LITTLE ROCK, Ark — A west Little Rock woman is sharing her long battle with COVID-19, which still hasn't ended after a month of suffering.
59-year-old Anne Roberts never thought she'd be back at UAMS just six days ago, but she found herself in the backseat of an ambulance, once again, after her struggles with COVID-19 hasn't reached its endpoint.
"I just feel like it's been one of the worst months in my life," she said.
For Roberts, the past 28 days have been filled with fatigue, fear, and frustration.
"It's turned me up emotionally, physically," she said.
Those physical effects began with a high fever, chills, and delusion on June 30 after Roberts' husband had gone back to work for a week and ended up testing positive for COVID-19.
"I got soft pillows in my bed, but every one of them seemed like rocks. It was very hard to get comfortable," she said.
According to Roberts, things took a turn for the worse on July 4, when her husband had to call 911 after she struggled to breathe.
"I was too weak to sit up for my husband to take me there and when the ambulance people came, I was lying on the floor," she said.
At her emergency room visit in UAMS, Roberts was diagnosed with pneumonia and COVID-19.
She was sent home, but 18 days later, shortness of breath and muscle weakness took her right back to the same spot.
"This time they found that my pneumonia had worsened and I ended up staying there two nights," Roberts said.
Even though she didn't test positive for COVID-19 the second time around, the fatigue still lingers.
Roberts said this makes a simple task at home, leaving her defeated.
"I wanted to fix my husband an omelet for breakfast and it took me two rest periods to get it done," she said.
Throughout her journey, Roberts remained vocal, posting about her experience regularly on Facebook.
"I wanted people to know that COVID is not just a mild illness that you don't need to worry about or a small chance you'll die, and there's a whole lot in between and I was having the in-between from hell," she said.
Roberts hoped that by sharing the emotional and physical turmoil she's been through, will give others wake up call, about the importance of following the rules to protect everyone around you.
"You may get it, you may not know about it and you may give it to your grandmother. How are you going to feel about that? Just be kind," she said.