I Survived the Coronavirus

My room was located in a special wing of the hospital, separated from the other areas with a big “WARNING” sign taped to the door. It featured a narrow anteroom that was between my room and the hospital hallway, where the doctors and nurses would shed their personal protection equipment and sterilize themselves after attending to me. When they entered my room, they were so suited up with masks and gowns I could only see their eyes behind the visors that shielded them. 

I saw them infrequently. I was so contagious and the risk to the healthcare workers was so high that they came in once every four hours or so to reduce their exposure. There was a tiny window over my head near the ceiling and no other patients were in the room. It felt like a tomb. I was freezing because the air conditioning was turned up high, but I didn’t want to press the call button and make someone suit up for something as trivial as a blanket. 

I was hooked up to an IV and various other contraptions to measure my vitals including my oxygen saturation, EKG levels, and blood pressure. Even with the IV drip, I was still so dehydrated I drank pitcher after pitcher of water. Since I didn’t want to bother the staff when I needed more water or for help using the bathroom (which was constant), I had to drag the IV and all the cables and cords into the bathroom and try to do what I needed to do as quickly as possible, worried I might faint in the process. 

I couldn’t talk to anyone on the phone because I didn’t have the breath support to do it. Still, I called my husband, Brian, about every hour to croak out short updates to him, as I knew he was sitting by the phone wracked with worry. I couldn’t read anything, because my temperature was a constant 101+, which made me unable to follow a storyline. I flipped through the channels to distract myself, but it seemed every other channel was featuring COVID-related death statistics and terrible stories about the virus’ destruction. The same with social media. When I saw an article being passed around about 50 priests in Northern Italy who had died attending to the sick, I firmly shut the computer. Oh Lord, this is beyond awful! 

A nurse entered the room. I asked, “Have the test results come in yet?” Something I’d been asking for the past six hours. Her eyes widened in shock. “No one has told you yet?!”...

We're so glad you've selected this article to read from our Just Between Us website! Because of the need to offer resources like this for women worldwide, this article along with others on this topic, has been put into a booklet called Growing Through the Coronavirus Storm. Instead of searching around the website for similar articles, now for a small price, you'll be able to get a booklet of articles to help you grow through this challenging time. 

It's our prayer that you will be filled with hope and encouraged to reflect on all God wants to do in your life—the deep spiritual growth He has in store for you—and to see the gifts and treasures to be found.   

Encourage your soul with this digital download today!