“My sore throat was severe, it was hurting me, I couldn’t even talk … I was having diarrhea, I couldn’t eat, I was nauseous, I had headaches … I started getting chest pain I couldn’t breath, I rushed to the hospital,” said Adriana Valencia.
It’s a terrifying story, most would think fiction but sadly that was not the case, it was a harsh reality for Valencia.
Valencia, an unrelated coworker of mine at an essential business, talked about her experience with her close brush with the virus and her mental state when being sick.
It’s a very tricky thing when getting sick during this pandemic because you don’t know what it could possibly be, but your brain tricks you, the coincidence of the situation make it sound like there’s only one possible answer and that is that you have the virus, she said. “I was literally laying in bed for three days straight … I didn’t eat anything, I lost 15 pounds in a week … that’s when I started thinking how long do I have to live… when do I get to say bye to my family… everything that you’re feeling you start thinking ok this is because of the virus Im gonna die …,” she said.
The paranoia creeps in and that’s the only thing you can think about, and the pain makes you believe your morbid conclusion that you only have a few days left before the virus kills you, she said.
Fortunately for Valenica, her test came back negative. But those 10 days she was waiting were the hardest times of her life, she said,, with all those thoughts going around her head and expecting death, nothing seems like it would be worse.
She’s doing much better now. She’s still recovering from the her sickness but she’s alive and breathing.