ICU NURSE HEATHER VALENTINE
--SUPERS--\nHeather Valentine, an ICU nurse who was hospitalized after contracting Covid-19, \nLocation: Houston, TX (CISCO)\nTuesday, July 14th, 2020\n\n<cc>Heather Valentine</cc>\n<cc>Texas ICU nurse gets coronavirus after testing negative</cc>\n\n--SOT--\nROUGH LOG (pulled from CC):\n\n<pi>06:44:02 BERMAN: OUR NEXT GUEST, HEATHER VALENTINE, IS AN ICU NURSE AT A HOSPITAL IN HOUSTON AND SPENT WEEKS CARING FOR CORONAVIRUS PATIENTS BEFORE GETTING THE VIRUS HERSELF. SHE JOINS US NOW FROM THE HOSPITAL WHERE SHE HAS BEEN FOR DAYS. HEATHER, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING WITH US THIS MORNING FROM YOUR HOSPITAL BED. FIRST OFF, HOW ARE YOU FEELING THIS MORNING? </pi>\n06:44:22 <cc>VALENTINE:</cc> I'M FEELING A LOT BETTER THAN WHEN I FIRST CAME IN, DEFINITELY. \n\n<pi>06:44:26 WHAT LANDED YOU IN THAT HOSPITAL BED? </pi>\n06:44:30 I MEAN, IT'S JUST SO CRAZY TO THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, LIKE BEING YOUNG, IT'S JUST LIKE, IT'S NEVER GOING TO BE ME, IT'S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN, AND WORKING WITH COVID PATIENTS. I MEAN, EVERYBODY'S AT RISK AND ANYBODY'S AT RISK. I'M NOT SURE EXACTLY WHERE I PICKED IT UP, BUT SOMEWHERE I DID, AND HERE I AM.\n\n<pi>06:44:47 WHAT WERE THE SYMPTOMS? WHAT DID YOU START FEELING LIKE? </pi>\n06:44:52 WELL, I WORKED THREE SHIFTS IN A ROW. SO THE DAY AFTER, I'M NORMALLY PRETTY EXHAUSTED, SO I JUST THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, MAYBE I JUST NEED SOME REST, I'M JUST REALLY TIRED. AND PROGRESSIVELY THROUGHOUT THAT DAY AFTER THOSE THREE SHIFTS, I JUST GOT WORSENING BODY ACHES AND I JUST STARTED TO FEEL BAD. AND I CHECKED MY TEMPERATURE. I HAD A LITTLE BIT OF A FEVER AND I STARTED WITH A LITTLE BIT OF A COUGH. AND I WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW, MAYBE IT WILL PASS, IT'S JUST SOMETHING RANDOM, WHO KNOWS? AND THEN IT CONTINUED FOR FOUR DAYS AFTER THAT, THE FEVER AND THE COUGH. \n\n<pi>06:45:24 AND YOU DID GET TESTED, AT LEAST ANTIBODY TESTED FIRST, AND THEN ULTIMATELY DIAGNOSTIC TEST, AND BOTH INITIALLY TURNED UP NEGATIVE, CORRECT? </pi>&gt;&gt; CORRECT. &gt;&gt; <pi>BUT LUCKILY, DR. VERRONE, WHO WE'VE HAD ON THIS SHOW A NUMBER OF TIMES, SAID YOU KNOW WHAT, SOMETHING'S FISHY HERE, LET ME TAKE A LOOK AND HE TOOK A CHEST X-RAY. WHAT DID HE FIND? </pi>\n06:45:43 YEAH SO HE ACTUALLY DID A CT SCAN AND HE IMMEDIATELY CALLED ME. I'M WAITING IN MY CAR, WAITING FOR THE RESULTS. AND HE IMMEDIATELY CALLED ME AND SAID, WE'RE GOING TO ADMIT YOU. YOU KNOW, IT'S PRETTY EXTENSIVE, IT LOOKS PRETTY BAD. AND I WAS JUST SHOCKED! I WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW, I DON'T FEEL THAT HORRIBLE. AND HE JUST KEPT SAYING, YOU KNOW, YOUR CT LOOKS WAY WORSE THAN YOU DO. AND I WAS JUST BLOWN AWAY. I WAS REALLY SURPRISED. \n\n<pi>06:46:08 WHAT DID HE SAY WOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU HAD YOU NOT HAD THAT CT SCAN AND BEEN ADMITTED? </pi>\n06:46:14 I MEAN, HE TOLD ME WORST-CASE SCENARIO, IT'S POSSIBLE I COULD HAVE REQUIRED INTUBATION IF I WOULD HAVE WAITED A COUPLE DAYS MORE, WHICH IS SO CRAZY TO HEAR AS AN ICU NURSE.\n\n<pi>06:46:25 YOU'RE BREATHING. YOU DID HAVE SOME ISSUES WITH BREATHING. TELL ME WHAT THAT WAS LIKE. </pi>\n06:46:30 SO, YOU KNOW, LAYING DOWN, I DIDN'T HAVE TO TAKE SO MUCH DEEP BREATHS, BUT WHENEVER I WOULD GET UP AND KIND OF WALK AROUND, IT WOULD REQUIRE ME TO TAKE DEEPER BREATHS. I WOULD JUST HAVE TO COUGH, LIKE I COULDN'T WALK AROUND AND DO EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO DO THROUGHOUT THE DAY WITHOUT COUGHING AND TAKING DEEP BREATHS, AND I WOULD GET A SHARP PAIN IN ONE AREA, AND THAT'S WHERE THEY SAID IT'S MAINLY LOCALIZED, IN MY LUNGS. \n\n<pi>06:46:53 SO, HERE'S THE THING -- AND AGAIN, YOU BROUGHT THIS UP IN THE BEGINNING -- YOU'RE 24. YOU'RE IN A HOSPITAL BED RIGHT NOW. I THOUGHT -- </pi>&gt;&gt; I KNOW. &gt;&gt; <pi>-- THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN TO 24-YEAR-OLDS. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED?</pi>\n06:47:04 I MEAN, IT'S CRAZY. I FEEL LIKE, YOU KNOW, AS A YOUNGER PERSON, AND EVERYONE THINKS WE'RE INVINCIBLE, AND I'M A FAIRLY HEALTHY PERSON. AND YOU JUST NEVER THINK IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU, AND YOU JUST HAVE TO TAKE ALL OF THE PRECAUTIONS, EVERYBODY, NO MATTER HOW YOUNG OR OLD YOU ARE. IT'S SO IMPORTANT. \n\n<pi>06:47:22 WHAT'S IT BEEN LIKE FOR YOU PRIOR TO GETTING IT YOURSELF, THE LAST FEW WEEKS? WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE AS AN ICU NURSE IN THE HOSPITAL?</pi>\n06:47:31 IT'S BEEN HARD. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, I THINK ALL THE FRONTLINE WORKERS OUT THERE ARE GETTING TIRED AND PUTTING OUT THEIR BEST EFFORT TO HELP ALL THE PATIENTS THAT WE CAN. \n\n<pi>06:47:42 WHAT'S GOING IT SLOW THIS DOWN, DO YOU THINK? </pi>\n06:47:45 OH MAN THAT'S A HARD QUESTION. I JUST THINK EVERYBODY HAS TO WORK TOGETHER AND REALLY, YOU KNOW, RESPECT EACH OTHER AND RESPECT THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU MAY NOT HAVE SYMPTOMS, LIKE MY TEST CAME BACK NEGATIVE, AND THAT'S NO GUARANTEE THAT YOU DON'T HAVE IT. SO, I THINK JUST TAKING EVERY PRECAUTION, IF YOU HAVE ANY KIND OF SYMPTOM, JUST STAY HOME, GET CHECKED OUT, YOU KNOW. DON'T WAIT UNTIL YOU CAN'T BREATHE TO GO GET HELP.\n\n<pi>06:48:11 BEFORE IT HAPPENED TO YOU, DID YOU BELIEVE IT? DID YOU BELIEVE -- EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE A NURSE, DID YOU REALLY BELIEVE IT?</pi>\n06:48:18 OH, I MEAN, I COMPLETELY BELIEVE IN COVID. I'VE SEEN IT FOR MYSELF, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THE PATIENTS THAT ARE SO SICK AND TAKING SO LONG TO RECOVER. I 100% BELIEVED IT, BUT I JUST NEVER THOUGHT THAT I WOULD BE HERE. \n\n<pi>06:48:30 HAVE YOU BEEN IN CONTACT WITH, OR HAS SOMEONE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH ALL OF THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE THAT YOU MAY HAVE BEEN CLOSE TO OVER THE LAST FEW DAYS OR BEFORE YOU WERE ADMITTED WHEN YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN SYMPTOMATIC? </pi>\n06:48:42 YES. I MEAN, I'VE REACHED OUT TO MY HEALTH CARE -- OTHER PEOPLE I WORK WITH AND FRIENDS AND THINGS AND LET THEM KNOW THAT I'M HERE WITH IT.\n\n<pi>06:48:53 IF THERE'S ONE MESSAGE YOU WANT TO SEND TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU, PEOPLE IN THEIR 20s, OR PEOPLE IN TEXAS OR IN THE COUNTRY WHO ARE WATCHING THIS, THIS MORNING, WHAT IS THAT? </pi>\n06:49:04 YOU KNOW, NO MATTER HOW HEALTHY YOU ARE, NO MATTER HOW YOUNG YOU ARE, YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL. I MEAN, THESE ARE CRAZY TIMES, AND YOU NEVER THINK IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU, BUT I'M A PERFECT EXAMPLE. JUST TAKE EVERY PRECAUTION. WEAR A MASK. DON'T GO OUT IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO. IT'S NOT WORTH IT.\n\n\n