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'I never thought that even if I did get it, it would affect my mom and I the way it did' | Mother, daughter describe lingering effects of COVID-19

Rachel Hogan, and her mom Angela, were both hospitalized in October after testing positive for the coronavirus.

ASHEBORO, N.C. — Coronavirus numbers are climbing. Hospitalizations are hitting record highs. A COVID-19 vaccine is promising - but still months away for many. It's clear - we're still in the midst of this pandemic. 

Many have recovered after contracting the virus - but not every case is mild, and not everyone recovers without lasting effects. 

Rachel Hogan and her mother, Angela, took the virus seriously. They followed the rules, and masked up wherever they went. Yet, in October, the pair both tested positive for COVID-19. 

"I never thought that even if I did get it, it would affect my mom and I the way it did," she said, "That’s the shocking thing. She’s 47, I am 22. I thought we'd just stay home, fight through it...so it was definitely an eye-opener when we had to be hospitalized with this."

What started as a cough turned quickly into a fever. Hogan said, it was downhill from there. 

"I got extremely sick," she said, "I woke up and my oxygen had plummeted to 80. I couldn’t breathe. I was gasping. I was dizzy. My heart rate was like, 130 resting... I was like, I've got to go somewhere."

First her mother was hospitalized, then Hogan soon after. Both ending up at Cone Health's COVID-19 hospital in Greensboro. While Hogan spent five days there, her mother Angela spent two weeks - under close watch and care of doctors, nurses, and therapists.

"They straight up told me - we don't know your outcome, this is a new virus. I asked them, I was like, am I going to be OK? And they said, we don't know... which is extremely alarming," Hogan said.

Despite leaving the hospital, things didn't go back to normal. Hogan describes physical symptoms still lingering even now - headaches every morning along with muscle pain. The worst of it: brain fog.

"That's really hard because even right now, I have to think extra hard about what I’m saying, the words I’m trying to find. Just talking to somebody - I really have to take a little longer to think," she said. 

Doctors explained, she'd likely have mental effects after the virus as well, like PTSD.

"I have nightmares. I can barely sleep at night. I wake up gasping for air - not because I still have low oxygen - but because I'm just so traumatized."

Hogan says, unfortunately, her mother has it even worse. 

"She's still on oxygen at home. She needs at-home physical therapy weekly, she has headaches every day. She has shortness of breath, and trouble breathing. Pain in her lung area. She can’t even walk long distances without gasping for air. Her oxygen is still dropping," she explained. 

After making it to the other side of COVID-19, she's got a message for anyone listening: as the case numbers rise - please, follow the rules. 

"It's truly traumatizing and frightening to know that there are going to be people out here with COVID that aren’t going to be able to get beds because the other COVID patients have those beds," Hogan said. 

"This isn't a conspiracy. This isn't political. This is really affecting families. This is affecting lives. Just... be a good person."

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