To my child, "My war diary"

It’s been over a month since we last saw each other in person. Today is the day of quarantine after the end of the fight against the pandemic (everyone says it’s like a war in peacetime), and I’m writing my diary again. I’m writing it down so that when I read it again, you’ll be as brave, proactive, and enthusiastic as me and my colleagues, okay?

Mid-August 2021

My two beloved children. In the early days when the Covid-19 epidemic began in Nghe An province, my mother and her colleagues volunteered to go to the community to do contact tracing. Dad worked far away, so I had to send my two children to a neighbor's house to go to work.

On the first day, Mom had to leave from 6pm today until 12am the next day. We couldn’t meet because Mom was afraid that she would be a risk of infecting you… In the following days, as the epidemic began to spread to the city and neighboring districts, Mom continued to do more contact tracing.

Do you see? Your colleagues are working hard. Love your mother, be good. Mom misses you so much.

Where do you see me in this photo? Today, my uncles and aunts worked from 1pm to 7pm before I could eat. I ate in the car. After eating, I had to go to one more place. Today was very hard. I had to go to the house to collect samples for F0. It took until 2am to finish. I was about to collapse.

Recognize anyone? Uncle Thinh often buys gifts for you. His wife just gave birth a few days ago, and he volunteered to help Mom trace. Isn’t that great?

End of August 2021

My two beloved children. The epidemic is getting worse and worse, there are many epidemics in the South, my children. Today, Mom volunteered to go to the South to fight the epidemic, Mom called Dad. Dad didn't let Mom go because Dad works far away, Mom's health is not good.

Dad loved Mom, afraid that Mom could not survive. Mom asked Dad: If there was a war, would Dad take up arms to protect the Fatherland? Mom thought Dad would volunteer to go without anyone calling him. Mom knew Dad's personality. Dad was silent and said nothing, but a while later he texted Mom: "Remember to take care of your health when you go so you can come back and take care of the two of you." Mom was very happy, Dad couldn't send his feelings, but Mom knew Dad was very worried about Mom. Mom knew that.

When it was my turn to call my grandmother, she also did not let me go, my child. She said if I went, she would not keep the two of you, because the South had reported too much information about the epidemic, too many deaths. She did not let me go, I had to ask your father to call my relatives. I do not know if my father had any talent or brilliant idea, but 2 days later, my grandmother called me, she said she had prepared dry food, dried pork floss, and some dried food to send down for me to go to the South. I did not know what to say, my child. I was very happy.

Mom was preparing to leave when the province broke out, and the number of Covid-19 patients increased. Many people from Mom’s office signed up to go, but Mom, Aunt Linh, and Uncle Phi were selected to go to Field Hospital No. 1 to take care of Covid-19 patients. Mom, Uncle, and Aunt were given a ceremony by the office to join the field hospital.

Early September 2021

my dear child

The first day I went to the field hospital, I thought it would be as tiring as going on a community contact tracing mission. I would wear the same blue and white protective clothing, and give an IV just like I would do at the hospital. But it wasn't.

That blue shirt is the one I wear to put the ice pack in, then I put on the white shirt. It's terrible, it's hot, and it's probably 10 times hotter than the tracing suit. I can't even imagine what it's like if I say 10 times hotter, I can only describe it as extremely hot, not to mention the hot weather outside.

Mom started going into the sickroom, at first she felt a bit stuffy, because the sickroom did not have air conditioning, only a fan in the hallway. Mom went around to ask about the patient's health and reported to the doctor via walkie-talkie and took pictures.

Next, Mom went to pat each patient, then gave them an injection. You can’t imagine what started to happen… Suddenly, Mom’s hands started shaking, her legs felt weak, and she felt dizzy. She started having difficulty breathing and gasping for breath. Mom rushed to the temporary room, but after running a short distance, her legs felt unsteady. She used her hands to hold onto the wall and went in, not having time to sit down on the chair. Her knees and hands knelt down and she lay face down on the ground. Her body started to feel cold and she was breathing heavily. Her eyes started to close, and tears flowed. Writing this, Mom couldn’t hold back her tears. Mom didn’t think that being in a field hospital would be so hard.

If I could videotape what happened, I believe everyone would cry too. I was helpless, wanting to sit up but couldn’t, wanting to breathe but my mouth was dry and I was gasping for air. My face was covered in sweat, my body was cold, and tears just kept flowing.

After lying down for a while, Mom was a little more awake. Mom went to the hospital room and tried to continue working, but it was not good. The above situation continued to repeat. Uncle Luong, who worked with Mom, told Mom to go outside the office to rest. He would help Mom. You know, when Mom went out to take off her protective gear, her body was shivering, her hands were wrinkled and painful as if they were torn.

When I got to the office, I was still having trouble breathing. I texted everyone in my office about what had just happened, and everyone encouraged me to try harder. At that time, I cried, cried because I felt sorry for my child, cried because my father and my children were not there. I cried because my uncles and aunts in the office encouraged me.

The following days, my mother was stressed, she felt feverish, had a bad taste in her mouth, sometimes had difficulty breathing, was short of breath, symptoms like those of a person infected with Covid-19. She was very worried, she reported to the department, she was tested and the result was negative. She felt more secure, but she was always aware that she had to try to ensure safety when coming into contact with patients and taking off protective clothing.

This is a picture of my aunts and uncles taking pictures of me through the screen when I was on night shift. Many nights the emergency room was crowded and I was exhausted, but the next day, when the patients were a little more stable and thanked the doctors and nurses, I felt more motivated and tried harder, my child.

One time, I heard a story from a patient, he was very sad, his wife also died of Covid-19, just passed away a week ago. I could only encourage him to try to get good treatment so he can go home to his family. The epidemic is really scary, my child.

There are many, many, many hard and difficult tasks, not only for me but for all my colleagues. But I know my colleagues are very resilient, and so am I. I also try very hard because I have the support of the agency where I work, the encouragement of my family and everyone. Especially you, always by my side, in my heart, are my strength. I love you very much!

(Content is taken from the notes of Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong - Head Nurse of Examination Department - Emergency Room, Nghe An Hematology - Blood Transfusion Center)