To my friends and family who have been concerned and reaching out to me I just want you to know I see you, I hear you, and I have not been ignoring you. I’ve been very overwhelmed trying to stay healthy but I love all of you and appreciate the incredible support I have been getting.
For the last 3 weeks I have been battling COVID19 & Pneumonia. As someone who lives alone in a new city this has been the most terrifying 17 days of my life. I have never experienced an illness this intense that lasts this long.
I want to share what I’ve gone through to help people understand how sever this is even for people my age and how incredibly difficult it is to get access to crucial medical help and testing regardless of what you’re being to told by the media. Our government is incredibly unprepared. Hospitals are understaffed, and ambulances are out right turning people away.
My symptoms first started 17 days ago on March 3rd. I felt a bit weak like I was starting to get a cold so I decided to take it easy and rest. At first, it seemed like I was getting better. I even went grocery shopping and did laundry. by the next day however I was hit with a high fever, cold chills, headache, sinus pressure, and bodyaches. I tried staying in bed for the first week to sweat it out but found myself growing increasingly weak with a higher and higher temperature.
With no primary care doctor, I tried reaching out to multiple hospitals and doctors offices to get help and tested for Covid19. All of them treated me like a nuisance and turned me way. They laughed at me as if I was asking for something unreasonable or outright yelled at me to stop calling. I was given many different numbers to call but they all lead to hour long wait times and dead ends.
When I did finally get someone on the phone, Medical professionals told me my best course of action is to stay home and quarantine myself. I was told that I would get more sick if I went to a hospital and that no one has any tests. when I asked for medical advice no one could give me any, so I took some advice from a stranger And started mixing Motrin and Tylenol every two hours to try and bring my fever down. That ended up destroying my stomach, kidneys, and causing me to no longer keep solid food down.
By week 2, my symptoms got even worse. My fever was now above 104 and I found it increasingly harder to breath. Unable to eat I was rapidly losing weight. I started hallucinating. Seeing lines on the walls. Hearing voices through my phone even though it was not on. I would forget where I was.
Eventually it got so bad I called 911.
When the ambulance arrived I was told to meet them outside. They were wearing hazmat suits and none of them wanted to come near me. They told me to stay where I was but I was too weak to stand. I asked to lay on a stretcher but they told me to step back and take a seat on the ground. In doing so, I accidentally sat/laid in a pile of someone else’s vomit.
I told them my symptoms and that I was having trouble breathing. I told them I live alone with few supplies. That I was too weak to take care of myself and scared. They told me I seemed fine and should stay home because the beds at the hospital are reserved for people in critical condition. Then they read me some legal disclaimer and left.
Feeling alone and out of options, I called the CDC. After almost 2 hours of waiting on hold they told me to take an Uber to a walk-in clinic and have them send my swab to a testing lab. I stayed up all night then called the Uber to Hollywood walk-in clinic where they confirmed I had low oxygen / breathing trouble and tested me for the flu which came back negative.
When I asked the Doctor to send my swab to a lab provided by the CDC, he told me they can’t do that. They don’t have any labs they are working with and currently are unable to test for Covid19 then gave me a prescription for an inhaler and stomach acid reducer. The visit and inhaler cost me almost $200 out of pocket.
Over the course of the next few days my symptoms only continued to get worse. I couldn’t keep any food down, I was shedding weight, and the inhaler became less effective.
Afraid for my life and out of options I called 911 again.
The ambulance reacted the same way as last time. This time, telling me I’ll get more sick if they take me to the hospital because all the diseases and that I don’t want to pay $1000 for an ambulance ride since I don’t have health insurance.
Terrified I was going to stop breathing, I called my mom who lives in FL on FaceTime and had her stay up and montor me while I tried to sleep. That morning I took an Uber back to the walk in clinic as soon as it opened and demanded they give me something for my lungs and send my swab to a lab for Covid19 testing. They agreed and prescribed me a Z pak.
During this time my friends and family were the only thing keeping me alive. If it wasn’t for food and supplies sent to me by
Rissa Mella,
Lynda Dempsey Rodriguez ,
Nick Abt,
Brittani Abt, and my Mom
Anna Brown and Dad I would have been toast.
At this point I had been sick for 12 days and unable to eat for almost a week. I needed to take the Z pak to help clear the infection in my lungs but had to take it on a full stomach so I was doing everything I could to try and keep food down with no luck.
Eventually my breathing and stomach pain got so bad I started getting lightheaded and feeling like I was going to black out. I had no choice but to take an Uber to the closest hospital. Something I had been avoiding because I don’t have health insurance and the hospitals were pushing me away. I also didn’t want to run the risk of infecting an Uber driver but had no other way of getting the help I need.
I found a Community Hospital In Hollywood near my house that I actually picked up the phone and told me they had a bed available so I rushed there immediately. I didn’t mention to them that I was sick only that I couldn’t breathe that way they would turn me away.
Once I got to the hospital, I let everyone in the waiting room know I couldn’t breathe and needed oxygen. They just acted afraid of me and told me to put on a flu mask. I told them the mask was making my breathing even worse but they just stared at me and kept gossiping with each other then handed me medical Insurance papers to fill out.
Finally after begging for over 10 minutes to get oxygen someone brought me into an isolated room with an old broken leather-looking sofa chair. There was an old spoon on the floor.
This hospital was clearly under funded.
The paint was peeling off the walls. The medical gear in the room with me looked like it was from the 80s and hadn’t been turned on in decades. The oxygen tank they finally hooked me up to looked like it was from World War II.
The urgent care area was outdated and filthy looking. The urgent care doctors and nurses all acted completely aloof Ignoring me while I was yelling and signaling for their attention.
Finally after hours of waiting alone balled up in the center of the broken recliner chair, a doctor came in with a thick accent hard to understand. The very first thing he said to me was “You have sex with men?” I couldn’t understand why he was asking me this question but it only added to my anxiety about being in this place.
While waiting at the hospital for chest and stomach x-rays, I received a call from the lab my flu swab was sent to. I asked him if I tested positive for code 19 and they told me they would not be able to give me that information unless I pay them $200 over the phone. I was in shock. I told him I am in the hospital and they immediately got off the phone with me.
I informed the hospital and they tried reaching out to the lab to make them give the results with no luck. The lab refused to get them information.
After many hours of tests it was determined I had pneumonia and based on my other symptoms I was presumptively diagnosed with Covid19 and immediately quarantined in a private room.
The treatment from my first nurse was terrifying. He tried to be friendly but It was obvious he was not used to doing this kind of floor work. He was an older guy who said he has older people at home to think of and clearly wanted to be nowhere near me. I had my bed sheets tossed to me. I stayed in my street clothes.
My IV machine kept breaking. When I would buzz for the nurse it would take 45 minutes to an hour for him to show up and when he did he would just make jokes about how when Third World countries equipment breaks they send it to this hospital.
Even given the less than ideal situation I was still just so happy to finally be in a bed and feel like I was going to get the help I desperately needed.
That’s when I received a phone call from downstairs. It was the billing department informing me that my stay was going to require a three days admission and cost me $3400 upfront and out of pocket. If I was unable to pay I would not be able to stay. I was completely terrified. I could not afford to come out of pocket for that much and didn’t want to be thrown out on the street with pneumonia.
Fortunately, my family was able to help me cover the cost. Seemed very steep considering the state the hospital was in.
Thankfully the nurses I’ve had since have been amazing made me feel safe and taken care of. The wait times are still very long when I call for help but I’m assuming it’s because they are overwhelmed.
That is were i currently am. Getting treatment in isolation and working my way towards recovery.
Hopefully hearing my story will help give people an idea as to what to expect and what you may be up against in the fight to get treatment right now with the medical system as stressed and confused as it is. What you’re being told on the media about free coronavirus tests fast turnarounds And treatment available it’s just. These doctors are frayed and overwhelmed and if you are unfortunately alone like me you’re going to have to fight for your life to make sure you get the help you need.
Our government has clearly failed us and lied to everyone. Maybe by spreading this and making noise we can get them to make a change.
It’s times like this when I realize how lucky I really and to have so many incredibly amazing compassionate people care so much about me. I have never in my life felt more loved.
Even though this experience has been the most difficult and Trumatic thing I’ve ever gone through in my life, The silver lining is it’s also been eye-opening and completely heart-changing in the best possible way. I’ve gotten to reconnect with so many old friends and tell who my true friends are. I never knew I had so many great ones..
I’ve got nothing but love and gratitude in my heart and I just want to say thank you to everyone who reached out and showed you care. From the bottom of my heart, I love you.