In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic that is infecting so many and resulting in climbing fatality numbers, there are the stories of the ones that survived COVID-19.

Such is the case of Marcey Brannon, pastor at Crab Orchard Church of God of Prophecy in Cumberland County. 105.7 News interviewed her electronically and she shared her battle and survival of the coronavirus. Her accounts of her diagnosis and her battle with coronavirus speaks volumes. Here are her words in its entirety:

“I was hospitalized Monday March, 23, 2020 through March 30, 2020. I was tested on the 23rd for coronavirus after two negative flu tests. I was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and congestive heart failure. I had only felt sick for about a week with a scratchy throat and unable to smell or taste anything. There were days that I felt fine and others I was achy and tired. On March, 21, 2020 I truly felt better but the next day I broke out in hives.

By the morning of the 23^rd, my best friend Cara Cross convinced me to call Dr Clarke. His office referred me to Cumberland Medical Center. I was struggling to breathe and too weak to walk. A chest x-ray and a CT scan with contrast revealed serious pneumonia. The doctors referred to it as a “glass pattern”.

The hospital immediately used quarantine procedures. They all wore goggles, masks, gloves, and gowns during my treatment. Besides the inability to breath well, COVID-19 causes intense migraines and pleurisy. I did not have to be on a ventilator,  which is a huge blessing.

At the worst point of my battle with COVID-19, I was struggling to breathe, unable to lay down without an overwhelming sense of drowning, and I had the worst migraine of my life. I had shooting back pain from pleurisy. The doctor prescribed morphine, which had no effect. Even though I’ve rarely taken more than Excedrin in my life, the morphine didn’t even take the edge off the pain. At that moment I wondered who could survive a sickness that advanced medicine and treatment could not touch? It was the first time I questioned if I would make it.

With no relatives being able to visit, your only advocates are the doctors and nurses. Overall, I feel I had stellar care at Cumberland Medical Center. It wasn’t perfect, I feel the hospitals are  overwhelmed with constant Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines changing and the uncertainty of this virus.

It can attack anyone, anytime. I have no idea where I contracted the virus. But I do visit hospitals, nursing homes, and many sick people so it’s impossible to trace where it came from. We stopped church services several weeks ago when the CDC advised it.

We are currently praying for 3 people associated with the church who are hospitalized. Not all those had been in church lately though. One couple had been visiting family out of town when they became ill.

I would warn people to stay in contact with their doctors or health provider. Don’t take steroids if you suspect COVID-19. Since your condition can be critical within a couple days, I also recommend not trying to “tough it out”. This isn’t the flu. Healthy people die from COVID-19. Healthy people are intubated and placed on ventilators while doctors scratch their heads at why people without health issues get so sick so quick.

I have seen a negative stigma for those who admit to being positive. But this sickness doesn’t discriminate, many people are afraid of testing. Some also don’t exhibit the common symptoms and assume they have something else. The test is uncomfortable but its quick and I feel it’s better to know than not know.

After all is said and done, I know God is in control. He hasn’t been caught off guard. I was blessed to survive, but if I hadn’t survived, God is still sovereign and I knew I would spend eternity with Him. I pray my sickness spared a precious elder from suffering with it. Elders are our most precious resource in the community, we need to protect them from this virus.

I would plead with anyone who doesn’t believe this sickness is serious or that thinks the CDC warnings are superficial, to place themselves in my family’s shoes. Consider the person you love the most, in the hospital for a week, struggling to breath or talk. Picture them being alone with the door shut and no visitors. Think about the staff who is afraid to touch them. Now consider that person you love might die alone, without anyone to hold their hand. How can we not take this virus seriously when this is the reality for so many? Even if you won’t consider your own safety, consider someone you love.”