“You’re not going to die!”

Lashunda and Summer are two friends who live in Dallas, Texas. When they both caught Covid, they quarantined together. Here is their shared Covid survivor story-

“In February, I went to a conference and did not feel well when I returned,” explains Lashunda. “I was sick and in bed for two weeks. I did not get tested for Covid and recovered. However, in June I was sick again with similar symptoms, but much worse. Little was known about Covid then and I didn’t get tested. I don’t trust the government regarding health care for Blacks.”

Summer adds, “Because of negative historical experiences with the unethical treatment of Black people by government health programs, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, many  Black people are distrustful of the government.”

“But,” continues Summer, “because Black people work in a disproportionate number of front line jobs in health care that have contact with Covid  and they have a high percentage of comorbidities such as diabetes, they are more likely to catch Covid.”

“Also,” says Lashunda, “Blacks are family-oriented, we can’t resist getting together, and many Blacks did not take Covid seriously and disregarded the safety protocols.”

“In June, when I got sick again, I knew I needed help but was afraid to go to the hospital,” says Lashunda.

“She was gasping for breath,” says Summer, “I took her to the ER but was told I could not enter the hospital with her. She was so frightened, I was devastated at having to let her go. I think the worst part of Covid is all those people suffering alone in hospitals.”

“I was so wiped out,” says Lashunda, “but I told Summer not to tell my mom. My mother would have charged into the hospital to find me.”

Lashunda continues, “in the hospital, even though I was exhausted and having difficulty breathing, I was walked to a Covid care unit. The hallway was lined with patients lying on beds, all covered with white sheets, some connected to portable oxygen tanks.”

“This was really scary,” says Lashunda, “my oxygen level was tested but it was not low enough for me to get supplemental oxygen. I had a Covid test and it came back positive. I was given an antibiotic shot which hopefully would keep me from getting pneumonia. After a short time, because my oxygen levels never dropped to where I could be given oxygen, I was discharged from the hospital.”

“I went to pick her up,” says Summer, “I couldn’t believe they let her go. She could barely walk to the car. I took her home and we went into quarantine.”

“I was so tired,” says Lashunda, “that a trip to the bathroom left me in bed recovering for hours.”

“She would have these episodes where she was gasping for breath, I thought she was going to die,” says Summer. “I didn’t know what to do so I called her daughter who is an ICU nurse. She was great, told me to stay calm, the breathing episodes would continue but, in time, they would diminish and go away. She told us to monitor Lashunda’s oxygen level and, if it fell below 80, she needed to return to the hospital.”

“Whenever Lashunda had difficulty breathing,” continues Summer, “I would calm her, get her to focus on relaxing and keeping her oxygen level above 80.”

“She kept saying,” adds Lashunda, smiling, “you’re not going to die.”

“I was still working,” says Summer, “and did my best to encourage Lashunda to live independently. One evening, after I coached her onto the living room couch, I fell into a chair and slept. When I awoke, I realized that I’d slept as long as Lashunda. I was wiped out. I was so tired, it was all I could do to get up in the morning, prepare meals, and do some work. A few days later, my Covid test result came back positive.”

“My Covid symptoms were different from Lashunda's,” says Summer, “fatigue and sinus pain, brain fog and headaches.”

She adds, “I lost my senses of taste and smell which infuriated me as I love to eat and smell things.”

“In the meantime,” says Summer, “Lashunda’s breathing episodes continued. One time, I left her to take a shower and went into the kitchen to prepare food. Then, I noticed that she had not come out of the bathroom. I hurried to open the door and found her gasping for breath, holding the sink. She’d not had the strength to open the door.. Slowly, she calmed down and we got her back to bed.”

“Another time,” Summer continues, “I heard her gasping in the middle of the night and rushed to her room. Again, I calmed her and she eventually relaxed and went back to sleep. I went outside and bawled. I’d never seen anyone so sick and I lost it. I thought she was going to die.”

“From then on,” continues Lashunda, “I slept with an oxygen meter beside me. It had an alarm and when my oxygen level dropped to a certain point, the alarm would wake me up. Then Summer would come and coach me to calm down.”

“Lashunda slowly began to improve,” says Summer, “she started going outside for short times. then she said breathing was not painful anymore.”

“I could walk a little farther, stay awake longer,” says Lashunda. “And I’m very competitive. I had a spirometer, a device to breathe deeply into to rebuild lung capacity. It has numbers that measure how deeply you breathe and my goal was to hit 2000. I worked and worked at that and one day I did it. Then I did a little dance around the living room to the music “I’m a Survivor.’”

“We’ve noticed some strange Covid after effects,” says Summer.

“I used to eat only pizza and chicken nuggets. Now, I’ll eat anything,” adds Lashunda, “even broccoli.”

“I sprayed a cloud of Lysol through the house,” says Summer, “and realized that I couldn’t smell it.

“She made pork chops one night and covered them in salt, but still couldn’t taste the meat,” says Lashunda laughing. “We take the simple things, smell, taste, breathing, for granted.”

“Covid changes you,” says Summer. “Some days my brain just doesn’t work.”

She continues, “it’s strange seeing people all over the world wearing masks, what will the “new normal” be after Covid? I worry that not enough information is available about Covid vaccines. This will result in a lack of trust, particularly with people who are already skeptical about government health programs.”

We get our antibodies tested every six months,” says Lashunda, “and as long as I have them, I feel relatively safe. I believe the Covid vaccines are important, but I don’t want to be the first to get vaccinated. I want to give it some time to make sure the vaccines are safe.”

“Summer is my cheerleader,” my constant source of support,” says Lashunda. “I realize how fortunate I am to have such a loyal friend, many people don’t have this kind of help.”

“And don’t forget Coco,” says Summer.

Lashunda smiles and says,” Coco is Summer’s dog, and, to be honest, I’ve never liked pets much and paid no attention to Coco before Covid.”

“But when Lashunda would have breathing fits, Coco would run around in circles,” says Summer, “and then she jumped on the bed and slept beside Lashunda.”

“Coco comforted me,” says Lashunda, “I knew that if something happened to me, Coco would get Summer to help. My attitude about pets has changed, I think they know when  something’s wrong.”