I Survived: My Experience with COVID-19

Image by Vektor Kunst iXimus from Pixabay.

Earlier this year I read about the novel coronavirus spreading in China and thought it was only going to be a matter of time before it came to the U.S. I rightly assumed Washington state would be one of the first to get cases. On January 20, a 35-year-old Snohomish County man tested positive for COVID-19. Snohomish County is just north of Seattle, which is in King County. From there I was on high alert; watching every press conference Governor Jay Inslee held and reading as many articles as I could. Then the number of cases rose exponentially at Life Care Center in Kirkland, a nursing and rehabilitation center. I’m asthmatic which puts me in the vulnerable population group. As I watched the crisis grow, I would soon become infected with COVID-19 myself.

March 10
That afternoon at work I started to feel a little shortness of breath and decided that when I got home, I’d take out my nebulizer and do a breathing treatment with albuterol. I was also a little chilly at work which was odd since I’m always hot in the office. I didn’t really think too much about it. By the time I got home my condition deteriorated pretty quickly. I did not feel well and I was cold. I laid down in our bedroom with a blanket, turned on the space heater and closed the door. Despite the room being an oven, I was still freezing and sweating. The dry cough began and my temperature was 101.8. Little did I know the worst was yet to come.

The next day I was able to make a telemedicine appointment with my doctor. Later that afternoon I went by her office so that I could be swabbed for the flu and COVID-19. Both tests came back negative. It’s my belief and my doctors, that I got a false negative. Experts say there’s a 30 percent false negative rate associated with the test in part because of  how the genetic material is collected and how the tests are processed.

At this point I was still doing okay and didn’t think it would get much worse. I was wrong.

The following days were hell.

I had a splitting headache. Ibuprofen helped but once it wore off, the intense pain came rushing back. I coughed and coughed and coughed some more. My breathing was shallow and I needed to do several breathing treatments a day. I was very worried that the treatments weren’t going to be enough, that one day I wasn’t going to be able to catch my breath and would need to go to the hospital. There were times where I thought this virus was going to kill me because of its impact on my respiratory system. I’ve had many asthma attacks in my life but the consistent shortness of breath scared me.

My fever lasted for eight days. The entire time it stayed just under 102 degrees. I couldn’t regulate my temperature. I was hot, I was cold, I was constantly sweating. Every day I was hoping my fever would break. My husband started preparing cold compresses to try to help bring it down. I wondered how long a fever can last before it starts doing permanent damage.

I could only sleep a couple of hours at a time. I also had no appetite. When I did eat, it was a small amount. Lying in bed and sending the occasional brief text message with a health update was all that I could do. I had no energy and only took one shower over the eight days.

March 18
My fever finally broke and my headache subsided. Some of my concern went away and I thought it would only be a few more days until I was back to feeling like my old self.

March 25
I was able to take my first deep breath since I got sick.

Doing a breathing treatment. 

My recovery is far from over. I reached out to my doctor this week because I’m still having coughing fits, especially at night. As soon as I lay down, I start coughing and it takes several minutes to stop. I’ve coughed so much my midsection is sore. I’m surprised one of my ribs isn’t fractured by now. Because of this I’ve only been able to sleep a couple hours at a time. Plus, I’m still doing breathing treatments once a day and taking my rescue inhaler often. To get a better idea of what’s happening I had a chest x-ray. It showed inflammation in the tissue in my lungs, which is most likely pneumonia based on my symptoms. Not great news but it’s what I was expecting. Rest is key and it’s just going to take more time than I initially thought to get back to 100 percent.

The thought of COVID-19 becoming a yearly occurrence frightens me. The eight days that I was severely ill were awful. I can’t imagine going through it again and fear that if there's a next time the outcome could be different.

This virus is not “flu-like.” In my opinion it’s a disservice to call it such especially for people who’ve experienced symptoms like I did and worse. I did not have congestion, a runny nose or body aches (typical flu symptoms). Because this term was used early on, I think people underestimated its severity. When I went to the hospital-based imaging center for my chest x-ray I was asked by three different health care professionals if I had fever, coughing, and shortness of breath. Those are the key symptoms that sets this virus apart.

These last few weeks have been quite challenging. I’ve been stressed, cried a couple times in frustration but I’m thankful I’m on the mend. My husband was and continues to be a tremendous help and source of support.

If you’re wondering where I caught it, there’s a very good chance I got it from my husband. Two weeks before I got sick, he experienced a mild version of the same symptoms. At the time, he didn’t meet the criteria for testing. Or it could have been from somewhere else.

Please take this pandemic seriously. Please stay home if you can. If you can’t because of work, I hope that you have the necessary items to protect yourself. The health of our friends, family, neighbors, and greater community is at stake.

“There is no solution to this crisis without a properly functioning vaccine.”
-André Hoffmann, Vice Chairman of Roche

*UPDATE - Recovering from COVID-19: 56 Days Later