Maricopan recovering after ‘awful’ bout with COVID-19

A Rancho El Dorado resident is recovering from COVID-19 and wants to emphasize to his fellow Maricopans how contagious the virus is.

Terry Atkins believes he contracted the novel coronavirus sometime during his trip to Thailand this winter. He does not know if he picked it up in his last days in the country, which he was visiting on vacation, or on the extended flight home.

The journey back to Arizona took three flights and almost 30 hours, including a stopover in Atlanta. By the time he was back in Maricopa he felt he might have some flu symptoms or serious jet lag.

When he went to Thailand Feb. 22, there was international talk about the virus, but cases outside of Wuhan, China, were few and mostly connected directly with Wuhan. Concern in Thailand was low. China, however, had already locked down and stopped tourism.

Atkins, a healthy 69 year old, said his concern at the time wasn’t coronavirus but the possibility one of his flights might be canceled. By the time he returned March 11, COVID-19 was digging in deep across the world.

His first symptoms were a cough that got worse throughout the day and a low-grade fever.

“It wasn’t any better the next morning,” Atkins said. “My doctor had stopped seeing patients personally by that time out of an abundance of caution and he told me to go to the emergency room.”

March 13, Atkins went to Chandler Regional Medical Center, where they took blood and a chest X-ray.

The tests for influenza A and B were negative and his X-ray was clear. He said they debated about giving him the coronavirus test because Thailand was not in the hot zone.

“They had very, very few tests, and probably still do, and I got the feeling they weren’t sure if they wanted to spend one on me,” Atkins said.

In the week that followed, as he awaited test results, he wasn’t quite better. He still had a cough and a fever.

“By St. Patrick’s Day, I felt pretty good,” he said. “I went for a long walk over to the fountain, about three miles. The next day, it hit me like a rock.”

His fever was higher than ever, averaging 102, he felt extreme fatigue, and his whole left side of his chest was in agony.

“Just awful, awful pains in my chest,” he said.

When he had difficulty breathing, he went back to the emergency room, where they again tested his blood and X-rayed his chest. He always remained clear of influenza, which he said was fortunate.

“Basically, I was told to ‘Go home and rest,’” he said.

His coronavirus test from more than a week earlier came back positive, which did not surprise him after days of intense cough, fever, pain and cold sweats.

Pinal County Public Health Services Department asked some questions about his visit to Thailand, but he said he does not remember anyone asking him whom he was interacting with or sitting near on that long journey home or about any of his flights.

He barely had the energy to get out of bed and sit in a chair.

“Everything hurt,” he said. “I would tell myself, ‘Please, don’t cough.’ I couldn’t breathe freely without coughing or my chest going into agony.”

Now, nearly a month after his first visit to the hospital, he almost feels like himself again, though a fever persists. He thinks that is aggravated by a blood clot that developed, possibly from the long flight.

Atkins, a five-year resident of Maricopa, said there is a lot of information available to those who want to know the truth about COVID-19, but attitudes about its spread have been confusing.

“It is extremely contagious and not to be played with,” he said. “It’s beyond comprehension that politics has gotten messed up in it. It’s not the flu. This is different in that it spreads so easily. Just imagine, as poor as the coordination between jurisdictions is, how bad it would have been if we had not put into place policies to shut down parts of the  economy, limit movement and social isolation and distancing. ”

He said though China did not communicate well at the onset of the virus, its response since has been “outstanding.” It quickly had a system for tracking down people who were possibly infected and shutting down large municipalities even before cases were diagnosed within.

Atkins said he worries the United States might lift containment measures too quickly.

“If we don’t do it right,” he said, “we run the danger of it lasting longer, and the effect on the economy might be worse.”

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