The scourge that has ravished the entire planet for the last few months is known as Covid-19 and there’s no doubt that this entire experience has been very frightening.
As of now, more than 100,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 during this crisis, and families and communities have been ripped apart.
Now it’s time to hear from some people who have had the virus themselves or had people close to them deal with it.
Let’s look at some responses from AskReddit users to see what it’s really like to deal with Covid-19.
1. This is awful.
“My uncle died from it.
He died at his house while in self quarantine.
Didn’t know he died until after he didn’t call or answer his phone after 2 days.”
2. No underlying health issues.
“My sister, who was 47 with no underlying health issues passed away from covid-19. It took 10 days, she was in the hospital for the last 3. The scary part is she was making a recovery, her lugs at day 7 were operating at 83% and after two days in the hospital she had got them to 95%.
In 29 hours it was a complete 180. I was able to text with her, she kept saying she was having a really tough time but didn’t go in to much detail. My brother in-law and 2 nephews also had it. He mistakenly thought his covid was just from a good gym work out, as his body was just really sore.
My nephew, age 13 puked one night and had a fever for a few hours. The youngest, age 7 never had any symptoms and felt fine. All tested positive.”
3. From a person who had it.
“I had it.
I was basically bedridden for two weeks, barely doing anything except sleeping. Even then, I kept waking up at night a sweaty mess. I spread it to all my family members, but they showed extremely minor symptoms. Pretty weird stuff.
TO ANSWER QUESTIONS: When I had COVID-19, I developed hives. The onset of COVID-19 was extremely sudden, developing hives and a fever of 102 within an hour. I was also very confused and tired all the time. I didn’t go outside much prior to getting COVID-19. I did make a full recovery within two weeks. I did not require hospital care.”
4. Really bad in Italy.
“My friend is in Italy.
He got it, and was sick/bed-ridden for a week while his girlfriend had ‘just some aches’.
Both his parents, his grandparents and his uncle died, all within a week.”
5. Very, very sick.
“30 year old friend had it. He was so sick that his roommates were almost afraid to check on him in his room because they thought they’d find him dead.
Getting out of bed to go to the bathroom took all of his strength. He’s fine now but it took a few weeks for his lungs to feel even remotely normal.”
6. Happened very fast.
“Just heard this morning that a friend of mine died last night. Her partner called 911 when she took a turn for the worse and in the time it took the EMTs to get there she’d already passed.
It was that quick. She’d been tested, knew she was positive. She was told to stay at home unless her symptoms got worse. She felt sick, but not rush to the hospital sick. Until last night.
I’m trying to comfort myself knowing she’d rather die in her own bed than in a hospital surrounded by strangers.”
7. Close to home.
“I’ve had 4 people in my life pass from it so far.
Former coworker and friend was one of the first people in the US to die from it. He was 34 years old and only had childhood asthma.
A great friend and collaborator I had just stayed with a month before. He was 39 years old and no pre existing conditions.
My best friends mother who was like a second mother to me. She was 63 years old with no pre existing conditions.
My grandmother who was in a nursing home. She was 90 and was relatively healthy for her age.
All passed within 2 weeks of showing symptoms. With the exception of my grandma, they all were home for the first week then were admitted to the hospital as their conditions worsened.”
8. She beat it.
“My grandmother got it.
In her late 80’s and in a nursing home. She probably weighs 70 pounds and can barely sit up on the best of days. She had a fever for a week and a mild cough, then recovered. We’re shocked.
She’s so weak that when the home told us she had it, we all thought she had no chance of beating it. Weird how it can kill strong healthy people, but somehow spare her.”
9. Made it to the other side.
“3 friends, 2 of which had families.
One was living alone so they all decided to live with each at the alone guys house so their families didn’t have to suffer the illness and if one of them got badly sick the less sick guys could take care of him.
They got a bad fever and a dry cough and one of them lost his sense of taste for a little while afterwards, but they came out of it fine otherwise.”
10. Terribly sad.
“My mum went from minor tickling throat to been taken away in an ambulance by people in hazmat 3 days later unable to breathe. 2 weeks later she died. No major health issues.
She was sedated as soon as she went into hospital and on a ventilator for the duration. Eventually her organs started failing and there was nothing else they could do other than turn the ventilator off and let her go.
It kind of feels like she is lost at sea..? She went away and we couldn’t see her. Now we are just waiting for the knock on the door with her ashes and someone saying “I’m sorry for your loss”.”
11. In recovery.
“I’m currently recovering.
I’m a 30 year old male with no health issues so maybe that’s the reason but for me it was like a mild cold. Felt crummy from Tuesday night to Thursday. Started feeling better Friday. Now I just have a bit of a cough and weird headaches.
The testing process was a pain though. First one was inconclusive so I had to get a drs note and go get another test.”
12. A nurse’s experience.
“ICU nurse checking in: I just got cleared to go back to work tomorrow after testing positive a couple weeks ago.
How bad was it compared to the covid patients I’ve treated? Nothing. I didn’t even have a fever or shortness of breath. Our ICU patients are SO. SICK. All the things you’ve heard about on the news. Hypoxia. Blood clots. Multi-system organ failure.
We’ve had many people in their 30s and 40s with no pre-existing conditions who’ve ended up just as sick as the 80 year olds, and many of them haven’t had good outcomes, sadly. I work at a major hospital where we routinely get the sickest patients transferred to us from smaller hospitals, so I realize I’m seeing the extreme opposite end of the spectrum, but it is scary.
My symptoms were all so minor and nonspecific that I blew them off or chalked them up to other things (spring allergies, dry hospital air, sleeping poorly on my shitty mattress, working overtime) for several days until I realized I’d completely, profoundly lost my sense of smell and taste. That’s when I knew I had to get tested. Lo and behold, it was positive.
It sucked, but I’m very grateful I wasn’t any sicker than I was AND especially that I have health insurance & work at a place that paid for my covid-specific sick leave as well as having paid sick leave in general. I know there are so many other people out there who don’t have such a safety net and it seems very unfair.”
13. Affecting young people.
“Currently in the hospital with is in my early 20. I rode it out for a week until I could breathe.
Sickest I’ve ever been and never had to hospitalized before now. Going home tomorrow though so that’s good.
I’m recovering now.”
14. Bewildering.
“My mom had COVID. Started as a fever then quickly worsened. Within days she was in the hospital on oxygen. Seriously thought she was going to die.
My dad has COVID. He has zero symptions and probably had it for days before the results. My dad is diabetic with kidney failure and multiple other health issues. Why my mother, whose mostly healthy, reacted so badily compared to my dad is uttering bewildering.”
15. Pretty bad…
“I have known several that have contracted it, but two coworkers died from it on the same day last week, so pretty bad.”
Do you know anyone who has had Covid-19? Or maybe you’ve had it?
If so, please share your experiences with it in the comments below.
Everyone stay safe out there and be kind to each other!
