Steven Johnson is a healthy 60-year-old who works out three times a week, takes his vitamins, keeps his weight down and eats a healthy diet. He’s retired, so his stress level is generally low.
If we’re to be honest here, Johnson is kind of an “Alaska man” who grew up in the Mat-Su. He’s tough. He takes care of himself.
He thought he would be the guy who, should someone breathe the COVID-19 virus onto him, would have mild symptoms and a quick recovery.
It didn’t turn out that way for the Palmer resident.
Four weeks after his first COVID-19 headache, he’s barely out of the woods, he said. At least he’s sitting in a chair. But he is weak.
“There were a couple of times I thought I’d need to get to the hospital,” Johnson said. “I’ve had just about every symptom in the book for COVID.”
Headache, muscle aches, joint pain, leg pain, lung fluid, shortness of breath, brain fog — these were some of the coronavirus symptoms he has had over more than month. Tylenol had no effect on his pain. Johnson lost his sense of taste and smell. And he spent days and days in bed with a fever.
Johnson is still suffering the effects, with bouts of inexplicable leg pain that come and go, and he has trouble focusing his brain long enough to even perform short administrative tasks.
Johnson is now wondering if this is the new norm for his life.
A lot of people in the Mat-Su Valley seem to take a cavalier attitude toward the coronavirus, and Johnson wants to get the message out that how your body reacts to COVID is nothing you can predict. You can be completely fit, like he was, and find yourself an invalid.
Congressman Don Young had a short bout with the virus, and he’s 87 years old. Sen. Josh Revak also picked up the virus and had a mild case. But a young man that Johnson knows nearly ended up in the hospital, and he was only 25.
“It kicked his butt,” Johnson said of the young man. As for Johnson, the virus has been even worse, however.
Johnson says that he believes he picked it up on Election Night, at a crowded party where people were in each other’s six-foot zone, and there was a lot of social interaction. OK, let’s call it like it was — there was hooping and hollering.
He believes a lot of others probably came down with the virus at that party, and he knows several who did.
Some people may have had mild cases, but that’s a crapshoot, Johnson said. You don’t want to take the risk, in case you are the one who ends up with excruciating leg pain, overall weakness, or even worse, in a hospital on a ventilator.
It’s a message Johnson says needs to be heard especially around the Mat-Su, where he has heard that some do not believe the virus is real, or believe only the weak get it. He realizes there’s a stigma and some people don’t want to talk about it, but he decided to, because nobody should have to feel like he does.
People are still gathering, not practicing physical distancing, not wearing mouth or nose coverings, and they don’t seem to consider whether they’ll be the next super-spreader who delivers the fatal toxic dose to someone.
“Just take some precautions,” is his message for fellow conservatives. The virus is not a political animal, and whether you get it or don’t get it is not a badge of political honor. But it could be the end of your life as you know it, as you may never recover the health you once had. Or, like Johnson, not recover your sense of smell or taste.
That’s what Johnson is wondering about now — whether he has been through something that will seriously diminish his health for the rest of his life, and whether the Election Night party was worth the risk.
Warning signs and symptoms of COVID-19:
Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
Look for emergency warning signs for COVID-19. If someone is showing any of these signs, seek emergency medical care immediately:
- Trouble breathing
- Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
- New confusion
- Inability to wake or stay awake
- Bluish lips or face
