PHOTOGRAPHED BY MORGANA WINGARD

NEW MILFORD, CT: I was a second semester student at FIT in NY when I was sick with Covid-19. I never in a million years thought that I would have gotten Covid-19 but here I am!

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I first started hearing about COVID in late January, but I only started to get worried on the 26th when I moved back to school. I knew that it would come to the U.S. at some point, it was just a matter of time. I was definitely scared because there was little to no information that was coming out at the time. I tried to not restrict my life but make sure to practice safe sanitization and hand washing.

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I came home from the city when the rates in NYC started to climb drastically and my family and I no longer felt that it was safe for me to stay there. My college ended up announcing that we would switch to remote learning and that everyone in the dorm must move out by the end of the month. I was obviously panicked so my family and I made the trip down to the city and packed all of my stuff back up after only being at school for less than two months.

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The minute I entered the city, nothing felt the same. The day was heartbreaking. I had to say goodbye to my independent life and my best friend who was my roommate. Although I wasn’t feeling 100%, I wanted to get all of my things out of the city because there were theories flying around that the city would be shut down and no one would be allowed in or out.

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I like to joke that my COVID didn’t come with a receipt. I don’t know where I got it and I can’t take it back. But my family and I all believe that I either got it while just living in NYC or using public transportation (the subway and Metro-North). 

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For a while, I thought I was stressed and run down from all the craziness around me. I continued to feel worse and worse until I hit my rock bottom and could barely get out of bed without crying in pain. 

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I first suspected that I had COVID-19 when I saw a few articles about   a newly identified symptom: loss of sense of smell and taste. That was my first symptom. Immediately, I had anxiety and worry because I didn’t know if I was just going to have a mild case or have a severe case and have to be hospitalized. I was also worried if I would be able to get a test because this was during the period when tests were very hard to get. 

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I decided to do a telemed appointment with Hartford Hospital and see what a medical professional had to say about my symptoms and what to do. I was told that I would never be able to get a test so they decided to just say I had the flu and treat me for that by putting me on antibiotics. I still knew it wasn’t the flu and that they had only come to the conclusion because I had forgotten to get my flu shot this year. Luckily, I was able to get a test from my new primary care doctor on March 28th. I found out that I was positive on March 30th.

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I treated myself at home since I had a mild case. I think that Sudafed definitely helped with the congestion. But just like everyone says, sleeping and staying hydrated helped the most.

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The hardest symptom to deal with were my migraines. I have been dealing with migraines since I was 11 years old (I’m 19 now) and it was the worst paint I have ever been in. I was in pain from the moment I opened my eyes to the minute I would fall asleep.

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The hardest part was trying to keep up with my college classes and putting my best work forward. Also staying strong and persevering to get through it and not living in fear of  “what if this is the thing that kills me?” 

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My biggest fear was passing along the virus to mom who is immune compromised and her passing away. My mom has discoid lupus and already in bad shape and if I were to pass the virus onto her, I would never be able to forgive myself. Somehow, even though she took care of me the whole time and must have been exposed, she never had symptoms. 

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 I was able to finish out the semester pretty strong in the middle of May and achieve my one goal since I was diagnosed which is to donate plasma. After searching, I was able to donate my plasma at Danbury Hospital on May 20th and donate 477mL of plasma. I was the youngest and smallest patient to donate plasma at the hospital. 

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I had family members telling me not to share and voice my story because, “What will people think?” This is a pandemic. No one should be made to feel like they chose to get sick or that they are dirty because they got sick. Most people who hear my story have labelled me a hero, but I don’t believe I am. I’m just a woman who survived to help others survive.

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This experience has changed me for the better 100%. I have been through a lot of things in my life but being able to survive this virus helped me to understand that “this too shall pass”. I have been able to educate and help others on the severity of this virus and why it should be taken seriously. I was able to also use my pain and suffering when I was sick to be able to donate my plasma and help others who are severely sick.

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I will live my life differently by not taking the simple things for granted like just being able to hug my friends or sit in a classroom and in general have a normal life. I also want to take this experience and use it to help others. I have already with my plasma donation,  but I know that I want to even more now and in the future. 

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SYMPTOMS: 

In just the beginning: Swollen lymph nodes, severe nausea and vomiting

During the whole time: Loss of smell and taste, constant body aches, stiff neck, intense migraines, insomnia, constant sweating / cold chills and hot flashes, feeling run down, congestion, runny nose, sneezing, loss of appetite, coughing and short of breath. (I never had a fever) 

Post illness: Hair loss, tender scalp, low energy, food tasting off/ not like it used to, and depressive episodes and thoughts.