I have been asked to continue writing about Covid because 'the level of ignorance and stupidity about this virus is frightening'. And who am I to argue with that sentiment? After all, I'm only a husband...and a Covid-19 survivor. And now you all know what I think of tea and bread in the ICU.

I only discovered when I was on admission at the ICU that you can make quite an unholy mess in bed when you are constantly peeing into a bedpan. This, of course, is not restricted to people suffering from Covid. But since my recent experience was with Covid, I have to say, it's an almighty pain when you have to pee urgently....and somehow you can't seem to get the plastic bottle aligned just right while you are lying down.

In the end, I began standing up to pee into the plastic bottle. I became quite adept at standing coyly to one side so no curious nurse or doctor could see me. I believe my fellow patients didn't really care, one way or the other. And I was constantly being told to drink a lot of water, so that didn't end until I was discharged.

Please allow me to share a gory situation. Do you know what I developed after I was discharged? Piles. Or haemorrhoids, to give it a more scientific label. This one too from where, I thought, as I lay face down on my bed at home and suffered from the possibility that my means of getting rid of solid waste was about to self-destruct. One theory I was given that made sense to me was that the violence of my coughing fits had caused the expulsion (you know what haemorrhoids are and where they appear, right?), making part of my insides become an outside part. What? For about ten days, I suffered. Thank God for Preparation H.

And medically, that wasn't all I suffered because of Covid. I also developed a urinary infection. Apparently, some of the medications I took during my treatment were so strong that they suppressed the normal good bacteria and my immune system and ensured that my body could not fight fungal infections. Hence, a urinary infection. Who would have thought?? Piles? Urinary infection? After discharge from the hospital?? People, Covid can be hugely complicated; oh, don't mess with it, I beg. Get vaccinated!!

Covid seems to affect everyone differently. So you have asymptomatic people, people with symptoms who can isolate safely at home, full-blown 'get him to the ICU urgently' patients, and all sorts in-between. And I discovered that the cost of being a full-blown patient....well, let's just say it could cover your child's school fees for a term or three. Eish! I swear I don't know how we coped. Most of the cost was to my blind side as I languished in hospital, for which I am grateful. I get the feeling that if I had known the true financial cost of what was happening to me in hospital, I might have had several relapses and fainted many times. When I was discharged and discovered the cost, I have immediately begun negotiations to sell a child or two. But the children refused to go...

A very good friend and a couple of doctors warned me when I entered the ICU that I need to make a huge effort to remain positive mentally and in my attitude. But it was mainly after discharge that I realised how important this was when I began to feel depressed about my slow progress in rehabilitation. The tiredness was shocking; the energy was nowhere to be found, a urinary infection, and Piles? Truly, it seemed easier to sit back and let the negativity overwhelm you. But I couldn't even sit, thanks to the Piles!

The Lord Himself has pulled me through this horrible virus. And He sent the most incredible family a man could ever wish for, and the most supportive friends on the planet, to let me know that His promises are true indeed, and His everlasting arms are there bearing you up. Miracles oh.

It was after I was discharged and begun my general rehabilitation and breathing exercises that I also discovered that I can't keep count. Like, you know, one, two, three, four, etc. How did this happen? As I take walks around our house, within our yard, I find that I lose count of the number of revolutions I have made. All the time! And it's not like I am going at full throttle or walking plenty; I can't do that even if I tried. And it's not only the walks. I'm trying very hard to use the dreaded Spirometer every 30 minutes.

And I am losing count of the number of times I use it per day. This helps me to know whether I am improving daily or not. How can I do that when I can't keep count?? And I lose count of the number of inhalations I make when I am actually on the Spirometer! It's supposed to be 15 inhalations per session, and I am sure that sometimes I do 12, and sometimes I do 17!!

I read somewhere that Covid affects your brain somehow, slows you down mentally, and I heard about something called 'foggy brain' attributable to Covid. Is that what is happening to me in my inability to keep count? I wonder. Because no matter how much I try, I can't keep track of the numbers of an activity. I don't even remember how many girlfriends I have....wait, do girlfriends qualify as an activity?? I certainly hope so!

Okay, if I may get a little personal. Due to isolation protocols, hospital admissions, and more isolation, access to the best part of being married was denied me. For once, I could not blame the gatekeeper. If you want to get better, she said...So when the time came for protocols to end and for our marriage to be consummated once again (after 26 years and Covid), well, it was spectacular.

I know you want the details, but no more on that. But....the day this happened, my oxygen saturation levels, which had been anywhere between 91 and 95 since my discharge, suddenly rose to 98. This had not happened since I tested positive and began to monitor this figure. And I completed a perfect session with the Spirometer as well!

You see what we husbands have been telling you, women, forever?!?! Being frequently intimate with the right person, sorry, a legal person is good for your oxygen levels!!!! Oh, baby!! And the gatekeeper agreed with me!! Of course, being a concerned gatekeeper, she was also worried about energy levels which had been very low indeed. Please note, all men on planet Earth: I did not let you down. When a man needs energy, he will find it, wherever! You get Covid and see!