Ridgefield Resident: I Have COVID-19

Printed with permission from Rosanna Maxwell

This is embarrassing for me, but I feel like I need to say something to show the severity and seriousness of it. So here is my story....

I’m 32 years old with no underlying health issues. I’ve been fully quarantined since Friday, March 13th. Symptoms started showing up yesterday, on day 8 of quarantine. The places I went the week leading up to quarantine were the Ridgefield Library, Tusk n Cup, my son’s preschool (also in Ridgefield, and I told them as soon as I got diagnosed), and the Communication Clinic of CT.

I used purell and washed my hands constantly until they were raw. I still got COVID-19. Before really feeling “full-blown” symptoms, I had a sore throat, a small bit of congestion, fatigue, and a mild headache for a few days.

Yesterday, I woke up with severe body aches (even my toes hurt), chills, a bad headache, a low-grade fever, and difficulty breathing. It feels like an asthma attack. I called the COVID-19 hotline through Danbury Hospital and spoke with two doctors. Both doctors diagnosed me with COVID-19. The second doctor bluntly told me that they will not give me a test because of my young age and no underlying health issues. They wanted to save the tests for high-risk patients. Totally understand.

Fast forward to today’s symptoms- migraine, body aches, chills, nausea, mild congestion, and breathing so difficult that I literally blacked out a few times. Breathing so difficult that I couldn’t walk without falling down. Breathing so difficult that I needed to gasp for air between words when saying a short sentence. After 50 million phone calls to Danbury Hospital (yes, it’s a long process with many different numbers to call) I was given approval to come to the ER.

When you get to the hospital you have to call them to escort you in. There was clearly a miscommunication going on at the hospital given how many confused staff members there were about my arrival. But I want to give a big shout out to the really kind police officer at the hospital who greeted me at my car and went the extra mile to comfort me while I was crying and saying goodbye to my husband and children (family members are not allowed in the hospital right now, just the patient).

A THIRD doctor diagnosed me with COVID-19 and also told me that she cannot give me a test. They do not give tests at the hospital. IF YOU WANT TO GET TESTED YOU NEED A PRESCRIPTION FROM YOUR PCP DOCTOR AND GO TO A TESTING SITE.

I’m back home from the hospital with an inhaler to help with breathing. I need to be quarantined for 14 additional days.

Clearly I’m feeling a bit better with the inhaler to write a long post. I really hope sharing my story will keep more people home and healthy. We will get through this.

Sending everyone my love.