by the time we got looked at, and the doctor told me that my issue was made up and I should see a psychiatrist. It was frustrating at that time to receive care that was evidently rushed and dismissive, as the entire medical sector was suffering greatly. 

The theme that most closely connects to my experience of Covid is the bringing together of people against a common enemy. I found that my Covid experience ironically brought me closer to people that I would have otherwise never come across. I was very fortunate during lockdown in the summer because I had a spacious backyard. I was able to talk to loved ones in person while maintaining proper social distancing. A connection which I cherish that was made at this time was with my cousins. Prior to Covid, we were not very close and rarely crossed paths. During Covid, my mom and cousin, who is a yoga instructor, set up weekly meets for all of us to do yoga in the backyard. It brought all of us closer together, and our relationship remains strong to this day. Covid took away so much from my teenage years, but I will always cherish the bonds that I forged during it. There was the good, there was the bad, and it was all while being isolated.