Item
Nancy Martinez Oral History, 2021/03/29
Media
Title (Dublin Core)
Nancy Martinez Oral History, 2021/03/29
Description (Dublin Core)
This oral history is with 35 year old Nancy Martinez, who identifies as female and Mexican. She tested positive for COVID-19 in January 2021 and shared the physical and emotional impact of having COVID-19.
Recording Date (Dublin Core)
March 29, 2021
Creator (Dublin Core)
Kathryn Jue
Nancy Martinez
Contributor (Dublin Core)
Kathryn Jue
Event Identifier (Dublin Core)
HST580
Partner (Dublin Core)
Arizona State University
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
English
Health & Wellness
English
Healthcare
Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)
survivor
Contributor's Tags (a true folksonomy) (Friend of a Friend)
California
survivor
infection
emotion
sad
fear
relief
real
Collection (Dublin Core)
Survivor Stories
Latino(a/x) Voices
Linked Data (Dublin Core)
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
04/04/2021
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
04/26/2021
05/05/2021
05/07/2022
05/23/2022
06/04/2022
08/02/2022
09/10/2024
Interviewer (Bibliographic Ontology)
Kathryn Jue
Interviewee (Bibliographic Ontology)
Nancy Martinez
Location (Omeka Classic)
Stanton
California
United States
Format (Dublin Core)
mp3
Language (Dublin Core)
English
Duration (Omeka Classic)
00:46:11
Transcription (Omeka Classic)
Kathryn Jue 0:03
All right, we are now recording. My name is Katy Jue and I'm an intern with the COVID-19 archive at Arizona State University. The date is March 29, 2021. The time is 4:23 pm Pacific Standard Time, and I am speaking with Nancy Martinez. Um, Nancy, I want to ask you some questions about your pandemic experience. But before I do, I would like to ask for your consent to record, um, this response for the COVID-19 archive. The COVID-19 archive is a digital archive at ASU that is collecting pandemic experiences. Do I have your consent to record your responses and add them to the archive with your name?
Nancy Martinez 0:45
Yes, you do.
KJ 0:46
Thank you. Um. First, can you tell me your name, gender, age, race, occupation. Yeah.
NM 0:55
[Laughs] My name is Nancy Blanca Martinez. I am Latina, Mexican. I am 35 years old. My occupation is a I'm a registered dental assistant. I think that's it. Now what else?
KJ 1:10
Oh, um, and where you live?
NM 1:12
I live in Stanton, California.
KJ
Thank you. If you wouldn't mind, can you tell me a little bit about your family, your living situation, like who you live with? Before the pandemic began?
NM
Absolutely, yes. Um. I actually live with my brother and his wife and two children. And also, well, my husband and my two children and my mother and her husband, so my stepdad.
KJ 1:38
Thank you.
NM 1:40
So there's ten of us.
KJ 1:43
Prior to the pandemic, can you describe just your average week where you went? What you did? That sort of thing?
NM 1:50
Yeah. So prior to the pandemic, I used to work Monday through Thursday, that's usually a typical in the dental field, that's your typical work week, it's Monday through Thursday, give or take a Friday, then I would come home, I would just run errands. If I needed to go to a supermarket, I would come from help my children. Then, mainly over the weekends, we would go out to do, um, activities. We would go to the mall or we'd go to the beach, we'd go to the movie theaters, restaurants, different places, you know, just to try to entertain them.
KJ 2:36
Thank you. Describe how your average week changed or did not change after the pandemic began.
NM 2:45
So the way my week changed was, uh, initially when the pandemic started is we couldn't go anywhere. We were absolutely secluded to the walls of our home. And, um, we honestly we're very hesitant to even go to the supermarket. You know when we started hearing about, um, COVID-19. And we had one designated person who would go for the week to go buy, um, our food and to go look for any sort of, um, cleaning supplies or any sort of disinfectants or anything that we would need toilet paper, paper towels, things like that. So it was it changed drastically, to say the least.
KJ
And was anyone in your household able to work from home or were most of you having to go into work or?
NM
So initially, back in March of 2020, when my dental office got shut down mid March, actually. My husband, uh, was still remotely working. My husband works as security for Disneyland. And they actually stayed open for about another month before they got shut down in April. So he was still working. Um, and my brother and my sister in law also work in the dental field. And they were, um, they actually remained open even during the pandemic so they never really fully shut down. I think they closed it for about a day or two. Um. And also my mother, she is a cashier at a gas station. She never, um, fully stopped working either. I think they were off maybe one day or two. And that's about it. So I think the only one that are the only ones that fully stopped working all together was myself for about two months. Um. My husband who is actually still still furloughed, he still hasn't returned to work and my, uh, stepdad who also is in the the operations like, like a well, he works for Knott's. So he he's still actually he's back to work now, fully. I think he went back a few months after they had him go back because he's been there for so long. So he's one of their senior employees. And, um, yeah, he was only off of work for a few months, rather than, like still fully furloughed.
KJ
And then, for this follow up question, and for any question I asked you, if you do not want to answer I should have said this at the beginning. I'm so sorry. Feel free to say I don't feel comfortable answering that. And you, please, we can move on to another question.
NM
Absolutely.
KJ
In the time that you in, in the two months, your dental office was closed and your husband being still furloughed? Um. Were you receiving paychecks? Is he receiving any income right now?
NM
Thankfully, yes. He is still on in unemployment. When I was furloughed, I received unemployment those two months. Um. He is still receiving unemployment, uh, thankfully. Because I mean, you know, this is, you know, we live in California, both Mom and Dad, you know, both both partners have to work in order to make everything you know, to make to make work. Um. So yeah, yeah, he's still receiving thankfully an income as well.
KJ 6:39
All right, I'm going to diverge from my neutralness and say, Oh, that's good. I'm happy to hear that.
NM 6:43
Yeah. Well, for a little bit, it was tough, because they were saying that, well, he stopped receiving for about a month. So that kind of backed us up. And actually, when we get to the part when we got sick, we we didn't get paid. Well, at least I didn't get paid for. For the, like, the month that I was sick. Yeah. Well, cuz. Uh. Yeah. What we'll get into that, I guess, or I don't know if I could answer it now.
KJ 7:17
Um, yeah, if you want to if I mean.
NM 7:19
Yeah, of course. Um, Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, I was with this employer, and I actually switched jobs between the pandemic. Um. And when I got sick, with COVID. I was working with a different employer, and he basically refused to pay me. He said it was optional, and he opted to not pay me. Because he said also that I guess, the, that the help was optional, and that, um, yeah, that he wasn't forced to pay me. And that's actually one of the reasons why I switched my employment as well.
KJ 8:01
Wow. Thank you so much for for sharing that, because that's a very vulnerable thing to share. So thank you. Um, going into the actual contracting COVID part of the interview. If you don't mind, um, can you describe just your like, overall health prior to contracting COVID?
NM 8:20
Yes. So overall, I would like to believe that I maintain a healthy lifestyle. I, um, over the course of maybe the last three or four years, I went on this like health journey, which I'm still, you know, in my health journey, I lost about 35, 40 pounds. The ones I gained don't count. [Laughter] I regained. Oh, during COVID. So yeah, and I, you know, eating healthy. I worked out every day that I know of, I have no underlying conditions, no illnesses. Diabetes does run in my family. My brother is a diabetic. I know high cholesterol also runs in my family. But to my knowledge, I do not have any. Uh. Any conditions. I mean, I'm not I'm not sick. You know, I'm not I'm relatively healthy, just according to the doctor's charts. I am overweight still, even after losing. You know, the weight, but that's about it.
KJ 9:31
Great. Thank you. Um, do you Oh, I would assume you probably know this. What What was the actual date that you were confirmed to have COVID-19. Like, what was the date that this test came back?
NM 9:45
The date that I that I found out that I was positive for COVID-19 was January 2, 2021.
KJ
And then are you able to look back at the one to two weeks prior and describe, um any activities or things you were doing in those one to two weeks prior to contracting COVID?
NM
Yeah, I was working, I was working and I was coming home and just basically trying to stay as healthy as possible, you know, occasional a weekly trip to the supermarket, um, you know, would go, I would go get maybe food like to go just to try to keep some sort of normalcy, you know, on the weekends. But nothing out of the new COVID normal of you know, going to work, staying home, and, you know, just trying to make do with with what we had here.
KJ
And then, um, were you aware of anyone, um, you had been in contact with? Who had COVID-19?
NM
Before I got sick? Um, a couple of times, yeah. Well, at work. There, we have protocols, you know, we take temperatures, we have patients sanitize, um. We, when we call to confirm or to, you know, let them know, hey, about their appointments, they inform us, hey, you know, I'm not going to be able to make it because I came in contact with somebody, or even after we saw them that day, or a day after, uh. I actually had a couple of patients call us to let us know that they were in fact, in contact with somebody who tested positive. Uh. So I came in contact with people that came in contact with other people, you know, that actually tested positive? None that I knew for sure that were positive for COVID.
KJ
And then, one final question about the I guess, the build up? Do you have any? Like, I know, COVID really hard to trace. Do you have any, like speculation of do you think you got it at work? Or at church? Or like?
NM
No, I know, I know where we got, but we did the math and where I'm about 95% sure that I know where I got COVID. Um, my sister in law's sister. Somebody came in contact with her that was positive for COVID, they were sick. Or let me let me go back. I'm not 100% sure that the sister knew that they had COVID. But they were sick. Like they were they had, like, you know, they weren't feeling well, the running. So my sister in law's sister came in contact with somebody. And mind you, my sister in law's sister is the most cleanest like she's very like, paranoid. She was very, you know, very careful into who she came into contact with. Especially because she is her mother's caregiver. And her mom has, you know, some some health issues. And the mom has a couple of or, I believe she's she has a handicap where she can't really walk very well and she needs to help. So she was very, very careful. And yeah, my sister in law's sister came in contact with somebody. And that's how we got it.
KJ 13:17
Thank you. Um. Were there any symptoms that you have that led you to believe you had COVID?
NM 13:26
Not at first, not initially. Um, I'll go back a couple of days. So I want to say the, um, January 2nd was a Saturday. Um, the, I believe so. But I'm honestly like, going back so I've had I had maybe like, not even scratchy throat, you know, when you feel like you need you have the need to clear your throat, but there's really nothing there. And it's not so much a scratchy though. You're just kind of like trying to clear because you feel like there's something there but there really isn't. So I had that a day before. About two days before so like Thursday, but I started getting suspicions of something's happening when my brother actually and my sister in law. My sister-in-law wasn't feeling well on Tuesday. My brother was not feeling well, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. And then on Friday. We found out that my, my sister in law's sister wasn't feeling very well either. And then I came to fat to find out that she during that week, she also wasn't feeling too good a Friday for sure. She was like not feeling good at all. She had a really bad headache and body aches and stuff like that. So her sister went and took a test Friday afternoon, one of those rapid tests, and it came back positive. And, I wasn't, like I said, my brother and my sister in law were the ones that weren't feeling too good. But I was the one that tested first, even though I wasn't really feeling anything, just like that little lump on my throat, I guess you could say. So, early Saturday morning, I went to get tested. I actually paid, um, for one of those rapid tests, these are ones that within the hour, they let you know. And then about 20 minutes after the, I took the test, I got an email and a text confirmation. And it said that I was positive for COVID because they tested you for COVID, and they tested for the flu, and influenza came back negative and COVID-19 came back positive.
KJ
Thank you. Um, what were the first things you did once you got that confirmation?
NM
Um. I. I was shocked, I'm not gonna lie. I was I kind of knew I kind of had a feeling but I, since I didn't have any symptoms. I was like, No, I, you know, it can't be. Especially be like, I wasn't, I wasn't feeling anything, you know, just like I said, a little tickle in my throat. Um. So I was shocked. Uh. And then I called my former employer, my employer at the time, I called to inform him that I had tested positive for COVID. And um, yeah, that's it. And then I just came home and I started to- Well, my husband actually had me go into our bedroom and he, uh, well basically isolated me and then just kind of set up with he started setting up our area in my bedroom in order to keep me isolated from the rest of the house. And, um, yeah.
KJ 17:11
And then, um, as you know, your COVID progressed, could you describe how it impacted you physically? Did you didn't have symptoms at first, did it ever? Did you ever get
NM 17:23
Yeah.
KJ 17:23
the symptoms?
NM 17:25
I did. Actually about the next day, or actually, as the day progressed, I started feeling body aches. That scratchy throat started to become a little more scratch here, or that lump started to become a scratch. And mainly, um, I got body aches, and as the bass, you know, passed, the body aches became more severe. Um. The shortness of breath and actually the second day after I tested for COVID I lost my smell, my ability to smell and taste. So on day two of testing positive for COVID I lost my smell and taste.
KJ 18:08
And just estimated wise How long did the symptoms last? Like the body aches and the smell and the loss of smell?
NM 18:18
The body aches and you know the scratchy throat lasted for about a week. The body aches lasted maybe a good three weeks, and I still currently cannot smell or taste fully. It actually really goes -
KJ 18:34
Really?
NM 18:35
Yes. And oh, I also I mean not to try to I forgot at one not forget but I also experienced headaches. Which I didn't want to say that it was due to COVID but they did get worse then I still get them every now and then. And, um, shortness of breath definitely the shortness of breath. The ability to not be a not breathe correctly. It's still affecting me today. And yeah, my smell or taste. Um. It comes and goes it's the strangest thing. It some days, I'm at like maybe 60% of smell and tastes. Some days it's back to zero. Some days it's 10%. It varies and as the day progresses, sometimes it happens throughout the day. I can't even explain it.
KJ 19:29
Wow, um, thank you. Did you seek any medical interventions when you were like going through COVID? Like did you have any telehealth appointment with a doctor? Or?
NM 19:41
I didn't I'm mainly home remedies and you know you you inform your friends and family and then they started giving you the home remedies. And, um, one of the reasons also why I did not seek any medical like professional medical assistance was because I don't have medical insurance and, um, you know, basically anything would have paid, I would have had to pay out of pocket. And we know that's very pricey. So, um, but thankfully, it didn't have to come to that, you know, I didn't feel like, um, like, I had to go to the doctors to get any sort of like, uh, stronger medicines than what I already had, my major symptoms were the body aches, the headaches. And, you know, the shortness of breath was, it wasn't as severe to where I was concerned to where like, Oh, my gosh, I need to go to the doctor's. So I just kind of just took things day by day.
KJ 20:47
Thank you.
NM 20:48
Yeah,
KJ 20:49
I think you already answered Oh, go ahead.
NM
I'm sorry. Well, what I was gonna say is, I mean, and, you know, they tell you, you have to kind of like quarantine, so there wasn't really anywhere to go, if you didn't have like a certain up to a certain amount of symptoms, or like the severity of the symptoms weren't as, you know, major as, as one thinks that they are, you know, so they I that's one of the reasons why I also didn't feel the need to go to the doctor's. So.
KJ
Thank you. So I think you already answered this, but I'm going to ask it again, in case there's anything you want to add to it. In addition, if you want to describe how COVID-19 how the infection impacted your livelihood, and/or your family life, I know you already talked about changing jobs. So you may have already answered this.
NM 21:40
Well, will it impact us in a major way. I mean, like I said, I still get, you know, shortness of breath, every now and then, you know, the the lack of, of smell, and, or tastes are still there. It's things that. Um, my energy sometimes is a little bit lower than usual, I catch myself getting winded more often, or then times that I normally wouldn't. Um, yeah, I think just basically, that. Um. Yeah.
KJ 22:18
And then, um, one final question about the infection itself and its effects. Um. There are some studies that are talking about the kind of like the the mental and emotional impact of having COVID-19. I didn't know there was anything you wanted to share about that?
NM 22:36
Yeah, it definitely, definitely impacts you mentally, emotionally. Aside from physically, I would cry almost every day. [Starts crying] It was it was painful. I did not want anybody like I did not wish COVID on anybody. And I wasn't even on the on the severe side of the symptoms. I just you know that the body aches they were so strong. I couldn't get up. Sometimes. I would just cry. I would cry because I felt so. I felt helpless. Um. I felt like when am I going to get better? Some days, I would feel a little better than the next day I would just get knocked down even worse. It would come and go, you know, the the pain, the headaches. So it really messes with you. [Crying] Man, just seeing. Yeah, seeing your family, you know, get sick. Like I mentioned, you know, there's 10 of us here and we basically all got sick. The only one that didn't show any signs was my six year old daughter.
KJ 23:58
Wow. Yeah, again, thank you. Thank you so much for sharing that. And yeah. I'm so sorry that you guys all went through that together. Because that's, that's quite a experience. So thank you.
NM 24:19
Yeah. It's, I think it's even more painful because I'm, like I said, my brother, you know, being diabetic and having underlying conditions, you know, if it made it tough. My mom, she's the only parent I have and to know that she got sick and my mom's actually also diabetic to know that, you know, it could have been worse to even to think that I could possibly have lost any one of my family members. You know, that's just it hurts you know, and it's interesting because the one person that is the healthiest out of all of us, which is my husband. He actually ended up in the hospital. He had to go to the hospital due to COVID.
KJ 25:11
And um, when he was in the hospital, were you still in your infection, if that makes sense?
NM 25:20
Yeah.
KJ 25:20
It was in the same time?
NM 25:22
Yeah, actually, about three days after I tested positive and started to basically go downhill. He was having symptoms as well. So he basically quarantined with me. Um. And about four days into, after I sent him to go get tested as well. And after he tested, maybe two days later, he started to have a lot of complications. Um. He had he had, through his, through his job, he had dental insurance, or I'm sorry, he had medical insurance. And he went, he had one of those teleconference calls. I'm sorry, can you give me one second?
KJ 26:08
Yeah.
NM 26:09
Thank you. [Pauses and mutes to talk to family] Sorry, he, they're watching something and it's really loud.
KJ 26:21
Oh no, it's no problem.
NM 26:22
Yeah. I lost my train of thought, yeah. So he, you know, through his job, he still has a health insurance, which I'm very grateful for. He got to the point where he couldn't stop coughing. He was, he was bad, he got really bad. He would cough all night, he wouldn't sleep so I wouldn't sleep because you know, he's right next to me. And then coughing, and when make him throw up. And then, you know, throwing up, made him have shortness of breath. So it's just like, a vicious cycle. And it got to a point where on day four, I still remember that Monday morning. He was just like, just after a night of not being able to sleep and coughing and throwing up and um, I called an urgent care. And they had us waiting for a really long time, and they just did a teleconference and the doctor wasn't even, like, really helpful. All he said was, Oh, well, here's some promethazine for your cough. And we're like, okay, you know, you're the doctor, you know, you know, better we're telling you all the symptoms or whatever. So then I went and I filled his prescription. Um. No, trying to think. That's another thing, like my mind is very hazy. Like, that's one of the things that I noticed that your mind just kind of like it feels almost scrambled sometimes. Um. So he got his prescription for a promethazine. And he took it. And that actually made things worse, to the point where he wasn't really very well. And he couldn't stop coughing and he couldn't catch his breath. So I rushed him into the, to the emergency room, that same day, in the afternoon. It was like around four o'clock in the afternoon. And mind you, we got the medicine from the doctor, like around one in the afternoon. So it within three hours. We try to you know, take the promethazine and take a nap since he wasn't able to sleep the night before. And he just it just wasn't happening. And so yeah, I rushed him to the emergency room that Monday. And when they were wheeling him into the emergency room, like I basically out of desperation. I yelled at the lady. I'm like, can you please help me I'm like, he kept he's not breathing very well. Like, his lips are turning purple. He was just sitting outside. But there was so many people there. And I apologized, you know, I after I'm like, I'm so sorry. You know, I was just, she understood. She was like, it's okay, you know, and I'm like, I didn't mean to be rude. It's just that I was afraid that he was just gonna pass out. [Crying] So when they wheeled him in, you know, I just kind of stay there. And the one thing he told me which that's one of the things I will never forget, and it hurts to even think he told me make sure that our life insurance is up to date. [Starts crying hard] I didn't want to hear that. That was the last thing I heard. He said to make sure our life insurance was up to date. [Pauses crying, sniffs] And I was I didn't see him for three days after that. [Cries] And I just sat outside of the hospital that day until midnight. I just sat outside the window of the ER. And didn't move. I didn't do anything. Just hoping that maybe it was something quick that they will let him go. But they didn't. They told me I had to go home. I couldn't sit outside anymore. And mind you, this was me so sick with COVID there was nobody else to take him.
KJ 30:44
Oh, Nancy. Um. Wow. Um. First thing, thank you so much for for, you know, openly sharing that I That does not sound like that was an easy thing to even share. So so thank you so much, do. Do you need a break to have water?
NM 31:08
I'm okay.
KJ 31:09
You're okay?
NM 31:10
Yeah, I'm okay [crying]
KJ 31:13
And, um, gosh. So um, after those three days, was he able to come home?
NM 31:24
Yeah. So I was. So as you can imagine, you know. One of the things that I like to joke with him is I tell him like, first and foremost, I'm like, I can't even get sick without you trying to, you know, trying to outshine me on getting sick. And then I tell him, I'm like, man, you really did test our wedding last, didn't you? [Laughs] Like you really didn't mean in sickness and in health? Or till death do us part. Man, were you already trying to get out of this contract? I'm like, no. I mean, obviously. Now, you know, I joke with him about that. But so yeah, like just it was it was just very difficult once he got out of the hospital. He, it was tough. It was tough. He wasn't fully himself. And they actually discharged him. I bought like a one of those pulse oximeters.
KJ 32:26
Mmm.
NM 32:28
To make sure that, you know, to his oxygen was very low. Still, but I mean, they needed the space, I guess. I don't know. Like he was good enough to be discharged after three days. And yeah, like they just gave him a bunch of medicine and sent him home. I don't know if that fully answered your question I kind of trailed off there.
KJ 32:51
No, no, that was that's that was. That was fine. That was. I just wanted to get closure on. When he was able to come home, man.
NM 33:01
Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, thankfully, thankfully, you know, thank God, it was just three days it was. Uh. And I know, it felt like forever. It truly did. But it was only three days. Um. It didn't have to be more than Well, he actually got up, he had to have like plasma infusion.
KJ 33:24
Mmm.
NM 33:25
Yeah, he had oxygen. That was, you know, he had oxygen, basically the whole time. And they would try to get them to get up and walk on his own. But he was having a hard time breathing. So in just a cocktail of whatever other medicines that they gave him, I know, they gave him steroids. They gave them vitamins. They gave them an inhaler. Yeah, yes. So he. He came home, you know, with a bunch of other medications.
KJ 33:59
Oh, thank you so much for recounting that because I'm going to guess a lot of people who didn't have COVID really don't know what that experience is like. So thank you.
NM 34:11
Right, right.
KJ 34:13
This next part or the last part really is kind of like the your reflections now that, you know, you you went through the infection and might have some lingering effects, but the initial infection is gone. So the first question is, um, how, how does having COVID-19 impact your outlook on COVID-19? Does that make sense?
NM 34:38
Yeah, um, well, now after having COVID you know, the first initial thing is like, Oh my gosh, you know, you try to be careful now, just a little side note, in my field of work in the dental field. I believe just as much as in the medical, you are trained and you are taught to treat every patient, whether it's your mom, your sister, your husband, whoever, you know, treat every patient that walks through that door as if they have a potentially infectious disease. So that's all you know, and I've been in this field for 14 years. So that's always been my mentality, no matter what it is that you have, you know, or if I've known you all my life, you all as a patient, you all, you know, you treat your patients as if they have a potentially infectious disease, because people, you know, they lie, they don't tell you the truth in all the medical forms and whatnot. So you have to assume like, Hey, you all got something and I'm not trying to get. So? So yeah, so it impacted in a way that more personal in like a more of a, like emotional, rather than, than the illness, you know, like, it's more of a the way it. Like I said, it just affected all of us. Um. I wasn't scared. Even before COVID, I was more cautious. I was more cautious. I wasn't scared. I was scared when I got it. And now after having it and thankfully, you know, making it, you know, okay, I guess through the other side. Um. Even cautious again, you know, cautious, but I feel like there is a sense of like, almost like relief, or actually there it is a sense of relief, like, Okay, you got sick, you got this illness that is scaring a lot of people and you know, it's it's killing a lot of people. But you made it, you know, so you have this, almost like a more positive look on life. And I would like to believe that I'm a pretty positive person to begin with. So, um, it made me feel like relieved and more positive. You know, I like to joke with my brother, because like I mentioned, I mean, he's my only sibling, so I love him dearly. And I always tell him like, yeah, like, we're invincible. I mean, we got COVID like, we could dodge bullets at this point. [Laughter] You know, like, we're like, yeah, you know, like, yeah, I beat you. COVID like, it's, it's more of a, like, it's especially because he having diabetes. And when he got sick, like, it was really scary. It was a really scary time. Um. But he, he was good. You know, he did really well. And he made it, okay, he seems to be okay. So, yeah, you just, it's more of a, it takes a very emotional toll on you. And you reflect on that more than anything. Because I don't even remember the body aches, you know, the headaches that I had? You know, it's one of those things that you're like, Oh, you know, like, what? I honestly don't know, it's more emotional.
KJ 38:03
Thank you, um, has your opinion, after contracting COVID-19? Did it change any of your opinions on either the COVID-19 vaccine or mask wearing or any of the more, um, I guess, debated kind of topics around this pandemic?
NM 38:25
No, because again, being in the, uh, you know, in the health field, like in the in the dental field, I've always had a wear mask. And, uh, initially when we came back from being, you know, shut down for two months, and then going back to we took even more precautions. So we were more protected, we wore, um, the KN95. And then a surgical mask over it. You know, we have face shields, we have the the gloves and the haz mats, like we you know, we were fully covered. And that was never really my concern, you know, the mask thing, you know, I was never like, Oh, no, I don't want to wear a mask. No, because I wear a mask for like 9 - 10 hours a day. You know, now it's just having to wear it outside of work. Um. In regards to the vaccine, um, I believe that God made man and God made man intelligence. And God created men to be intelligent for a reason. So, you know, and science. So I definitely think that God and science could definitely go hand in hand. So if we don't have to believe in one or the other and if these people are telling us that, hey, you know, this is safe enough to take. [Snort] I have always been Pro. The vaccine. You know. I've walked barefoot in Vegas. I've touched things in Vegas. I think I'm okay. I think I'm pretty much immune. You know, I've eaten plenty of other weird things, I think I'm good the vaccine does not scare me. [Laughter].
KJ Thank you. Um. And then I have a follow up question based on your self identification as Latina, um, in California, where you live, it's, um, reported that statistically vaccines are being disproportionate disproportionately distributed to the Caucasian population and the Latinx population is receiving vaccinations at a much lower rate. I was wondering if you would mind sharing your perspective as someone who identifies as Latina, as whether you are witnessing this in your own world? Um. Or if you know of any obstacles within the Latinx community that might be preventing vaccines from happening? Or, um, you know anything around what obstacles might be facing, um, you know, the Latinx community in the pandemic that might be different than other populations.
NM I can't really elaborate on that I don't know much like I honestly don't didn't even know of that statistic. But, I mean, it sounds like something that would definitely happen. You know, I think that more our Latino, you know, communities, it's fear, it has to be fear you know I think it's more of acceptance rather than you know disproportionate sense of like, oh, they're not administering more to this community, I think it's more of like my you know the Latino community, kind of, no, you know, it's it all has to go with with fear, fear of the unknown fear of not knowing you know is safe is that not say, Oh, you know, but you know I can't really say much about it because I haven't seen it might like I haven't experienced it myself or seen it myself enough, or at all, to actually have an opinion on it.
KJ No, thank you yeah, no, that's that's fine. And then, lastly, just one final kind of catch all question, is there anything else about COVID-19 that you think would be you wish people knew or that you would want to share before we wrap up this interview?
NM I'm just. Don't. Don't. I just wish people would not not believe it, you know, like, just because it doesn't happen to you or anybody that you know directly doesn't mean it's not happening. Just because you're not seeing all the dead bodies piled up outside of the hospitals or whatever it doesn't mean it's not happening. You know, someone out there whether, even if it's one person, two people that's somebody loved one, that, you know, was here today and then you know within days or that you know they're gone. That's unexpected, that's scary. It's horrible. You know, because it's when someone someone gets an illness and you know it progresses and then you prepare yourself for when you have an elderly like person like you have a grandpa, your mom, anybody you know somebody that's you know that their time is coming. But with COVID. This took us like obviously by surprise. No one was ready. We weren't ready. And to say that. Oh, it's a hoax or Oh, it's not real or Oh, it's just like the common cold, you're basically you're disregarding other people's feelings you're, You're, uh, uh, you're diminishing their they're like feelings their thoughts, their you're making, they're not valid. you know because since it didn't happen to you. It does, it's, it's not important. You know, but moms out there losing their children, you know, children losing their parents. There's kids out there that have lost both parents within days.
I know somebody, their girlfriend lost the mom, dad, and the brother within days, you know, and it's like so their feelings don't matter? So, you know, who cares about them since it didn't happen to you? And that's one of the things that I wish people
just be more cautious and how they, you know, say things and how they express their feelings. Oh, it's whatever, it's just a common cold it's not because the common cold doesn't kill people like this. I'm sorry. It just doesn't even if even one per day
it just, it doesn't. You know, and that's just that's just how I feel without trying to make it like political or getting to it because it's true, you know, they've politicized the disease and it's like how do you even manage to do that? Like this. This has nothing to do with red blue or right left or, you know, up or down, it, it's, it's, it's a disease, it's a it's an infection that caught us all off guard that we weren't ready for, and instead of trying to, you know, all putting ourselves like together and working through it. You know, we just all kind of ran our separate ways and one group went here one group went there and look at you know where it's gotten.
KJ Thank you, that was actually that was, uh, oh, nevermind I'm not going to say whether that was a good answer or not. Just kidding. Uh, thank you, thank you. [Laughter]
NM It was an answer.
KJ Yes, it was an answer. Thank you for sharing that. Um, if you don't have anything else to say I'm going to stop the recording.
NM Okay
KJ So if there is anything else at all, you're good?
NM No, I'm good. Thank you.
KJ I'm going to stop this interview then. Thank you, I'll stop the recording.
All right, we are now recording. My name is Katy Jue and I'm an intern with the COVID-19 archive at Arizona State University. The date is March 29, 2021. The time is 4:23 pm Pacific Standard Time, and I am speaking with Nancy Martinez. Um, Nancy, I want to ask you some questions about your pandemic experience. But before I do, I would like to ask for your consent to record, um, this response for the COVID-19 archive. The COVID-19 archive is a digital archive at ASU that is collecting pandemic experiences. Do I have your consent to record your responses and add them to the archive with your name?
Nancy Martinez 0:45
Yes, you do.
KJ 0:46
Thank you. Um. First, can you tell me your name, gender, age, race, occupation. Yeah.
NM 0:55
[Laughs] My name is Nancy Blanca Martinez. I am Latina, Mexican. I am 35 years old. My occupation is a I'm a registered dental assistant. I think that's it. Now what else?
KJ 1:10
Oh, um, and where you live?
NM 1:12
I live in Stanton, California.
KJ
Thank you. If you wouldn't mind, can you tell me a little bit about your family, your living situation, like who you live with? Before the pandemic began?
NM
Absolutely, yes. Um. I actually live with my brother and his wife and two children. And also, well, my husband and my two children and my mother and her husband, so my stepdad.
KJ 1:38
Thank you.
NM 1:40
So there's ten of us.
KJ 1:43
Prior to the pandemic, can you describe just your average week where you went? What you did? That sort of thing?
NM 1:50
Yeah. So prior to the pandemic, I used to work Monday through Thursday, that's usually a typical in the dental field, that's your typical work week, it's Monday through Thursday, give or take a Friday, then I would come home, I would just run errands. If I needed to go to a supermarket, I would come from help my children. Then, mainly over the weekends, we would go out to do, um, activities. We would go to the mall or we'd go to the beach, we'd go to the movie theaters, restaurants, different places, you know, just to try to entertain them.
KJ 2:36
Thank you. Describe how your average week changed or did not change after the pandemic began.
NM 2:45
So the way my week changed was, uh, initially when the pandemic started is we couldn't go anywhere. We were absolutely secluded to the walls of our home. And, um, we honestly we're very hesitant to even go to the supermarket. You know when we started hearing about, um, COVID-19. And we had one designated person who would go for the week to go buy, um, our food and to go look for any sort of, um, cleaning supplies or any sort of disinfectants or anything that we would need toilet paper, paper towels, things like that. So it was it changed drastically, to say the least.
KJ
And was anyone in your household able to work from home or were most of you having to go into work or?
NM
So initially, back in March of 2020, when my dental office got shut down mid March, actually. My husband, uh, was still remotely working. My husband works as security for Disneyland. And they actually stayed open for about another month before they got shut down in April. So he was still working. Um, and my brother and my sister in law also work in the dental field. And they were, um, they actually remained open even during the pandemic so they never really fully shut down. I think they closed it for about a day or two. Um. And also my mother, she is a cashier at a gas station. She never, um, fully stopped working either. I think they were off maybe one day or two. And that's about it. So I think the only one that are the only ones that fully stopped working all together was myself for about two months. Um. My husband who is actually still still furloughed, he still hasn't returned to work and my, uh, stepdad who also is in the the operations like, like a well, he works for Knott's. So he he's still actually he's back to work now, fully. I think he went back a few months after they had him go back because he's been there for so long. So he's one of their senior employees. And, um, yeah, he was only off of work for a few months, rather than, like still fully furloughed.
KJ
And then, for this follow up question, and for any question I asked you, if you do not want to answer I should have said this at the beginning. I'm so sorry. Feel free to say I don't feel comfortable answering that. And you, please, we can move on to another question.
NM
Absolutely.
KJ
In the time that you in, in the two months, your dental office was closed and your husband being still furloughed? Um. Were you receiving paychecks? Is he receiving any income right now?
NM
Thankfully, yes. He is still on in unemployment. When I was furloughed, I received unemployment those two months. Um. He is still receiving unemployment, uh, thankfully. Because I mean, you know, this is, you know, we live in California, both Mom and Dad, you know, both both partners have to work in order to make everything you know, to make to make work. Um. So yeah, yeah, he's still receiving thankfully an income as well.
KJ 6:39
All right, I'm going to diverge from my neutralness and say, Oh, that's good. I'm happy to hear that.
NM 6:43
Yeah. Well, for a little bit, it was tough, because they were saying that, well, he stopped receiving for about a month. So that kind of backed us up. And actually, when we get to the part when we got sick, we we didn't get paid. Well, at least I didn't get paid for. For the, like, the month that I was sick. Yeah. Well, cuz. Uh. Yeah. What we'll get into that, I guess, or I don't know if I could answer it now.
KJ 7:17
Um, yeah, if you want to if I mean.
NM 7:19
Yeah, of course. Um, Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, I was with this employer, and I actually switched jobs between the pandemic. Um. And when I got sick, with COVID. I was working with a different employer, and he basically refused to pay me. He said it was optional, and he opted to not pay me. Because he said also that I guess, the, that the help was optional, and that, um, yeah, that he wasn't forced to pay me. And that's actually one of the reasons why I switched my employment as well.
KJ 8:01
Wow. Thank you so much for for sharing that, because that's a very vulnerable thing to share. So thank you. Um, going into the actual contracting COVID part of the interview. If you don't mind, um, can you describe just your like, overall health prior to contracting COVID?
NM 8:20
Yes. So overall, I would like to believe that I maintain a healthy lifestyle. I, um, over the course of maybe the last three or four years, I went on this like health journey, which I'm still, you know, in my health journey, I lost about 35, 40 pounds. The ones I gained don't count. [Laughter] I regained. Oh, during COVID. So yeah, and I, you know, eating healthy. I worked out every day that I know of, I have no underlying conditions, no illnesses. Diabetes does run in my family. My brother is a diabetic. I know high cholesterol also runs in my family. But to my knowledge, I do not have any. Uh. Any conditions. I mean, I'm not I'm not sick. You know, I'm not I'm relatively healthy, just according to the doctor's charts. I am overweight still, even after losing. You know, the weight, but that's about it.
KJ 9:31
Great. Thank you. Um, do you Oh, I would assume you probably know this. What What was the actual date that you were confirmed to have COVID-19. Like, what was the date that this test came back?
NM 9:45
The date that I that I found out that I was positive for COVID-19 was January 2, 2021.
KJ
And then are you able to look back at the one to two weeks prior and describe, um any activities or things you were doing in those one to two weeks prior to contracting COVID?
NM
Yeah, I was working, I was working and I was coming home and just basically trying to stay as healthy as possible, you know, occasional a weekly trip to the supermarket, um, you know, would go, I would go get maybe food like to go just to try to keep some sort of normalcy, you know, on the weekends. But nothing out of the new COVID normal of you know, going to work, staying home, and, you know, just trying to make do with with what we had here.
KJ
And then, um, were you aware of anyone, um, you had been in contact with? Who had COVID-19?
NM
Before I got sick? Um, a couple of times, yeah. Well, at work. There, we have protocols, you know, we take temperatures, we have patients sanitize, um. We, when we call to confirm or to, you know, let them know, hey, about their appointments, they inform us, hey, you know, I'm not going to be able to make it because I came in contact with somebody, or even after we saw them that day, or a day after, uh. I actually had a couple of patients call us to let us know that they were in fact, in contact with somebody who tested positive. Uh. So I came in contact with people that came in contact with other people, you know, that actually tested positive? None that I knew for sure that were positive for COVID.
KJ
And then, one final question about the I guess, the build up? Do you have any? Like, I know, COVID really hard to trace. Do you have any, like speculation of do you think you got it at work? Or at church? Or like?
NM
No, I know, I know where we got, but we did the math and where I'm about 95% sure that I know where I got COVID. Um, my sister in law's sister. Somebody came in contact with her that was positive for COVID, they were sick. Or let me let me go back. I'm not 100% sure that the sister knew that they had COVID. But they were sick. Like they were they had, like, you know, they weren't feeling well, the running. So my sister in law's sister came in contact with somebody. And mind you, my sister in law's sister is the most cleanest like she's very like, paranoid. She was very, you know, very careful into who she came into contact with. Especially because she is her mother's caregiver. And her mom has, you know, some some health issues. And the mom has a couple of or, I believe she's she has a handicap where she can't really walk very well and she needs to help. So she was very, very careful. And yeah, my sister in law's sister came in contact with somebody. And that's how we got it.
KJ 13:17
Thank you. Um. Were there any symptoms that you have that led you to believe you had COVID?
NM 13:26
Not at first, not initially. Um, I'll go back a couple of days. So I want to say the, um, January 2nd was a Saturday. Um, the, I believe so. But I'm honestly like, going back so I've had I had maybe like, not even scratchy throat, you know, when you feel like you need you have the need to clear your throat, but there's really nothing there. And it's not so much a scratchy though. You're just kind of like trying to clear because you feel like there's something there but there really isn't. So I had that a day before. About two days before so like Thursday, but I started getting suspicions of something's happening when my brother actually and my sister in law. My sister-in-law wasn't feeling well on Tuesday. My brother was not feeling well, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. And then on Friday. We found out that my, my sister in law's sister wasn't feeling very well either. And then I came to fat to find out that she during that week, she also wasn't feeling too good a Friday for sure. She was like not feeling good at all. She had a really bad headache and body aches and stuff like that. So her sister went and took a test Friday afternoon, one of those rapid tests, and it came back positive. And, I wasn't, like I said, my brother and my sister in law were the ones that weren't feeling too good. But I was the one that tested first, even though I wasn't really feeling anything, just like that little lump on my throat, I guess you could say. So, early Saturday morning, I went to get tested. I actually paid, um, for one of those rapid tests, these are ones that within the hour, they let you know. And then about 20 minutes after the, I took the test, I got an email and a text confirmation. And it said that I was positive for COVID because they tested you for COVID, and they tested for the flu, and influenza came back negative and COVID-19 came back positive.
KJ
Thank you. Um, what were the first things you did once you got that confirmation?
NM
Um. I. I was shocked, I'm not gonna lie. I was I kind of knew I kind of had a feeling but I, since I didn't have any symptoms. I was like, No, I, you know, it can't be. Especially be like, I wasn't, I wasn't feeling anything, you know, just like I said, a little tickle in my throat. Um. So I was shocked. Uh. And then I called my former employer, my employer at the time, I called to inform him that I had tested positive for COVID. And um, yeah, that's it. And then I just came home and I started to- Well, my husband actually had me go into our bedroom and he, uh, well basically isolated me and then just kind of set up with he started setting up our area in my bedroom in order to keep me isolated from the rest of the house. And, um, yeah.
KJ 17:11
And then, um, as you know, your COVID progressed, could you describe how it impacted you physically? Did you didn't have symptoms at first, did it ever? Did you ever get
NM 17:23
Yeah.
KJ 17:23
the symptoms?
NM 17:25
I did. Actually about the next day, or actually, as the day progressed, I started feeling body aches. That scratchy throat started to become a little more scratch here, or that lump started to become a scratch. And mainly, um, I got body aches, and as the bass, you know, passed, the body aches became more severe. Um. The shortness of breath and actually the second day after I tested for COVID I lost my smell, my ability to smell and taste. So on day two of testing positive for COVID I lost my smell and taste.
KJ 18:08
And just estimated wise How long did the symptoms last? Like the body aches and the smell and the loss of smell?
NM 18:18
The body aches and you know the scratchy throat lasted for about a week. The body aches lasted maybe a good three weeks, and I still currently cannot smell or taste fully. It actually really goes -
KJ 18:34
Really?
NM 18:35
Yes. And oh, I also I mean not to try to I forgot at one not forget but I also experienced headaches. Which I didn't want to say that it was due to COVID but they did get worse then I still get them every now and then. And, um, shortness of breath definitely the shortness of breath. The ability to not be a not breathe correctly. It's still affecting me today. And yeah, my smell or taste. Um. It comes and goes it's the strangest thing. It some days, I'm at like maybe 60% of smell and tastes. Some days it's back to zero. Some days it's 10%. It varies and as the day progresses, sometimes it happens throughout the day. I can't even explain it.
KJ 19:29
Wow, um, thank you. Did you seek any medical interventions when you were like going through COVID? Like did you have any telehealth appointment with a doctor? Or?
NM 19:41
I didn't I'm mainly home remedies and you know you you inform your friends and family and then they started giving you the home remedies. And, um, one of the reasons also why I did not seek any medical like professional medical assistance was because I don't have medical insurance and, um, you know, basically anything would have paid, I would have had to pay out of pocket. And we know that's very pricey. So, um, but thankfully, it didn't have to come to that, you know, I didn't feel like, um, like, I had to go to the doctors to get any sort of like, uh, stronger medicines than what I already had, my major symptoms were the body aches, the headaches. And, you know, the shortness of breath was, it wasn't as severe to where I was concerned to where like, Oh, my gosh, I need to go to the doctor's. So I just kind of just took things day by day.
KJ 20:47
Thank you.
NM 20:48
Yeah,
KJ 20:49
I think you already answered Oh, go ahead.
NM
I'm sorry. Well, what I was gonna say is, I mean, and, you know, they tell you, you have to kind of like quarantine, so there wasn't really anywhere to go, if you didn't have like a certain up to a certain amount of symptoms, or like the severity of the symptoms weren't as, you know, major as, as one thinks that they are, you know, so they I that's one of the reasons why I also didn't feel the need to go to the doctor's. So.
KJ
Thank you. So I think you already answered this, but I'm going to ask it again, in case there's anything you want to add to it. In addition, if you want to describe how COVID-19 how the infection impacted your livelihood, and/or your family life, I know you already talked about changing jobs. So you may have already answered this.
NM 21:40
Well, will it impact us in a major way. I mean, like I said, I still get, you know, shortness of breath, every now and then, you know, the the lack of, of smell, and, or tastes are still there. It's things that. Um, my energy sometimes is a little bit lower than usual, I catch myself getting winded more often, or then times that I normally wouldn't. Um, yeah, I think just basically, that. Um. Yeah.
KJ 22:18
And then, um, one final question about the infection itself and its effects. Um. There are some studies that are talking about the kind of like the the mental and emotional impact of having COVID-19. I didn't know there was anything you wanted to share about that?
NM 22:36
Yeah, it definitely, definitely impacts you mentally, emotionally. Aside from physically, I would cry almost every day. [Starts crying] It was it was painful. I did not want anybody like I did not wish COVID on anybody. And I wasn't even on the on the severe side of the symptoms. I just you know that the body aches they were so strong. I couldn't get up. Sometimes. I would just cry. I would cry because I felt so. I felt helpless. Um. I felt like when am I going to get better? Some days, I would feel a little better than the next day I would just get knocked down even worse. It would come and go, you know, the the pain, the headaches. So it really messes with you. [Crying] Man, just seeing. Yeah, seeing your family, you know, get sick. Like I mentioned, you know, there's 10 of us here and we basically all got sick. The only one that didn't show any signs was my six year old daughter.
KJ 23:58
Wow. Yeah, again, thank you. Thank you so much for sharing that. And yeah. I'm so sorry that you guys all went through that together. Because that's, that's quite a experience. So thank you.
NM 24:19
Yeah. It's, I think it's even more painful because I'm, like I said, my brother, you know, being diabetic and having underlying conditions, you know, if it made it tough. My mom, she's the only parent I have and to know that she got sick and my mom's actually also diabetic to know that, you know, it could have been worse to even to think that I could possibly have lost any one of my family members. You know, that's just it hurts you know, and it's interesting because the one person that is the healthiest out of all of us, which is my husband. He actually ended up in the hospital. He had to go to the hospital due to COVID.
KJ 25:11
And um, when he was in the hospital, were you still in your infection, if that makes sense?
NM 25:20
Yeah.
KJ 25:20
It was in the same time?
NM 25:22
Yeah, actually, about three days after I tested positive and started to basically go downhill. He was having symptoms as well. So he basically quarantined with me. Um. And about four days into, after I sent him to go get tested as well. And after he tested, maybe two days later, he started to have a lot of complications. Um. He had he had, through his, through his job, he had dental insurance, or I'm sorry, he had medical insurance. And he went, he had one of those teleconference calls. I'm sorry, can you give me one second?
KJ 26:08
Yeah.
NM 26:09
Thank you. [Pauses and mutes to talk to family] Sorry, he, they're watching something and it's really loud.
KJ 26:21
Oh no, it's no problem.
NM 26:22
Yeah. I lost my train of thought, yeah. So he, you know, through his job, he still has a health insurance, which I'm very grateful for. He got to the point where he couldn't stop coughing. He was, he was bad, he got really bad. He would cough all night, he wouldn't sleep so I wouldn't sleep because you know, he's right next to me. And then coughing, and when make him throw up. And then, you know, throwing up, made him have shortness of breath. So it's just like, a vicious cycle. And it got to a point where on day four, I still remember that Monday morning. He was just like, just after a night of not being able to sleep and coughing and throwing up and um, I called an urgent care. And they had us waiting for a really long time, and they just did a teleconference and the doctor wasn't even, like, really helpful. All he said was, Oh, well, here's some promethazine for your cough. And we're like, okay, you know, you're the doctor, you know, you know, better we're telling you all the symptoms or whatever. So then I went and I filled his prescription. Um. No, trying to think. That's another thing, like my mind is very hazy. Like, that's one of the things that I noticed that your mind just kind of like it feels almost scrambled sometimes. Um. So he got his prescription for a promethazine. And he took it. And that actually made things worse, to the point where he wasn't really very well. And he couldn't stop coughing and he couldn't catch his breath. So I rushed him into the, to the emergency room, that same day, in the afternoon. It was like around four o'clock in the afternoon. And mind you, we got the medicine from the doctor, like around one in the afternoon. So it within three hours. We try to you know, take the promethazine and take a nap since he wasn't able to sleep the night before. And he just it just wasn't happening. And so yeah, I rushed him to the emergency room that Monday. And when they were wheeling him into the emergency room, like I basically out of desperation. I yelled at the lady. I'm like, can you please help me I'm like, he kept he's not breathing very well. Like, his lips are turning purple. He was just sitting outside. But there was so many people there. And I apologized, you know, I after I'm like, I'm so sorry. You know, I was just, she understood. She was like, it's okay, you know, and I'm like, I didn't mean to be rude. It's just that I was afraid that he was just gonna pass out. [Crying] So when they wheeled him in, you know, I just kind of stay there. And the one thing he told me which that's one of the things I will never forget, and it hurts to even think he told me make sure that our life insurance is up to date. [Starts crying hard] I didn't want to hear that. That was the last thing I heard. He said to make sure our life insurance was up to date. [Pauses crying, sniffs] And I was I didn't see him for three days after that. [Cries] And I just sat outside of the hospital that day until midnight. I just sat outside the window of the ER. And didn't move. I didn't do anything. Just hoping that maybe it was something quick that they will let him go. But they didn't. They told me I had to go home. I couldn't sit outside anymore. And mind you, this was me so sick with COVID there was nobody else to take him.
KJ 30:44
Oh, Nancy. Um. Wow. Um. First thing, thank you so much for for, you know, openly sharing that I That does not sound like that was an easy thing to even share. So so thank you so much, do. Do you need a break to have water?
NM 31:08
I'm okay.
KJ 31:09
You're okay?
NM 31:10
Yeah, I'm okay [crying]
KJ 31:13
And, um, gosh. So um, after those three days, was he able to come home?
NM 31:24
Yeah. So I was. So as you can imagine, you know. One of the things that I like to joke with him is I tell him like, first and foremost, I'm like, I can't even get sick without you trying to, you know, trying to outshine me on getting sick. And then I tell him, I'm like, man, you really did test our wedding last, didn't you? [Laughs] Like you really didn't mean in sickness and in health? Or till death do us part. Man, were you already trying to get out of this contract? I'm like, no. I mean, obviously. Now, you know, I joke with him about that. But so yeah, like just it was it was just very difficult once he got out of the hospital. He, it was tough. It was tough. He wasn't fully himself. And they actually discharged him. I bought like a one of those pulse oximeters.
KJ 32:26
Mmm.
NM 32:28
To make sure that, you know, to his oxygen was very low. Still, but I mean, they needed the space, I guess. I don't know. Like he was good enough to be discharged after three days. And yeah, like they just gave him a bunch of medicine and sent him home. I don't know if that fully answered your question I kind of trailed off there.
KJ 32:51
No, no, that was that's that was. That was fine. That was. I just wanted to get closure on. When he was able to come home, man.
NM 33:01
Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, thankfully, thankfully, you know, thank God, it was just three days it was. Uh. And I know, it felt like forever. It truly did. But it was only three days. Um. It didn't have to be more than Well, he actually got up, he had to have like plasma infusion.
KJ 33:24
Mmm.
NM 33:25
Yeah, he had oxygen. That was, you know, he had oxygen, basically the whole time. And they would try to get them to get up and walk on his own. But he was having a hard time breathing. So in just a cocktail of whatever other medicines that they gave him, I know, they gave him steroids. They gave them vitamins. They gave them an inhaler. Yeah, yes. So he. He came home, you know, with a bunch of other medications.
KJ 33:59
Oh, thank you so much for recounting that because I'm going to guess a lot of people who didn't have COVID really don't know what that experience is like. So thank you.
NM 34:11
Right, right.
KJ 34:13
This next part or the last part really is kind of like the your reflections now that, you know, you you went through the infection and might have some lingering effects, but the initial infection is gone. So the first question is, um, how, how does having COVID-19 impact your outlook on COVID-19? Does that make sense?
NM 34:38
Yeah, um, well, now after having COVID you know, the first initial thing is like, Oh my gosh, you know, you try to be careful now, just a little side note, in my field of work in the dental field. I believe just as much as in the medical, you are trained and you are taught to treat every patient, whether it's your mom, your sister, your husband, whoever, you know, treat every patient that walks through that door as if they have a potentially infectious disease. So that's all you know, and I've been in this field for 14 years. So that's always been my mentality, no matter what it is that you have, you know, or if I've known you all my life, you all as a patient, you all, you know, you treat your patients as if they have a potentially infectious disease, because people, you know, they lie, they don't tell you the truth in all the medical forms and whatnot. So you have to assume like, Hey, you all got something and I'm not trying to get. So? So yeah, so it impacted in a way that more personal in like a more of a, like emotional, rather than, than the illness, you know, like, it's more of a the way it. Like I said, it just affected all of us. Um. I wasn't scared. Even before COVID, I was more cautious. I was more cautious. I wasn't scared. I was scared when I got it. And now after having it and thankfully, you know, making it, you know, okay, I guess through the other side. Um. Even cautious again, you know, cautious, but I feel like there is a sense of like, almost like relief, or actually there it is a sense of relief, like, Okay, you got sick, you got this illness that is scaring a lot of people and you know, it's it's killing a lot of people. But you made it, you know, so you have this, almost like a more positive look on life. And I would like to believe that I'm a pretty positive person to begin with. So, um, it made me feel like relieved and more positive. You know, I like to joke with my brother, because like I mentioned, I mean, he's my only sibling, so I love him dearly. And I always tell him like, yeah, like, we're invincible. I mean, we got COVID like, we could dodge bullets at this point. [Laughter] You know, like, we're like, yeah, you know, like, yeah, I beat you. COVID like, it's, it's more of a, like, it's especially because he having diabetes. And when he got sick, like, it was really scary. It was a really scary time. Um. But he, he was good. You know, he did really well. And he made it, okay, he seems to be okay. So, yeah, you just, it's more of a, it takes a very emotional toll on you. And you reflect on that more than anything. Because I don't even remember the body aches, you know, the headaches that I had? You know, it's one of those things that you're like, Oh, you know, like, what? I honestly don't know, it's more emotional.
KJ 38:03
Thank you, um, has your opinion, after contracting COVID-19? Did it change any of your opinions on either the COVID-19 vaccine or mask wearing or any of the more, um, I guess, debated kind of topics around this pandemic?
NM 38:25
No, because again, being in the, uh, you know, in the health field, like in the in the dental field, I've always had a wear mask. And, uh, initially when we came back from being, you know, shut down for two months, and then going back to we took even more precautions. So we were more protected, we wore, um, the KN95. And then a surgical mask over it. You know, we have face shields, we have the the gloves and the haz mats, like we you know, we were fully covered. And that was never really my concern, you know, the mask thing, you know, I was never like, Oh, no, I don't want to wear a mask. No, because I wear a mask for like 9 - 10 hours a day. You know, now it's just having to wear it outside of work. Um. In regards to the vaccine, um, I believe that God made man and God made man intelligence. And God created men to be intelligent for a reason. So, you know, and science. So I definitely think that God and science could definitely go hand in hand. So if we don't have to believe in one or the other and if these people are telling us that, hey, you know, this is safe enough to take. [Snort] I have always been Pro. The vaccine. You know. I've walked barefoot in Vegas. I've touched things in Vegas. I think I'm okay. I think I'm pretty much immune. You know, I've eaten plenty of other weird things, I think I'm good the vaccine does not scare me. [Laughter].
KJ Thank you. Um. And then I have a follow up question based on your self identification as Latina, um, in California, where you live, it's, um, reported that statistically vaccines are being disproportionate disproportionately distributed to the Caucasian population and the Latinx population is receiving vaccinations at a much lower rate. I was wondering if you would mind sharing your perspective as someone who identifies as Latina, as whether you are witnessing this in your own world? Um. Or if you know of any obstacles within the Latinx community that might be preventing vaccines from happening? Or, um, you know anything around what obstacles might be facing, um, you know, the Latinx community in the pandemic that might be different than other populations.
NM I can't really elaborate on that I don't know much like I honestly don't didn't even know of that statistic. But, I mean, it sounds like something that would definitely happen. You know, I think that more our Latino, you know, communities, it's fear, it has to be fear you know I think it's more of acceptance rather than you know disproportionate sense of like, oh, they're not administering more to this community, I think it's more of like my you know the Latino community, kind of, no, you know, it's it all has to go with with fear, fear of the unknown fear of not knowing you know is safe is that not say, Oh, you know, but you know I can't really say much about it because I haven't seen it might like I haven't experienced it myself or seen it myself enough, or at all, to actually have an opinion on it.
KJ No, thank you yeah, no, that's that's fine. And then, lastly, just one final kind of catch all question, is there anything else about COVID-19 that you think would be you wish people knew or that you would want to share before we wrap up this interview?
NM I'm just. Don't. Don't. I just wish people would not not believe it, you know, like, just because it doesn't happen to you or anybody that you know directly doesn't mean it's not happening. Just because you're not seeing all the dead bodies piled up outside of the hospitals or whatever it doesn't mean it's not happening. You know, someone out there whether, even if it's one person, two people that's somebody loved one, that, you know, was here today and then you know within days or that you know they're gone. That's unexpected, that's scary. It's horrible. You know, because it's when someone someone gets an illness and you know it progresses and then you prepare yourself for when you have an elderly like person like you have a grandpa, your mom, anybody you know somebody that's you know that their time is coming. But with COVID. This took us like obviously by surprise. No one was ready. We weren't ready. And to say that. Oh, it's a hoax or Oh, it's not real or Oh, it's just like the common cold, you're basically you're disregarding other people's feelings you're, You're, uh, uh, you're diminishing their they're like feelings their thoughts, their you're making, they're not valid. you know because since it didn't happen to you. It does, it's, it's not important. You know, but moms out there losing their children, you know, children losing their parents. There's kids out there that have lost both parents within days.
I know somebody, their girlfriend lost the mom, dad, and the brother within days, you know, and it's like so their feelings don't matter? So, you know, who cares about them since it didn't happen to you? And that's one of the things that I wish people
just be more cautious and how they, you know, say things and how they express their feelings. Oh, it's whatever, it's just a common cold it's not because the common cold doesn't kill people like this. I'm sorry. It just doesn't even if even one per day
it just, it doesn't. You know, and that's just that's just how I feel without trying to make it like political or getting to it because it's true, you know, they've politicized the disease and it's like how do you even manage to do that? Like this. This has nothing to do with red blue or right left or, you know, up or down, it, it's, it's, it's a disease, it's a it's an infection that caught us all off guard that we weren't ready for, and instead of trying to, you know, all putting ourselves like together and working through it. You know, we just all kind of ran our separate ways and one group went here one group went there and look at you know where it's gotten.
KJ Thank you, that was actually that was, uh, oh, nevermind I'm not going to say whether that was a good answer or not. Just kidding. Uh, thank you, thank you. [Laughter]
NM It was an answer.
KJ Yes, it was an answer. Thank you for sharing that. Um, if you don't have anything else to say I'm going to stop the recording.
NM Okay
KJ So if there is anything else at all, you're good?
NM No, I'm good. Thank you.
KJ I'm going to stop this interview then. Thank you, I'll stop the recording.