Adriana Dorman

It was early 2021 and I was 24. I did wake up one day with a sore throat and symptoms of Covid. I tested negative but my roommate tested positive for Covid. I took some time off of work and eventually returned and felt “better”.

A friend from out of town visited me and we hiked St Mary’s Glacier in Colorado, went out drinking and had a good time. I woke up the following morning with the worst back pain of my entire time. I couldn’t get out of bed unless it was to puke. I had shortness of breath, and I couldn’t stay awake. I didn’t want to go to the hospital originally because the rhetoric around that time was if “you’re young and healthy, don’t go to the hospital for Covid. The nursing staff is over worked and under paid” but eventually I knew I had to go in.

There I was admitted to the hospital after going into septic shock. I never had Covid, it was strep throat that turned into pneumonia. I was on a ventilator for 10 days and in the hospital for 2 weeks. I barely remember the hospital but the following 6 months were the worst. I had terrible PSS. But it’s 2026 now and I’ve been healthy since! All 10 fingers and 10 toes, amen. (Sepsis and Strep Throat, Sepsis and Pneumonia)