“If he hadn't given me that money, I wouldn't have been able to get care and I would've died.” 

NEW YORK, NEW YORK: COVID made me relive the past. In 1973, when I was 10 months old, I was hospitalized for spinal meningitis. I almost died. It came on very suddenly and there were no symptoms. I found myself having a parallel experience where I developed a sudden fever, was incapacitated, facing death, and quarantined for 2-3 weeks. My parents had to wear hazmat suits to handle me because it was very contagious. I was very lucky to survive. The doctor had a very strong intuition and started before he knew what was up. He started treating me for spinal meningitis because they didn't have time to wait for test results. I would have been dead by then. 

I had been coughing the whole month of March, thinking it was allergies, as usual. I also kept checking my temperature which every time showed 99. But one day while I was at work as the arts and crafts lady at a homeless shelter, I began to feel very unwell. I left work early and told them I might not come in the next day. When I got home, I took my temperature and it came to 103.2. That whole night I was in a fever and the next day, all I could do was lie in bed. 

Two days later, I went to urgent care and told them about my symptoms. They said, “It's going to be $200” for the visit, which I didn’t have. In frustration, I left and walked like a block or two, when a Venmo payment came through from my former landlord in Portland, Maine. This person was someone I would've referred to as an “acquaintance friend”...someone I have high regard for, but didn’t hang out with. Our paths rarely crossed other than as Landlord & Tenant. He was the last person on my radar in terms of giving anything to me. But out of the blue, he sent me $100 on Venmo. He sent it as a gesture of thanks for being an essential worker during the dawn of the Pandemic and wanted to offer support. Returning to Urgent Care, I was able to pay for the visit. They found out I had viral pneumonia and COVID.  

If he hadn't given me that money, I wouldn't have been able to get the care I needed, and I would've died. And of course, I was like, “You saved my life, Chris!”

Symptoms: Cough, high fever, difficulty in breathing 

Treatment: Medicines, lots of fluids, and yoga

Coping: Working remotely, yoga, and meditation.