I Slayed a Beast Named Coronavirus

…with a little help from science.

It finally happened. Despite my extreme caution, I contracted COVID. My husband is a teacher, and he’s as safe as he can be. However, his school does not require anything but masks. There’s no social distancing. A lot of people wear ineffective face coverings. And they don’t contact-trace properly because there’d be no one at the school.

Thankfully, my husband’s case of COVID was really mild. We were honestly surprised. He was running a little fever and feeling fatigued, but it started like a sinus infection or something. We were shocked when the rapid test came back positive.

My symptoms started a couple days later. Well, the normal symptoms. There were some other weird things like sinus issues and stomach issues that may or may not have been COVID for a week or so. It’s hard to know. But I started coughing and losing my sense of taste.

At first, we were mostly exhausted and slept a lot. I asked my OB for an inhaler which helped a lot for a couple of days. And losing the sense of smell and taste was so weird. I could only taste sour things for a few days.

On what I consider my day 5, I took a turn for the worse. I started vomiting and couldn’t even keep water or Gatorade down. I called the on-call OB doctor, and she said I would probably be fine till morning. She told me to take an extra Zofran and to call back in the morning unless I got worse.

I got about an hour of sleep and woke up very short of breath. My fever spiked to 101.1, so I called back. She sent a referral to the ER. (I’m supposed to call the on-call OB before any trip to ER while pregnant.)

Going to the ER alone is terrifying. My husband couldn’t come in, even if he hadn’t been COVID positive. But I got really great nurses and a great doctor. My mom knew the ER doctor and was very excited that he was there.

The infusion kicked in, and I got my sense of humor back.

My labs were fine and my vitals were stable. But after my chest x-ray, the doctor recommended I get the monoclonal antibody infusion. He was kind but firm about the risks. “You’re stable now, but the question is would you stay stable if I sent you home right now? That’s what I’m concerned about.” He explained that pregnancy made me extra high-risk (I’m already in the high-risk category) and that pneumonia, an ICU visit, and death were major risks.

I jumped on the chance for the infusion. All of my mom’s patients who have had improved so much with a couple of days. It felt very sci-fi. Here’s a very rudimentary explanation of how they work.

So, our bodies make antibodies to fight off infections. People who beat COVID on their own gave blood, and scientists found the strongest antibodies for fighting the virus. Then they replicated these antibodies in a lab. This stuff stays frozen, so I had to wait on it to thaw. Then they pumped it into my veins. It took about an hour.

After seven exhausting hours in the ER, I was home. I felt really sick for the rest of the day and most of the next day. I was aching. My ribcage hurt from all the coughing. My back was killing me because I could only breathe if I was at a nearly 90 degree angle, even sleeping. And it hurt to breathe. I was still feverish. I had coughed so much that I had no voice, and it hurt to talk, that I pretty much whispered and texted my husband all day.

Right about the 36 hour mark from my infusion, it was like a switch flipped. I was still sick, but I had an appetite and was able to have short conversations. I felt more alert. My fever broke and hasn’t been back.

I’ve steadily improved since then, but damn it was scary. And pointless. If the virus had been addressed properly at the beginning, we wouldn’t be in this mess. People’s selfishness and stupidity endangered my life and the life of my unborn child. Grappling with my mortality has been nothing short of exhausting.

I’m officially out of quarantine, and I was so glad to go see my mom. She made a feast to celebrate our recovery. I can taste everything, but my sense of smell is only at about 10%. It’s bizarre. I still use my inhaler and take Mucinex, and I don’t have a lot of stamina. But I’m feeling better every day.

Y’all. COVID is very real. Please wear double-masks. Get your vaccine as soon as you’re able. Stop going to parties and restaurants. Demand that schools take proper precautions. Even if you’re pretty sure you’d get a mild case, it’s not about you. It’s about everyone you come into contact with and that they come into contact with.

~Krystal