Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 37, Number 10, 1 October 2020 — Ma'i Kolona; COVID-19 is Real [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ma'i Kolona; COVID-19 is Real

y HAIMANA'O v \ OPINION f

By Kuuleilani Reyes Aloha mai kākou. 'O wau 'o Kuuleilani Reyes. Noho wau i Kualoa me ku'u 'ohana. '0 Keola'oli lāua 'o Kaliloa ku'u keiki kamaha'o. He Hawai'i au.

I want to share my experience with the lāhui, because there are lots of stories, rumors, fear anel skepticism surrounding C0VID-19. Hopefully, you will have a better understanding about this vile disease by reading my mo'olelo. I contracted the illness over the first weekend of August, while having meals with close friends I consider 'ohana. I didn't feel the effects till a few days later when I woke up with a headache. I took two aspirin, thinking nothing of it, and went to work. After a few hours, I started coughing and felt hot. I knew in my na'au something was wrong, so I left work to see a physician. On the way I learned one of the friends I was with over the weekend was very sick and went to the ER for fever and difficulty in breathing. I panicked and got tested. I called my colleagues to let them know what was going on and to apologize

profusely. It was a tremendous kuleana to inform my colleagues, whom I love, that I might have infected them. It still weighs heavily on my soul that I could have infected others. A few days later I got my test results: positive. I was very scared of dying. What

would happen to my keiki? I cried when I called my colleagues and loved ones. I felt awful. I encouraged them to get tested. My symptoms were "mild," so I didn't go to the hospital. However, it was an awful, wretched experienee; C0VID-19 is terrible. I was a zombie for two weeks. Most of the time I was weak, ferociously thirsty, nauseous, hot and uneomfortable. I lost my taste buds and appetite. I stopped eating to avoid throwing up. I had very few lucid moments. My daughters also tested positive, but fortunately they were asymptomatic. They handled all the housework and nursed me while I was in agony. They made me eat and drink water. It was a horrihc experience. I have now returned to the land of the living. God is good. I'm still feeling the stigma of having had it;

but I understand that anyone ean catch the disease. That's why we must mask up, wash hands, and practice social distancing. C0VID-19 is real. It's worse than the flu, and it's highly contagious. Stay safe and keep your 'ohana near. Mālama pono a Ke Akua pū. ■ Kuuleilani Reyes lives in Kualoa, 0 'ahu, with her daughters, Keola'oli and Kaliloa who attend Ke Kula 'o Samuel M. Kamakau. She is a librarian, a mother and a Native Hawaiian. The views and opinions expressed in Ha 'i Mana'o are those ofthe author, and do not represent the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Guidelines for the submission of Ha'i Mana'o are available at kawaiola. news.

Kuuleilani Reyes wilh her daughters Keola'oli and Kaliloa. Reyes recently recovered from a nasty bout of C0VID-19. - Photo: Courtesy