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 later, 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 trace the situation. 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, I had to leave from 6pm today until midnight the next day. We couldn’t meet because I was afraid that I would be a risk of infecting you… In the following days, as the epidemic began to spread to the city and neighboring districts, I continued to trace more cases.

Do you see? My colleagues are working hard. I love you, my child. Remember to be good. I miss you so much.

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 another place. Today was very hard. I had to go to the house to collect samples from F0. It took until 2am to finish. I was about to collapse.

Do you recognize anyone? Uncle Thinh often buys gifts for you. His wife just gave birth a few days ago, and he volunteered to help his mother trace the situation. 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 registered to volunteer 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 wouldn't be able to survive. Mom asked Dad: If there was a war, would Dad take up arms to protect the Fatherland? Mom thought Dad wouldn't need anyone to call him, he would volunteer to go. Mom knew Dad's personality. Dad was silent and didn't say anything, but a while later he texted Mom: "Remember to stay healthy 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 epidemic information, too many deaths. She did not let me go, I had to ask your father to call my relatives. I don't 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, pork floss, and some dried food to send down for me to go to the South. I don't know what to say, my child. I'm so happy.

Mom was preparing to leave when the province broke out, the number of people infected with Covid-19 increased. Mom's agency had many people register 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 agency 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 to the community tracing. I would wear the same blue and white protective clothing, and give an IV like I normally 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 protective suit for tracing. If I say 10 times hotter, you probably can't imagine what it's like, I can only describe it to you as extremely hot, not to mention the hot weather outside.

Mom started going into the ward, at first she felt a bit stuffy, because the ward was not air-conditioned, there was only a fan running in the hallway. Mom went around asking about the patients' 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 welled up. 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 at that moment, 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 became a little more conscious. She 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 she 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. I cried at that time, cried because I felt sorry for my child, cried because my father and 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, shortness of breath, symptoms similar to 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 in contact with patients and taking off protective clothing.

This is a picture of my uncles and aunts taking pictures of me on 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 they 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 had also died from Covid-19 and had just passed away a week ago. I could only encourage him to try to get good treatment so he could go home to his family. The epidemic is really scary, my child.

There is still much, much more, my child, much more hard and difficult work, 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 taken from notes of Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong - Head Nurse of Examination Department - Emergency Department, Nghe An Hematology - Blood Transfusion Center)