AKRON, Ohio — She’s known what it was all along.
"I went to brush my teeth and I could not breathe,” said Kate Thompson.
Her condition is only getting worse.
"Day 14 it really set in and I have been basically declining ever since,” said Thompson.
Thompson is an ICU Nurse at Cleveland Clinic Akron General and she has COVID-19.
"My biggest issue with COVID has been my breathing, I’m tired,” Thompson said.
She’s had the virus for 25 days and she’s been in the hospital for five. Although Thompson says she should be strictly focusing on getting better, she can’t.
"I haven’t seen my family, I haven’t seen any of my friends, so all I’ve been basically doing is monitoring social media and it’s been frustrating,” she said.
She says on social media folks are acting like the virus isn’t a big deal, refusing to wear masks and saying it's all a hoax.
"People don’t understand, COVID is serious,” she said.
So, she took her message online to document her long fight with COVID.
One post shows a picture of her thermometer displaying 100.2. In another post, Thompson writes: "Day 14, Today took a turn for not the better."
Her posts have been shared thousands of times, and she’s gotten hundreds of comments.
“Advocating for the community is kind of what us nurses do, and I just feel that it’s important for people to realize that it's more than what a lot of people are making it out to be,” Thompson said.
Tomorrow Thompson will celebrate her Thanksgiving at the hospital, hooked up to machines helping her breathe and she wants folks to think twice before putting themselves and their families in danger.
"This is our now, not our forever,” she said. "Wear your masks when you’re out in public; it’s not a big deal to put one on.”
