It was hard to take. I’d cared for Covid patients an entire year without getting infected.

CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO: I’m a nurse in the emergency department of a hospital. I love my job, it’s fast paced and forces me to use my critical thinking ability. My ER immediately developed safety and care protocols for Covid patients. There were some shortages of PPE, but, overall, we always had the supplies we needed to stay safe. We learned to carefully put on our PPE before rushing in to help a patient.

As 2020 progressed, we got used to Covid patient surges after Thanksgiving. The most surprising was the public response to Covid, how readily people grabbed on to misinformation, causing them anxiety and stress. We dealt with many having panic attacks in the ER.

There were times when the hospital was filled to capacity, other departments had to be opened up to admit patients. I always protected myself at work, assuming any patient I treat may have Covid. I did not want to catch the virus and infect my family.

I had my first vaccine shot on December 22. I think I was exposed to Covid at a family gathering on December 25. My first Covid symptoms showed up on December 29 and I went about 10 days dealing with the disease.

Another family member who had been at the gathering on December 25 was also experiencing symptoms. In spite of the precautions we took, 8 of us caught Covid.

It was hard to take. I cared for Covid patients an entire year without getting infected, then I caught the virus from my own family.

One day I woke up in the morning with chills. Hoped they would go away. But then I had body aches and decided to get tested. The result was positive.

I hoped my vaccine shot might help reduce the symptoms but I had the shot only a few days before being infected and it takes about two weeks for the vaccine to become effective.

After 3 weeks, I fully recovered and went back to work. I had my second vaccine shot which knocked me back for 2 days with Covid symptoms before my body got back to normal.

When I returned to work, I had to rebuild my stamina. This took some effort. I pushed myself to exercise, to run, which helped me sleep. I now am more compassionate to Covid patients knowing what they must have gone through to recover. Covid is not the flu, it’s 10 times worse. You have to want to recover and do the hard work to make it happen. You’re too tired to get up, to eat, to care for yourself, but you have to make it happen.

When I was sick, I got depressed and wondered if it was ever going to end. Helping family who were also ill prompted my recovery.

I had to take care of my grandmother, who is 101, as other family members also had Covid and couldn’t help out. It was hard because she was so tired and didn’t want to do anything. She had diarrhea and we had to pick her up, put her in her wheelchair, take her to the bathroom, and put her on the toilet. I knew she needed to move, needed exercise, and eventually she recovered.

After my Covid experience, I’m more humble. Covid is real, it’s still out there, and we must do our best to protect and care for ourselves and others.