Often enough, we hear about COVID-19 related deaths and the scary situations families deal with, but what about those who overcome the virus?
Teresita Duran was living life as usual. Going to work, coming home, and repeat.
"I had heard a lot of things about it, but I was pretty confident in the fact that I'm pretty young and healthy," Duran says.
As the weeks went on, Duran started working with more customers. She thought everything was fine until she woke up one morning and noticed a change.
"I woke up and made my coffee as usual, and usually, I get that strong coffee smell. And I didn't get it, and I was like oh, maybe this is old coffee," Duran says. "I took a sip and I didn't taste anything. It was so bizarre. It was hot, I could feel the sensation of it being hot, but I couldn't taste anything."
She started to notice other symptoms such as body aches and chills, which prompted her to get tested for COVID-19.
A few days later, she got a call from Southwest District Health, notifying her that she tested positive.
"When I would inhale through my nose, the air would feel really cold. Even if I was outside and it was really hot. From that, I kind of just started experiencing the coldness in my back," Duran says.
Duran also says she was so cold that she had to use heating pads to warm up herself up.
"I've never felt that type of cold before. I've felt cold in my body, but I have never felt like that internal coldness," Duran says. "I feel like that was the point where this was kind of scary because no one really knew what this was capable of."
Duran says she still feels coldness in her back a couple of times a week.
Regence Executive Medical Director, Joe Badolato says different long-term effects are still being discovered.
"We don't have a full picture of what this virus can do to people. There's a lot we need to flush out there and but it's not unusual that that would be a symptom because again, this is relatively new and we're still learning about it," Badolato says.
Badolato also says other patients have reported feeling fatigued and have brain fog while in the recovery process.
