Hoboken Mom/Reality Star Tells Of Scary Coronavirus Fight At Home
HOBOKEN, NJ — Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla last week said that out of 199 people in the city who have tested positive for the new coronavirus, at least 32 have recovered — but recovery doesn’t always come easily. On Thursday, a young Hoboken mom with the virus — Michelle Maradie Thomas, who had been a contestant on “Big Brother 4” — shared her story with her community on Facebook.
She said that she struggled at times to breathe but that her doctor didn’t want her to head to an overburdened emergency room.
In her post, Thomas wrote, “At times I wondered if I was going to make it through.”
Thomas started her story by saying that in late March, “My symptoms started mild with a dry cough, low fever and body aches, but by the evening of Day 4, I was struggling to breathe. I was up the whole night trying to stay calm and not go to the ER.”
The next day, on March 24, she went to a drive-thru testing center in northern Hoboken for a test and evaluation. At the center, she was given antibiotics, an albuterol inhaler, an albuterol nebulizer, and an oral steroid.
Her test came back positive for the virus.
“I continued to not be able to breathe for the next few days,” she said. “I contemplated the ER many times, but I knew I would have to be there alone fighting this without my husband being allowed in the hospital with me. On Day 8 [of symptoms], my breathing got so tough my husband was ready to take me to the ER, but the doctor had me come back to the command center instead.”
Thomas added, “The hospitals were so overloaded they didn’t want me to show up there without being sure that was the next best thing for me. To make a long story short, I am on Day 13, and I still need a nebulizer every few hours.”
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She wrote, “I wasn’t given … hydroxychloroquine (malaria meds) because my case wasn’t critical enough and they need to be saved for the people that are almost on ventilators. I wanted to share this story because I am young. I am healthy. I don’t have any underlying health issues. This virus was so brutal that at times I wondered if I was going to make it through. I couldn’t believe I was having thoughts like this pass through my head, but every breath was a struggle. I wanted to live for my family … for my son.”
She noted, “I am so glad that I’m on the other side of this. But many people aren’t as lucky. I hope this is a learning message to everyone out there to PLEASE STAY HOME. Please take this seriously. Even healthy young people get severe symptoms! Please force your friends and family to stay home.”
Last week, Bhalla released statistics showing that people in all age groups in Hoboken are testing positive for the virus, including many in the 30-40 age group — a large demographic in the mile-square city. Four elderly Hoboken residents have died from the virus.
The U.S. surgeon general said Sunday that the next weeks could be the “hardest and saddest” the country has seen.
Even for those who recover, the treatment isn’t always easy. The New York Times published a piece over the weekend in which a doctor discusses what happens when people are put on a ventilator to help them breathe.
In New Jersey on Sunday, the governor said that 947 people had died of the virus and 37,505 have been diagnosed. The first diagnosed case of the virus in America was just 11 weeks ago, on Jan. 21.
In New York City — where many of Hoboken’s 53,000 residents commute — more than 2,400 people had died as of Sunday.
“I originally only wanted to keep this health nightmare between my close friends and family,” Thomas wrote in her post, “but I feel now that I should share my story since we are all in this pandemic together.”
Hoboken’s Office of Emergency Management on Saturday ordered workers at essential businesses in town, and their customers, to wear masks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began advising the use of face coverings on Friday.
Hoboken residents who want to go to the testing center for coronavirus must call first. More information is here.
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