Government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna narrated his experience in the hospital after contracting Covid-19 in early August.
In a lengthy statement posted on Friday on the official Twitter account, Oguna disclosed that on the night he experienced excruciating pain in his chest that made breathing difficult the night he was hospitalized.
"About two weeks prior to my hospitalisation, I was feeling a bit under the weather. I was navigating a minefield of symptoms; suppressed appetite, manageable low-grade fever, muscle aches on my thighs & back, burning sensation on either side of my lower ribs, & mild headaches," the Government Spokesperson said.
Early symptoms
Mr Oguna said he attributed these symptoms to the cold July weather and he self-medicated occasionally taking pain killers.
Things took a turn during a trip to Mombasa when he noticed he was sweating heavily.
According to Mr Oguna, although he was experiencing fatigued it did not occur to him that he could have contracted the disease.
"Despite experiencing the symptoms, I was neither coughing nor sneezing, and I had recently tested negative for Covid-19 for the third time," Oguna stated.
Test results
Col Oguna went into quarantine at home awaiting his test result and he was declared positive two days later.
"... my immediate concern was about tracing the other people I had come into close contact with," he said.
"When I got hospitalised, I was confident that I would be locked in for only a few days, maybe 10, and perhaps 14 at the very most," the government Spokesperson added.
However, things took a turn the same night when he started experiencing chest pains.
Pain
"Breathing was extremely difficult and any effort to do so felt like a bayonet (dagger) was being driven through my chest. I was literally gasping for air," Oguna narrated.
"Each step was agonizingly painful, gasping for air with every stride. The short distance to the x-ray and back was literally a walk to eternity," he noted.
Medics put him on heavy IV antibiotics and supplemental oxygen and he was on oxygen support for 28 days.
"I was later informed that my lung function had been severely compromised due to acute Pneumonia and that without oxygen, chances of survival would be remote," the government spokesperson said.
