In this installment, we hear from a nurse, E.W., who is currently recovering from COVID-19.
She has requested anonymity, so we changed her initials and arent naming her employer.
Soon after, she received a positive test result.
Getty / B Busco; Designed by Morgan Johnson
After a hospital stay, shes now recovering at home.
Her responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.
SELF: Why did you originally get into nursing?
I saw that it wasnt them just handing medications to patients or monitoring vitals.
Nurses are often the first ones there to act.
Thats how I realized what it meant to really be on the front lines.
What was a typical day like for you before the pandemic started?
When I wasnt working, I did yoganot standing on my head, just stretching!
I like to go to the park, see friends, go to see art, read.
On a workday, the hours for a nurse are long.
I really never do much before or after.
Everybody just normally goes home and collapses.
How did your COVID-19 symptoms first manifest?
My symptoms started pretty much exactly the way they should.
It was the feeling of a common cold, runny nose, headache.
By day four, breathing started to be a little bit of an issue.
I started having a very bad cough.
It wasnt wet where you’re able to spit anything out; it was very dry.
The second I got sick, I put myself on self-quarantine and didnt go to work.
I followed those protocolsno one was allowed at my home.
What even goes through your mind at that point?
I think in terms of a nurse, so I acted quickly.
I feel like its hard for someone who isnt in medicine to navigate that.
What treatment did you receive, and when did you start to feel better?
I was in the emergency department overnight.
Once it became daytime, I got into a room.
My chest X-ray was suspicious for pneumonia.
I needed one or two liters of oxygen that first day.
I got an antimalarial medication,hydroxychloroquine, which isnt an official COVID-19 treatmentits still in clinical trials.
I also got Tylenol andbenzonatate, which helps with coughing.
The coughing was so bad and so painful.
What was the treatment process like emotionally and mentally?
My family stayed up all night texting me.
What was scary was being in a bed in the inpatient unit.
[Gets emotional.]
No ones at your bedside, and you could have totally misinterpreted what they said.
My fear was my family getting that phone call.
My family kept texting me, saying, Proof of life?
Trying to heal and be positive and youre feeling this way about yourselfits a special jot down of hell.
Now that youre recovering, what do your days consist of?
Im trying to sleep, but Im not getting more than four or five hours at a time.
I think I havesevere anxietyabout the situation.
Also, I set alarms on my phone so I dont miss medications even when Im sleeping.
Im still dealing with coughing.
Plus, sitting up instead of lying down lets my lungs expand more.
When can you go back to work?
I have to be negative to go back.
What has it been like not to be able to work right now?
I get a lot of fulfillment from my job, and I love my coworkers.
I hate not being on the front lines because I feel like Im not able to help.
What do you feel like has been the hardest part of this whole experience?
Peoples mental health is reallygetting tested right now.
Imagine being a nurse walking scared into the room.
Imagine being a patient not having anybody there with you.
Imagine being a doctor, theyre looking at this like, Are people being reinfected?
When is this going away?
Hospital management is getting slammed because of thePPE shortage, even though thats a much higher up problem.
I think people not cracking under this pressure and stress and pain is really important.
Find what you could do thats cathartic during this time.
I put onThe OfficeandFriendsanything to make me laugh.
What do you want people to understand about being sick with COVID-19?
The most important part for me is I need people to start researching andreading credible sources.
And to know that its affecting everyone.
We all think were invincible, but this is affecting everyone from babies to the elderly.
Besides returning to work, what are you going to do when you feel better?
I know that when I feel better, were still going to be dealing with these bans and protocols.
