OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – An Oklahoma woman is speaking out about her fight against a deadly disease that has swept across the globe in the past several months.
Before being infected with COVID-19, Chris led a very busy and active life in the community.
When she first became sick, she thought she had contracted a cold or was suffering from allergies but soon realized it was something more serious.
She thought she might have the flu, so she went to her primary care physician for a flu test. When the test came back negative and her symptoms got worse, Chris then went to a nearby hospital.
She was given prescription medication and soon received her positive test result for COVID-19.
“I’ve had severe pneumonia in years past, and many, many years ago I had sepsis. In hindsight, this was unlike any of those individually and it was unlike pneumonia. As I became more ill, it was more like sepsis,” she recalled.
Her condition declined for 10 days and then she went to OU Medical Center, where she spent 23 days.
“I can’t imagine a very young person, a person who had other cognitive issues, or a very elderly person being in the medical facility alone because it was very isolated and very limited. The staff had to be very cautious, which I understand, and I was terrified that I was infecting other people,” she said. “The whole experience was worse than any horror movie you could possibly imagine. However, I know it was necessary to save my life, basically.”
Chris says she was conscious most of the time and remembers losing her ability to breathe on her own and her ability to stand up.
Although she wasn’t able to speak with her family members while she was intubated, she says the medical staff would tell her that her children and her husband were calling to check on her.
“I found out when I got home and this really got me, when they called and said that I was really critical and they didn’t know if I would make it or not, my family drove outside the building and prayed, so that really got me,” she said.
Right now, doctors say her lungs are only able to hold 60 percent of the oxygen that a woman her size normally can hold. However, medical experts say they hope that will get better with time.
