This is a guest post from my cousin Stephanie who was recently hospitalized on Long Island. The only changes I made were to add the pictures. It is re-printed with the authors permission.
Recently, I started to not feel well, had a low grade fever. I spoke with my Dr. and because I am immunocompromised, I was given an appointment to be tested for COVID19. I was told to go home and self isolate in my bedroom. I had a horrible night, fever, chills, body aches , severe stomach pain. About 5 am I sent Gerry a picture of the thermometer reading 102.
We went to Northwell Plainview ER. Gerry wasn’t even allowed out of the car. The security guard opened my door, and Gerry had to pull away. They put me in isolation immediately. They told me afterwards that my temp was 103 and that I was pretty delirious. The next couple of days were the scariest days of my life. The only people allowed in my room were Dr.’s and Nurses. They had to completely cover themselves up, mask, goggles and face shield.
Before they left the room everything came off and was thrown in the garbage. The door was shut at all times. Nighttime was the worst. I couldn’t see what was going on outside my room, but I could hear it all. Codes were being called constantly and they all ended in STAT. You could hear teams of people running, the noises getting louder as they got closer. This went on day and night.
As exhausted as you can tell that they all were, every single one of them was wonderful to me. They were so conscious of the fact that all of their patients were alone and scared and did what ever they could to keep me comfortable and calm. I will never forget them. My test ultimately came out negative. They’re not completely sure what made me so sick. They did find some medical stuff that I have to follow up with.
The whole point of this post is to beg people to stay inside, don’t go anywhere unless absolutely necessary. As scary as it was for me, it was even worse for my family. The stories that the Dr’s and nurses told me were heartbreaking. Don’t go out for them ! They are running out of PPE and ventilators!
If everyone spent even 5 minutes in a hospital witnessing what I did, I really believe everyone would stay home.
I know this post is really long, but I’m begging anyone who reads this to stay home, make your family stay home. It’s not a joke. This is the only way to end this. ❤️
Thank you for sharing your story Stephanie! I am glad you are home and on the mend.
Every day I check the CDC website to look up how many people are infected and how many people have died in the United States, in New York State and in my local area. As I write this, 374, 239 people in this country have tested positive and 12,064 people have died. This doesn’t include the number of people who are simply staying home with more mild symptoms that don’t get tested. According to the World Health Organization as I write this, there are 1,279,722 confirmed cases globally and 72,614 deaths. Every day, these numbers increase and by the time this pandemic is over, I am willing to bet that each and every one of us will know someone who became infected with the CORONA Virus.
Stay healthy!
Lake Girl
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay