'It’s out of your hands’: Huntersville woman battled COVID-19 for more than 2 months

Huntersville native Amanda Alexander is still recovering after testing positive for the coronavirus over two months ago.

“I started feeling my first symptoms on March 4. I had really gnarly body aches,” said Alexander.

Alexander’s first few symptoms were aches and pains followed by loss of taste. She went to urgent care and got a test for strep, which came back negative. She later asked if she should be tested for COVID-19.

“They said, ‘No, we have no reason to test you. You have no fever, and you haven’t been out of the country,’” she said.

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Her symptoms continued for around three weeks. On March 23, she asked again to be tested.

“I didn’t get my results back until March 28 and ironically that was the same day I ended up going to the hospital,” she said.

At that point, Alexander had pain in her chest and back and was vomiting. She did not have a fever and said she still had not experienced a fever over the past few months.

“Three days I was in the hospital, and I never had to be put on any kind of ventilator, which was good. My chest X-ray was abnormal,” she said.

Alexander explained she thought she would be on the mend after leaving the hospital, but that’s when she developed a cough.

“There’s just this expectation that it’s two weeks, and you’re good. And I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to feel better,” Alexander said.

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Weeks went by, and her cough persisted. After a virtual appointment, her doctor asked her to get tested again. On April 21, Alexander tested positive for the coronavirus again -- over four weeks after her first test.

“The doctor came out and said, ‘You’re positive still. You’re technically on Day 49,’” she said. “I was almost relieved to still be positive because it validated the way I was feeling, and I thought OK, I’m not crazy.”

Thursday marked 71 days since Alexander began showing symptoms. She’s still coughing but said she’s no longer putting pressure on herself to feel better. She’s urging others not to put a timeline on this virus.

“Take it day by day. Don’t put an expectation on when you should feel better. It’s out of your hands. You just have to try your best to take care of yourself,” she said.

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