Light at the end of the tunnel

It’s been about two weeks since I posted my first post, which included my overall COVID journey. I am completely shocked, humbled, and very thankful for the response that I have received from people out there. Thank you everyone for sharing my story, whether it be on social media, or by word of mouth. All of your words, messages, thoughts and prayers, mean so much to me. I am so happy to be a voice for severe COVID cases like mine. As a 26-year old, I never thought I’d experience the ICU myself as a patient, let alone have something that I wrote go viral.

Since I posted last, I have made some big leaps and bounds in my recovery. As of December 1st, I am completely off oxygen! This was a huge step for me. At first, I had some anxiety around not having that “crutch” with me at all times, and I was constantly checking my O2 saturation with my pulse oximeter. Every single time I checked, it was in the mid 90s, and I had to remind myself that I am doing ok. With time, I’ve been able to not fixate so much on my O2 saturations, and trust that they are ok because I am breathing well. I do still check my oxygenation from time to time, just to ensure I’m not silently desaturating, but overall I have been able fixate less on that. This week, I am starting pulmonary rehab, which I am very excited about. I believe it will help me immensely in getting closer to my “normal” routine and closer to being able to exercise again. As far as other symptoms, the main symptoms I still have are congestion, a headache, shortness of breath with activity, and difficulty sleeping. I continue to find the congestion the most annoying lingering symptom, because after 6 weeks, I just want to be done blowing my nose and coughing things up. I have, however, noticed improvement in all of my continued symptoms, so there is light at the end of the tunnel!

A couple of you have asked about how I got COVID and how many other people around me got sick. Obviously, it is impossible to know with 100% accuracy where I picked up COVID, but I do have an idea. The week before I got sick, I was pumpkin carving with a small group of 6 friends. We were inside together for about 3 hours. Out of 6 people, 4 of us got sick with COVID-19. There is no way to for sure tell who had it first in the group, but what I do know is that everyone was completely asymptomatic when we were together, which touches on the scary part of COVID, and that it can spread so easily, even if people are asymptomatic. Out of privacy for my friends, that is all that I will share regarding where I picked up COVID.

I know this post is a lot shorter than my last one, but I struggled with what exactly to write about in this post. So, with that being said, I’d like to know what you all want me to touch more on, or what you’re interested in reading about! Either comment on this post, or feel free to send a private message as well. Take care everyone, and have a great week!