#FrontLines, a #pandemicdiary 76. She’s right to be angry. She has COVID. Got it from a client. Despite her face shield. Despite her mask. Her client didn’t wear a mask. So many people refuse to wear a mask. // Kim DeChurch is a healthcare social worker. She helps people access medical and financial programs. Helps them navigate the healthcare labyrinth. // She’s careful. Always careful. Woke up Tuesday with a fever. Headache. Started with GI symptoms. Gastrointestinal. “That was the first but I didn't correlate it with the headache and the fever,” she says. “So, that happened first, and I put it together after the fact.” // Her voice is hoarse. She lacks stamina. But the headache is the worst part. // “A lot of COVID people describe it like having a vise grip coming from your back shoulders around your head and just digging its claws into your temples. Nothing relieves that. That headache. Nothing. Not Tylenol. Advil. Motrin nothing.” // She was in bed four days. Started Tuesday. I talked with her Friday. Her headache subsided. Came back. // She knew when she woke up Tuesday what it was. “But when you're told. When you're actually given that result. The throat punch comes when you're, like, ‘Wow, so I have the virus that the whole entire world is trying not to get.” // You think, “I could die. Or I can have mild symptoms. I don't know yet.” // She’s hopeful, but angry. She vented on Facebook. She’s in healthcare working extra hours because of COVID. Homecare workers are tired. Getting sick. We’re in round two. It’s going to be worse. “Be safe be smart. Don’t be an asshole.” // She laughs when I ask her about it. “It really isn’t about you,” she says. “You wear a mask for the other person.”
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