VALERIE JOY WILSON: I just got
tested for the coronavirus.
And I'm freaking out,
because the doctor's sending me
to the emergency room
because my white blood cell
count's so low.
I travel almost full time.
I travel like 80% of the year
as a travel journalist
and blogger.
And I go all over the world.
And so I'm rarely home,
except for now.
My first symptom was I started
to have a weird feeling.
It kind of felt like a wave
running through my body, where I
felt like I was short
circuiting.
After that, I started to lose
my sense of taste
and smell completely.
I couldn't taste anything.
I couldn't smell anything.
And I started to develop
a quick little fever.
That was only 99 degrees
for about an hour.
And then I started to get
the hallmark symptoms, which are
the dry cough,
and the headaches
throughout the day.
But it just kept getting
stronger and stronger,
and I was coughing all
throughout the day.
One of the scariest things
was when the doctor actually
tested me for COVID-19.
And I was tested on a Friday
morning.
And at 6:00 PM
the following Monday,
I got a voicemail from my doctor
saying Valerie, this is very
important.
You need to call me back
immediately.
And I called him back.
And I-- before he even said
anything, I said I have it,
don't I?
He said yes, you do.
And I broke down crying.
And it was really hard,
because I kept asking him
questions, and he just didn't
have the answers, because it is
a new virus.
So from start to finish,
from the beginning
of my symptoms to being
symptom-free
and released from the health
department, was 16 days.
I'm sharing my story, because I
think it's important for those
who are struggling
with the fear of COVID-19,
or actually have a positive test
for COVID-19,
I think it's important for them
to see that somebody else has
gotten better.
But it's also
important for millennials
to understand that you can
become sick with the virus.
And it is dangerous.
I'm looking forward to a hug.
I'm going to like cry.
I haven't had
any human interaction, outside
of the doctor swabbing
my throat, in quite a while.
