Whiteland woman sent to ER 2nd time while fighting coronavirus for weeks
WHITELAND, Ind. (WISH) — A Whiteland woman is now back home after her second visit to the emergency room during her weekslong battle with coronavirus.
When News 8 first spoke to Amanda Wood, she had a second wave of symptoms but thought she was in the home stretch to recovery. Over the weekend, her condition worsened and she landed her back in the ER. Now she is wondering when and if her life will ever go back to normal.
Wood now has to wear an oxygen tank to keep herself at a safe oxygen level. She has been dealing with coronavirus symptoms for nearly a month.
“I am hooked to an oxygen tank 24 hours a day, seven days a week, sleeping with it,” said Wood.
Wood had to be rushed back to hospital over the weekend. She felt like she couldn’t breath and checked her oxygen levels.
“In the real world, anything under 95 is considered bad. In the COVID world, anything under 90 is considered bad,” said Wood.
She was reading around a 78.
Over the weekend. Dr. Jerome Adams, the U.S. surgeon general, compared the week ahead of coronavirus to Pearl Harbor and 9/11. When Wood arrived at the hospital, she says she saw exactly what he was talking about.
“There are times when I almost felt like it was a war zone,” said Wood.
While her hospital visit revealed some light, “The good news is that my chest X-ray and my CT are looking better,” said Wood.
She also received some frightening news.
“The respiratory therapist looked at me and said, ‘If you would be a smoker, if you would be a vaper, you would be dead,’” said Wood.
She was also told that she may have permanent damage from the virus.
“Will this mean that I can’t live as long, you know? It is just … there are so many questions I have now,” said Wood.
While she continues to fight off the virus, she can’t help but feel discouraged when looking toward the future.
“This virus is just doing things that I guess I never thought, I never expected it to do to me,” said Wood.
Wood has to be on oxygen 24/7 likely for the next month; at that point, doctors will reevaluate her situation.