AFTER battling the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), ABS-CBN actress Iza Calzado candidly shared her experience.
During an interview on “Magandang Buhay” on Monday, April 6, she said the symptoms she had were fever, cough and loss of appetite.
After she was confined in the hospital, the doctors found that she had also contracted a bacteria called “Acinetobacter Baumannii” aside from COVID-19.
“Ito po ay hindi COVID (This is not COVID). Ito po ay isang bacteria na hindi namin alam kung ‘yun ba ay dala-dala ko na nung pumasok ako sa ospital (This is a bacteria which we didn’t know if I was already carrying when I went to the hospital) or it could have been something I got nung pumasok ako sa ospital (when I went to the hospital),” Calzado said.
She added, “Sa totoo lang, kung COVID lang ang binattle ko, mahirap siya pero mas lumala dahil dito sa bacteria. Dalawa na ‘yung nilalabanan kasi nasa lungs ko din ‘yung bacteria (Honestly, if COVID was the only one I was battling, it was difficult but it worsened because of this bacteria. I was fighting two since the bacteria was in my lungs as well).”
The actress also said she had a bad reaction to one of the antibiotics given to her, sharing that she couldn’t feel her “mouth, lips, tongue.”
While she didn’t have to be intubated or be moved to the intensive care unit as her condition improved, she realized a lot of things about her life. For one, her experience humbled her.
“If you’re faced with a life and death situation, ‘yung mga material na bagay walang maitutulong (the material things will not help). Hindi natin puwedeng i-deny na (We can’t deny that), of course, I was being taken care of in a nice hospital. If you think about it, sasabihin ng tao, ‘Mayaman ka and may pera ka pang ospital’ (People would say, ‘You’re rich and you have money to afford a hospital’),” she said.
She called for universal access to hospitals and that Filipinos shouldn’t have to worry about how to pay for medical treatment.
Apologies
The actress also took to Instagram to apologize for her comment about COVID-19 being “the universe’s way of making the world a better place moving forward.”
“When I started getting sick, I made a comment on an IG post that was totally misconstrued. I understand how and why that happened and I am sorry if anyone was offended and felt bad about it. Please know that I would never intentionally say anything to hurt others nor celebrate anyone else’s suffering. I am a hopeful person and always try [to] see the silver lining in every dark cloud. I am sad that you missed my heart but I also understand your sentiments,” she wrote.
“After 2 weeks of battling Covid 19, pneumonia and a nasty bacteria called Acinetobacter Baumannii, I am alive and for that I am truly grateful. I know that so many of you sent your love and support, and I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you. Please know that even if I didn’t get to read all the messages, I felt the love and good energy and that you helped me pull through one of the darkest moments of my life,” she added.
The actress also expressed her gratitude to the front-liners at Asian Hospital as well as her family and friends.
“My deepest gratitude to my friends and family who prayed hard and made me feel their love and care for me, especially my number 1 nurse, my husband, Ben. I could never have done this without you, my Love. We did it, by God’s grace, we made it!” she added.
