I Still Have a Mission

How COVID-19 led Me Back to God again

- Sylvia Sanchez

Ingat kayo. Mag-stock na ng pagkain kasi baka ma-lockdown tayo.”This was me even before the quarantine was imposed in Metro Manila. When the news of the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, I was busy reminding and texting my family and friends to take care and to make sure they had enough supplies.

Then my husband, Art, got sick on March 16. He was coughing, but he said that maybe it’s only because of acid reflux. But I noticed that his cough was getting worse on the third day. Good thing our family doctor gave him antibiotics.

On March 21, I suddenly experienced chills, like that of the flu. I would check my temperature and it would range only from 36.8 to 37.4 degrees. Three days later, I checked my temperature again—37.9 degrees. I still wasn’t alarmed. I thought it was just severe fatigue.

As a Kapamilya actress, I’ve gotten used to working long days that can end in the wee hours of the next morning. I’m used to sleeping at 3 a.m. and getting up at 6:00 in the morning to work. When I arrive at the Pamilya Ko set, we would shoot for our drama series from 9 a.m. until 1 or 2 a.m. the following day. This has been my life for many years.

Because of the lockdown, I thought that the sudden change of pace finally allowed all that fatigue to take its toll on my body.

The Checkup and Results

Dr. Cludeth Mangahas and friends like Ces Quesada and her sister who is a doctor, Dr. Reggie Mangay, urged my husband and me to have ourselves tested for COVID-19. I was afraid that we would catch the virus in the hospital even if we didn’t have it so we hesitated.