Our COVID-19 Story: We Survived!

I will never forget the month of April this year because it was the time the dreaded COVID-19 hit home. First, it was my MIL, then my husband, then me, and lastly, my FIL. Even my side of the family wasn’t spared as my brother and my two sisters had it as well. The silver lining in this unexpected ordeal? Our baby NJ didn’t have it and we — the COVID patients — all survived!

It was one of the lowest points in our life. If not for our faith in the Lord and our solid foundation as family, we would have succumbed to depression. My MIL had it the worst as she had mild pneumonia while the rest of us barely had symptoms. She needed to be hospitalized but all hospitals that we inquired from were in full capacity at that time. We had no choice but to treat her at home with the medicines prescribed by my doctor cousin and regular guidance by a pulmonologist via online consultation. Fortunately, she responded well to the meds and healed completely after 14 days.

Mama Tining while talking to her pulmonologist via Zoom

It was, however, a different story for the hubby and me. The hubby had a sore throat, fever and dry cough which were all gone in three days. I, on the other hand, only had to deal with a dry cough from which I recovered after just a week. But because a negative swab test result was required before we could return to work, we had to endure several RT-PCR tests as we didn’t get a negative result immediately after 14 days of isolation. Would you believe it took both of us almost two months before getting a negative swab test result? Yes, the remnants of the freaking virus lingered in our body that long. And can you imagine the frustration we felt for not being allowed to go back to work even if we were physically okay already? It was just terrible.

We tried fooling ourselves thinking it was okay, that our vacation had just been extended and we were still receiving our salary on time so money wasn’t really a problem. But reality would bite us every time as each negative swab test result we received felt like a stab on our heart. I guess it stemmed from the feeling that we were still considered “sick” even if technically, we weren’t. That our mobility got limited and we couldn’t do anything about it. What we did in between those sad moments was we would ask tips from COVID-19 survivor officemates on how they tested negative on swab test fast and research what we needed to take or do to achieve the same result.

we swear by this vitamin which helped us win in our fight against COVID-19


because suob/tuob is really effective in killing the virus!

Personally, I had to be strong for my family, most especially for baby NJ. Per her pedia’s advice, I continued breastfeeding her (which protected her against the virus in the process!) and became her primary caregiver. It was tough looking after an active toddler alone 80% of the time. We had to move to our condo with my FIL and SIL and get separated from my MIL (who was then being taken cared of by the hubby at home). We were not allowed by our respective barangays to go out for 14 days so we had to order everything online, from food and groceries to medicines and cleaning supplies.

caring for an active toddler like her while sick with COVID-19 was no joke! buti na lang bentang-benta sakin ang mga tricks mo, anak! 🙂


tulog na yarn? ‘di nga? 😛


purchased ingredients for my sinigang from Waltermart online


got my fave Rosalie’s suman pinipig online!


bought these Unilever products on Shopee (sayang ang coins and vouchers!)

While battling COVID-19, we observed Holy Week in isolation and celebrated two special occasions with family: my SIL’s birthday and Mother’s Day. Those fleeting moments of happiness definitely helped brighten our mood and lift our spirits.

Mother’s Day 2021


one day, we were craving for pizza, so pizza it was!


on some days, we would crave for pasta, so I would cook some like this creamy pesto spaghetti that our baby NJ liked a lot!

Baby NJ was our number one source of joy and entertainment while in isolation. When my MIL and eventually, the hubby got well, he would visit us in the condo to bring us supplies and play with baby NJ.


daddy and baby moment

When the time came that the hubby and I finally got our negative swab test results, we literally jumped for joy and cried buckets of happy tears. It was a cathartic experience by and in itself! We have so much gratitude in our hearts for God because He healed us all in His “perfect timing.” One or more of us could have died but we didn’t. We survived COVID-19 and are now sharing our COVID-19 journey to the world (naks, world talaga?). We are also thankful to our family, our friends who showed concern and provided emotional support, and those strangers who showed kindness to us during one of the most difficult ordeals we had to face as a family. If not for them, our fight against COVID-19 would have not been victorious.

at Baclaran Church to pray and say thanks to God for the full recovery of our family from COVID-19

If there’s one important thing I have realized from this traumatic experience, it would be that family is everything. It’s the best and strongest support system one could ever have. So yeah, love your family and maintain a good relationship with them because you never know when bad things would happen or when your resiliency as a family would get tested. It’s better to always have a family you can turn to in times of need and trouble.

with the forces that fed my will to survive against COVID-19

Until now, we have no idea how we got infected by the virus. As far as we know, we followed health protocols strictly because we didn’t want baby NJ and the senior citizens in the family to get compromised. But COVID still found its way to our home without anyone noticing because it is invisible. That’s why we should always be vigilant. Do not get complacent even now that the vaccination against COVID-19 has already started in our country. Have you been vaccinated yet? I’m scheduled to get my second dose next month and couldn’t be any happier about it!

Stay safe and well, friends! I pray that God protects us and our loved ones from COVID-19 at all times.

May you choose happiness always,