One Woman S Coronavirus Recovery

For the 45-year-old aerospace research director in Seattle, the first signs that she had the disease caused by the novel coronavirus were some aches and a dry cough. Her symptoms quickly escalated to difficulty breathing and fever. Today, Rachelle (who asked that Everyday Health not use her surname) is slowly coming back to life. The coughing fits at night have largely subsided, although one of her ears remains a little blocked and her throat feels sore in the mornings. While her official quarantine time is over, she anticipates needing a few more days to get back to a functional state. “I’m not feeling as though I’m making the progress I’d like,” says Rachelle, “but my taste buds have been reborn, and eating is once again pleasurable, although I don’t have a huge appetite.” Everyday Health talked to Rachelle about the arc of her illness and recovery. The following is an edited transcript of that conversation. RELATED: Everything You Need to Know About Coronavirus Rachelle: On Saturday March 7, my boyfriend and I were out of town for the weekend. Over the previous two days, he had been having a dry cough and was feeling more fatigued than usual. On this Saturday, I seemed to be developing the same type of cough, and I had “chest awareness” — a term I made up, and by that I mean that I was slightly aware of an increase in effort required to breathe, though nothing serious. I wasn’t alarmed at first because my boyfriend had been describing his condition as a cold. After a Saturday skiing, we spent the night bowling. I awoke with the crampiest, achiest left-calf leg pain I could recall, which I found odd but not crazy since we had done so much skiing. Following a Sunday hike, I had a fever of about 102. I felt the panic set in, and a sinking feeling that I didn’t want to fully recognize. I now count that as day 1, since the fever spike was such an obvious symptom [of COVID-19]. On Monday, the fever didn’t mess around, and I was eating Tylenol. I was drinking water as much as possible and researching COVID-19. By Tuesday, the fever, cough, and respiratory problems continued and I started having some diarrhea. My boyfriend wasn’t presenting exactly the same, but he was achy, feverish, and coughing. RELATED: Expert Tips on the Coronavirus Crisis: Be Prepared, Don’t Panic When and how did you seek medical attention? On Tuesday, I used the Virtual Clinic at UW Medicine because I knew they were fielding a lot of calls about COVID-19. The doctor told me that there was no way to know if what my boyfriend and I had was COVID-19 unless we got tested. Then I contacted my primary care physician, and she agreed with me that the symptoms I was describing could be COVID-19 and that I should try to get tested — her office did not have tests at that time. The next day, I was experiencing a feeling of being unable to fill my left lung fully with air, so I went to the local ER, planning to ask for directions to a COVID-specific test facility. The front desk ER associate said that they could test me there, so she got me signed in. I was given a chest X-ray, my heart and lungs were checked, and they took two nasal swabs (one for influenza A, B, and rhinovirus, and the other for COVID-19). It’s a very uncomfortable five seconds. It feels almost like it’s hitting your brain when they do it. They took a swab from deep inside the nasal passage and shipped it off. I don’t think it was difficult for me to get tested because I was ahead of the curve. When I started becoming sick, there were only about 250 documented coronavirus cases in Washington State. [By March 26 there were more than 3,200 confirmed cases.— Ed.] I got results that evening in my online medical message center, informing me I had the virus. RELATED: What You Should Know About Coronavirus Testing What was your reaction when you found out you had COVID-19? Acceptance. I pretty much figured that’s what it was. Let’s say this: No, I did not jump up and down in glee. Mostly I was worried about how to tell my parents. How do you think you might have contracted the virus? [I think] I may have gotten it from my boyfriend in the beginning of March, because he was showing early signs first. He’s a firefighter and exposed to a lot of people who are, in turn, exposed to many people. We don’t know for sure, of course. Did you self-isolate at home? Yes, at my home and at my boyfriend’s on occasion. We have been having COVID date nights. How long were you told to self-isolate? Two weeks from when the symptoms started. RELATED: Coronavirus Shopping List: What to Buy and Skip How will you know when you are no longer contagious? My boyfriend and I have been instructed to wait 72 hours after symptoms subside before going out in public. That came from the medical department at work and from King County Medical. I don’t think it’s necessary to test once you’re pretty recovered. I think the system is so overwhelmed that they don’t even have time or the tests to do a second one. [A study published March 8 on MedRxiv suggests that people are mainly contagious before they have symptoms and in the first week of the illness. — Ed.] Were you worried you may have infected other people and did you try to contact anyone? Yes. We had stayed in an Airbnb [for the weekend]. I sent a somewhat frantic message for the Airbnb owner to take all precautions when cleaning the room. I never heard back, and I hope he is okay. We rode a bus to the ski area the day we were both coughing. We tracked down the driver and company using the National Park Service. I examined my schedule over the last two weeks and contacted anyone I had been close to for more than 10 minutes at a time. Because my job had already mandated that we work from home, I really had not been in contact with too many people — only three. All were asked to self-quarantine and to my knowledge, none of them has had any symptoms. RELATED: 5 Ways the Coronavirus Is Affecting Everyday Life How did your condition progress after your diagnosis? My fever lasted for eight days straight. I was taking Tylenol. At some point my cough became reflexive, and it was very difficult for me to sleep without going into coughing fits. Eventually, I asked my doctor for prescription cough medicine. My ear became clogged with fluid and I was watching to be sure it wasn’t infected. On days 4 to 6, I experienced this sense of heat everywhere. I have very dense breasts and I noticed that some of the tissue became hot and felt angry and swollen. I got worried and I asked my care team what could be happening. They determined it was likely a cyst that was changing size due to the virus and the inflammation happening in my body. I was told that any old injury or areas of known inflammation could get worse given the fight with the virus. Around day 6 in the evening and day 7 morning, my fever broke. I had diarrhea for a day or two. My sinuses began to ache and I started coughing up mucus and some blood. Both of my eyes got conjunctivitis and I woke up with crusty lids for many mornings. Day 9 was noteworthy. I woke up with the most intense exhaustion I have ever experienced. I could not hold a spoon or zip up a jacket. I spent the day entirely in bed and continued to eat and drink as much as possible. Doctors call this a “deconditioned” phase. Your body is so weak after fighting the virus. Once the fever stopped, my body could relax, and that was day 9. My body had just had enough. I maintained good eating because without calories your body cannot replenish its resources. Finally, on day 11, I felt like having a cup of coffee, and for the first time I felt remotely human again. I started eating well, but still took it easy. There may be a high reinfection rate for this virus, and there have been a number of cases documented in China of people dying after they recovered simply because they started activity too soon. How has this experience affected you emotionally? I’m a researcher and scientist, and I have a tendency to pay too much attention to small details. I can also be a bit anxious, so this has tested my strength. If I didn’t have my boyfriend to talk to, it would have been much more challenging. I was unable to pay attention to the news for a long time. I couldn’t bear hearing the outcomes and the minute-by-minute updates on the disease’s spread and death toll. I just turned it all off. Mostly, I just looked on the bright side of every improvement and reminded myself that the next day would be better. RELATED: 12 Questions Answered on How to Handle Anxiety in the Time of COVID-19 Are you still trying to work remotely? I’ve been focused on getting better. I have found it very difficult to concentrate. I’m thankful that my employer has me on paid sick leave. I’m not concerned about working at the moment, just getting better. How have you been communicating with family and friends? I’ve never FaceTimed so much in my life. My brother and I were in near constant communication during the tougher days. I spoke to my parents on the phone once a day. I began writing on Facebook so that my friends and family could keep up and give me a bit of a break with answering text messages and phone calls. I found it exhausting to speak to people. I use WhatsApp video chat to keep up with my boyfriend. RELATED: 10 Virtual Ways to Escape Reality During the Coronavirus Pandemic