Seattle woman says she survived coronavirus

SEATTLE — A Seattle woman recovering from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is describing what it's like to get sick with the illness and survive.

She thought she had a really bad case of the flu. So she sent her nose swab to this lab run by the University of Washington to participate in a Seattle Flu study.

Instead it came back positive for coronavirus.

"And then I got a call on Saturday from the Seattle Flu study folks at the UW that your sample tested positive for COVID-19," said Schneider.

That is how the 37-year-old bioengineer learned she had been sick with the illness that has proved so lethal to the elderly and the infirm.

"To be honest, I initially was shocked," said Schneider. "It kind of made sense though that all of us experienced the same symptoms at the same time. And whatever we got was very potent and very virulent."

She says she began to get sick two Tuesdays ago after a weekend party with friends. She had a fever that kept rising.

“It was 103 degrees," she said. "And by that point, I was completely shivering. And I was getting the chills. I was feeling numbness in my extremities."

Still, she didn't have any of the other symptoms of COVID-19.

"I did not have a cough," Schneider said. "I did not have any respiratory symptoms. I didn't have any shortness of breath or tightness in my chest."

She says she began feeling well again last weekend. She posted the news on Facebook.

"So that other people can understand what to potentially expect if they get infected with this," she said. "And I also wanted to post it because I did have it. And I have come out the other end. And I did recover. And I did survive."

She says she was told that she is no longer contagious. So she has begun to resume her life.

But like so many in our area, she is working from home.

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