Courtney Garside is an Orem High School Alumni, who got COVID-19. She was just a normal, healthy college student, and she quickly became very sick, with no preexisting conditions. Here is her day-to-day experience:
Day 1: “My sense of taste was dwindling, and I had a head cold-first time showing symptoms.”
Day 2: “Got my positive results, and began quarantine in my room.”
Day 3: “Lost most of my sense of taste and smell, started a fever and head cold was mild, and I was super exhausted.”
Days 4-9: “Started getting progressively worse, set up a doctor’s appointment (for) day 10, stayed in quarantine. Stayed in quarantine. Started coughing up blood and mucus, super fatigued, high fevers, and no appetite. On the bright side, my sense of taste came back.”
Day 10: “Had a doctor’s appointment over the phone, got diagnosed with pneumonia and started antibiotics, the doctor told me that if I couldn’t breathe very well or if I wasn’t significantly better by day 13, I had to check into the hospital.”
Days 11-13: “The amount of mucus decreased, and the head cold symptoms started to go away, but the antibiotics made me super nauseated and (I) had zero appetite. I still had major fatigue issues.”
Day 14: “Set up a chest x-ray to check on the progress of pneumonia, and exhaustion started to fade, I had more energy.”
Day 15: “Went to the hospital for the chest x-ray, got treated like I was dying. Everyone had PPE (personal protection equipment) and I couldn’t touch anything at all.”
Day 16: “Got prescribed a steroids inhaler that was almost $300 to help with residual coughing.
Days 17-present: “My lungs are very weak, and I get exhausted from simply visiting my family for a few hours, and I am very prone to getting sick. IfI get sick while my lungs are this week, I will end up in the hospital.”
“So please, wear a mask. I’ve been sick for almost 3 weeks, lonely and out of work. I lost almost 10 pounds, and my skin is super pale. Getting pneumonia on top of having COVID is what kills old people. I’m lucky I didn’t have to check into the hospital.
“People think that teenagers our age won’t get affected by this, like it will just be a minor cold and that’s it. It’s worse than you think. I got really sick, and I have no pre-existing health conditions. Please, wear a mask. Stay at home. If you don’t, you could potentially do this to someone, or even kill them. “
In an interview, Dr. Clark Bishop, Intensivist (ICU specialist) and Pulmonologist (lung specialist) at Utah Valley Hospital said, “(the) hard thing right now is seeing doctors and nurses stretched to the limit. It is also hard to find beds and resources every day to accommodate and plan for those who will need critical care.”
There is a simple solution to this, as stated by Dr. Bishop in a press conference, “If we want to win, then we can think of the three things that will help us to win. One of them is wear the mask, the second thing is wash your hands frequently, and the third thing is watch your distance, stay socially distanced.”
It is the students of Orem High School’s job to help slow the spread, when and how they can. Dr. Bishop also stated to the students at Orem High School that, “I support Governor Herbert’s (an orem High School alumnus) mask mandate. We need to do our part.”
Karleigh Garside
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