Based on the Twitter thread of BradleyZiffer, a US citizen as posted on Thursday, 19th March 2020.
So, the last week I have been battling COVID-19 & Pneumonia. Never in my life have I been this ill. “Young people aren’t at risk, they’ll only have mild symptoms” Wrong. I want to open up about the difficulties I’ve gone through these past days, what it was like in the ICU.
It all started 10 days ago. I felt tired; more than usual. I had a headache, so I took ibuprofen. Two days later I had a fever and was finding it hard to breathe. A day after that I had a persistent pain in my chest, below my heart. It was hard to speak without feeling tired.
I stayed inside this whole time, I called my doctor. They wouldn’t make an appointment because of the outbreak in my community and my symptoms. They pushed me to the health department. I called 4 times, a man answered and yelled, “stop calling we don’t have anymore tests!”…
I got a call an hour later. It was the health department. Someone different, she asked me about my symptoms, told me to fight through it and that I was now considered, “Under Investigation”. My symptoms and fever worsened. I called the ER that night.
They asked me to stay away because of my symptoms. Morning came and my fever reached 104 ° I was seeing things, hearing things, and I was losing hope. I felt helpless. I remember calling the doctor that afternoon. The rest is a blur…
From what I’m told, I drove to the hospital. Got out of my car and collapsed. Right there in the parking lot. I woke up while being pushed to the ICU in a wheelchair. I lost consciousness again. I remember waking up, not knowing where I was. I thought I was dead. Only then when I had an anxiety attack and could no longer breathe at all, did I realize I was alive. I was given oxygen, fluids, antibiotics. I took many tests, as well as the* test. Three cotton swabs in my throat, blood samples, mucus collection, and an EKG.
I waited 6 hours I tested positive. I was also diagnosed with pneumonia and prescribed antibiotics. I am recovering, I haven’t seen my partner in weeks – I miss them. I feel alone, but I also feel frustrated. Why did it take that, for me to get help? What if I was old? Or immune-compromised?
The government has failed us. I’m lucky, others won’t be. It’s far past the time to take action. Not words, ACTION. Step the fuck up, and protect the people of this country. If they won’t, we need to. Stay inside, be smart. No death is worth you being ignorant. We can do this.
