A 35-year-old COVID-19 survivor shares his recovery journey

The covid19recovery.net team had the chance to hear the story of Josh who recovered from COVID-19 in the last few weeks. Josh is 35 years old and originally from West Texas. He was a former business owner until COVID-19 struck in the past few weeks. He currently resides in Austin.

When did you start feeling symptoms and can you describe how these past few weeks have been like for you?

Josh: I would say the first symptoms were roughly 6 weeks ago.  Felt like allergies for about a week, then diarrhea set in.  The new symptoms list came out and I realized I may be infected and self-quarantined before it was made official.  Been symptom/fever free for about a week now!  The first week was just scratchy throat, congestion, sniffles, and cough. [I] started pooping a lot and thought it was most likely food-related.  After realizing that I may have been infected, I stayed in until other symptoms came such as losing my sense of taste and smell.

[I] went to emergency and was told they would only test and admit people that were knocking on death's door, but was given a paper indicating all the symptoms were there to have a high likelihood of COVID19. Self-quarantined until the official orders were handed down. First were the light fevers. 101-102.  Sucked a lot, but wasn't too bad. Then fluid buildup in the lungs.  Again went to the emergency but was still told to come back when I was unable to walk 3 steps without gasping for air. (I have had pneumonia before and that was usually at the point a lung is full of fluid, so I was annoyed at this.)  Went home again and propped up my mattress so I could sleep without waking up every hour to vomit fluid. 

High fever and chills set in every other day.  During the high fever nights, I couldn't sleep and became deeply depressed and angry.  I hated the hospital for not admitting me and feared I would die of pneumonia-like I had almost done nearly 10 years ago.  I started thinking I would rather kill myself then die by drowning in my own lung fluid.  I would call suicide hotlines and lay outside on my patio for hours in the dead of night in my lawn chair.

My father was infected and I worried about him.  In the end, he recovered and I was still ill, so he would slap my back to break up the settled crap in my lungs.  My throat was always hurting and blood was always in my spit.  I woke up in the morning with a mouthful of blood.  Didn't tell my dad since I thought it was useless to try going back to emergency care.  Drank so much coffee my urine reeked of it.  My teeth are still heavily stained, too. Ha ha.

Mom sent Mucinex (a brand of medication used to help cough out phlegm from the airways) and things improved from there.  It finally ended with small fevers and mild coughing.  There was some evil constipation vil at the end, but I was okay with that over the high fevers or lungs working against me.

First meal since recovering. Image credits: Joshua Leos

I saw on your Reddit post that the community within Reddit has been great to you during this time. Can you describe how the Reddit community has helped you during this period?

Josh: Thanks to Reddit venting and positivity area, I was helped repeatedly to keep my sanity and offered help from my community for groceries as my savings dwindled.

Many Reddit users checked in on me and offered their positive vibes and financial help (I said no to money, but accepted all their kind words!)

Many of the positive posts, in general, helped me to smile and calm down.  Even after I recovered I was offered support.  Especially making my first home-cooked meal since being sick! (Chicken Alfredo. Tasted fantastic.)

Do you have any advice for those who are going through mental health troubles during this time for both people who are affected by COVID-19 or for people whose mental health has taken a toll due to social isolation?

Josh: As far as the mental stuff from the virus and quarantine. I would say make sure to force yourself to interact online.  Try to call family members to chat even when you're so sick the alerts from your phone annoy you. Suicide hotlines are sometimes super busy, so if you feel desperate jump on Reddit  There is always someone with great energy that will worry for you.I worry all the time for users that post about how desperate they feel or don't have money.  I donated what I could to keep them from feeling that desperation that makes you do crazy things.

Music!.  Listen to upbeat music..  If you have the strength, dance a little.  Anything to feel that you are still here and not in a horrible dream.  Pharrell and Maria Brink practically saved my life.

What have you learned from this experience and how would you apply it into your own life moving forward?

Josh: I learned that losing everything you worked for and freedom can nearly crush your heart and mind.  The spiral is hard to pull out from.  I learned the value of just seeing people, even when not interacting.  No longer being able to date in-person ruined many possibilities for me of ending my life of being single, for sure, which further wears on you.  Even with my father living with me, we were always in our rooms separately except after he recovered.  After a while, I hated what I sank into.

I pushed myself to be positive on Reddit and support others.  When I was weak, they supported me back.  I realized I built my business once, and I'll do it again. I looked into alternatives to build up from and possible business loans. I started being proactive instead of miserable.  I didn't settle for just being a victim of the virus and economy.

Thank you to Josh for sharing his experiences with us on his recovery story with COVID-19! We hope that you all are staying safe and healthy during this time.