Quarantined in San Angelo: local woman shares her story amid the COVID-19 outbreak - Standard-Times

Posted: 29 Mar 2020 12:00 AM PDT

SAN ANGELO — Courtney Frizell, 32, has struggled with health issues her entire life. The outbreak of COVID-19, or coronavirus, that swept across the globe from China before it made its way into San Angelo last week alarmed Frizell, whose heart rate isn't steady due to hypothyroidism.

There are days, too, when she grapples with taking a simple breath.

"I had lung surgery at age 3 due to fungal pneumonia," Frizell said. "They tried treating (me) with antibiotics but ... it didn't work."

Respiratory issues keep Frizell from running, but she and her husband own a treadmill that she walks on for 30 minutes each day to stay active. Before March 16, 2020, Frizell said she felt her usual, normal self.

Then things changed.

"I began quarantine on Tuesday, March 17," Frizell said. "It might have been Monday night. It's all very hazy."

What Frizell can remember clearly though are the symptoms she said appeared "out of nowhere."

"I had severe body aches, chills, nausea, and some sinus pressure with a fever of 101.5 degrees," Frizell said. "By the next day, I still had a fever and developed a shortness of breath and a slight cough."

More: Here are the most commonly asked questions about the coronavirus and San Angelo

Frizell decided to ask for a doctor's opinion using Shannon Medical Center's On Demand online and telemedicine services. Frizell said there appeared to be some confusion in getting tested for COVID-19.

"When I used Shannon On Demand, the doctor I spoke with told me to wait in the parking lot and they would come out to screen me... They didn't," Frizell said. "I called Shannon and they told me to just go into (the ER) and that 'no one should have told you that.'"

More: Shannon offers online service to diagnose potential coronavirus cases

What to expect getting tested for COVID-19

To get tested for COVID-19, patients have a long Q-tip inserted through their nose to reach what's known as the nasopharyngeal region, from where cells are collected.

"If you were to open your mouth and say 'Ahh' and look straight back, that's the region, right where the respiratory (tract) meets the back of your mouth,'' said Kirsten Hokeness, an immunology expert who teaches at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island. "The virus likes to latch on there and start replicating.''

Once the sample is taken, it is put into a sterile container and sent to a lab, where a chemical is used to pull the cells off the swab and turn the sample into a liquid form. That liquid is then put into a machine that goes through hot and cold cycles to make multiple copies of the virus' ribonucleic acid (RNA), which carries genetic information. The machine looks to match the person's RNA with the coronavirus RNA to determine a positive or negative result.

More: What to expect when you get a coronavirus test: Stay calm, don't wiggle and it will take just 10 seconds

Dwayne Breining, executive director for Northwell Labs in New Hyde Park, New York, said the test is extremely accurate and can detect even low levels of the virus. False positives are highly unlikely, he said, though false negatives may result from poor-quality swabs or if the instrument is blocked by mucus.

Those factors might have been at play in a number of false negatives initially reported. Patients who continue to have symptoms after a negative test are advised to get retested.

San Angelo woman had choice: hospital or self-quarantine

Frizell said a doctor performed a screening for COVID-19, then medical staff asked if Frizell wanted to go home and self-quarantine for 14 days or stay at the hospital.

Frizell chose to go home.

At home is where Frizell enjoyed leading a relatively normal life helping small businesses with their social media and marketing campaigns. She read books and was 78 days into teaching herself Korean.

Frizell, up until she got sick, had started reading Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy." With her fever at 101.5 degrees, Frizell now journeyed through her own private hell. She continued to accumulate symptoms that included shortness of breath, body aches, a dry cough, and the fear that she may have COVID-19.

San Angelo woman kept diary of symptoms while in self-quarantine

Frizell chose to keep a diary of her symptoms while in isolation under self-quarantine. Medical staff at Shannon told Frizell to call them if her symptoms became worse, and she felt compelled to record what was happening to her. The following are excerpts from what Frizell wrote:

Day 1: Happened at night

Fever peaked to 101.5
nausea
NO cough
NO shortness of breath
sinuses hurt
had to blow my nose only once
Skin, bones, muscles ache like no other.
I writhed in bed until somehow I fell asleep.

Day 2 (March 17)

fever
the body aches weren't as severe
sinus issues increased (stuffy+runny nose)
no appetite
skin VERY sensitive to touch (it hurt to lather soap on my hands)
my eyes hurt
started experiencing a shortness of breath and a slight cough
it hurt my head to cough; tried to cough lightly
went to the hospital; it was a disaster; they let me go home to self quarantine for 14 days (March 31 = End of Quarantine).

Day 3 (March 18)

temp hasn't been >100 today (99.9)
skin no longer sensitive to touch
sinus issues
no appetite
shortness of breath + dry cough increased exponentially
dry cough every few seconds
no matter how deep a breath I take, it's not enough
waiting on COVID-19 results

Day 4 (March 19)

mild fever
coughing increased
shortness of breath increased
can no longer sleep due to chest pressure
nose runny and some violent sneezing
pleurisy (chest pain from lung inflammation); worsened with the sneezing/coughing
little energy
no appetite
possible others that I cannot recall

Day 5 (March 20)

Laryngitis (cannot speak, sore throat)
difficulty swallowing (swollen?)
mild fever (lowest it's been 99.5F; highest today 100.2F)
coughing, runny nose, sneezing
cannot clear throat (mucus remains)
mucus went from yellow to green but then cleared up again (all in one day); keeping an eye on it
pleurisy
shortness of breath remains; it's like a thing of bricks on my chest
fatigue
no appetite; too difficult to swallow (will have soups for supper until swelling goes down)
violent coughing if attempt to breathe in deep but even then it's mostly dry. However, I started Mucinex today and was able to clear my throat (wasn't able to for a minute and that was a bit scary because it felt like the mucus thickness kept growing and I couldn't get it down)
no sleep due to discomfort and a bit afraid to sleep if I'm being honest

Day 6 (March 21)

Similar symptoms to Day 5.
Day 6 was accompanied by horrible coughing where I couldn't get as much air to my lungs but I also couldn't produce anything to make it stop. I thought I might pass out from it due to weakness.
Still waiting on test results.
3 hours of sleep (only 2 hours since March 16) but when I woke up, it felt like my chest had been hit hard. I started coughing violently until ...I produced such a grotesque green/gray/pale mucus. Followed by similar through blowing nose.

Day 7 (March 22)

Took a shower, almost passed out. Couldn't finish washing conditioner out of my hair.
Fatigued but it's getting better little by little.
Sore throat bit less swollen (laryngitis).
Slight improvement in lungs.
Slept a bit more.
Temp stayed same 99.5F.
Horrible coughing fit at night. Congested discharge (sinus infection?).
Lung pain, congestion, cough, etc = worse in the morning & night. Morning is always accompanied with green phlegm/mucus from throat and nose + violent coughing to get it up. Phlegm color is slightly less dark than before.

Day 8 (March 23)

Coughing more productive; still violent+nothing fully clears my lungs.
Pleurisy (pain in lungs, inflammation)
Sinus issues continue. My nose isn't runny. It just builds up and it's like I blow out the pressure.
Sneezing.
Voice returning
My Epilepsy is affected by this viral infection as well. I've had multiple seizures daily since getting sick. It was at its worst Day 2-4. I could barely eat as it was, no appetite, little strength but then add having seizures to this.

San Angelo woman hasn't been able to hold her husband or hug her mother

From March 24 - 26, Frizell said her daily life was stuck resting in bed.

"I (couldn't) make it to the kitchen and back without feeling fatigued," Frizell said. "Every time I shower, it feels like I might faint. I wish I had a shower chair. But still, (I'm) getting better day by day."

"(Thursday) was the first night I had a full 8 hours of sleep. No matter how tired I was, the discomfort, lack of breath, and sinus issues, and eventual throat pain made it impossible to sleep for more than 2 hours a night," Frizell said.

More: San Angelo mayor writes Gov. Abbott, senators to avoid economic ruin, massive homelessness

Despite gradual improvements to her health, Frizell said things have been especially hard because she hasn't been able to get near her family out of fear they will get sick too.

Frizell's husband has remained healthy so far while they both practice social distancing.

"We (kept our distance) during the worst time, which was difficult because you want comfort, but it's necessary to safeguard everyone in the house," Frizell said. "We haven't hugged or anything — not even my mom who lives with us because she's immunocompromised and has COPD."

"It's really a tough time for everyone," she said.

On Saturday, March 28, Frizell said she heard back from medical staff at Shannon about her test results for COVID-19.

Frizell tested negative.

"(They) said my test came back negative but my symptoms fit and (they) think I went in too early so the results showed negative," Frizell said

How accurate are COVID-19 tests?

One potential pitfall of COVID-19 testing is that samples are collected from the nose and throat — part of the upper respiratory tract — but the virus mainly causes a lower respiratory tract infection in the lungs.

That means it's possible not to collect enough samples of the virus from the upper respiratory tract, even if a patient is infected.

"No test is ever perfect," said Erin Graf, co-director of Microbiology at Mayo Clinic Arizona. "Sometimes if the level is too low, we might get a false negative result."

The reason samples aren't collected from a person's lower respiratory tract, or lungs, is because doing so is a lot more challenging, according to Graf.

If a patient continues to be ill and doctors have ruled out other illnesses, they could choose to collect and test samples from the lower respiratory tract.

Another potential shortfall of the test is how sensitive it is.

"Because the test is so exquisitely sensitive, a small amount of contamination ... could really impact the testing," Graf said.

There is always the possibility that the virus could mutate. If a virus mutates in the parts targeted by the test, it could render current tests useless.

All viruses mutate, according to Dr. David Engelthaler, the co-director and associate professor of the Pathogen and Microbiome Division at TGen North in Flagstaff, Arizona, so it's expected there will be some changes to this virus in coming months.

'Your life just stops' says San Angelo woman

Frizell's self-quarantine ends March 31, but her doctor wants her to stay in quarantine until her last symptom doesn't present itself for 3 additional days, and Frizell's cough hasn't stopped yet.

Until then, Frizell said her life has been put on hold.

"It's as if your life just stops," she said. "You can do things at home, but that furniture I wanted to refinish? Shopping for fixing up the new house? None of it's possible now."

Frizell cannot see her nieces and nephews, hug her family, or kiss her husband. She remains isolated and alone with only a mobile device as her connection to the outside world.

"Everything feels surreal," Frizell said. "I often ask myself 'Is this really our life now? Is this really happening?' And of course it is but it seems so absurd ...it's an experience I never thought I'd have nor ever wanted."

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More: COVID-19 BLOG: How San Angelo is affected by the coronavirus

John Tufts covers enterprise and investigative topics in West Texas. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com. Consider supporting West Texas journalism with a subscription to GoSanAngelo.com.

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