Beverly Woman Recounts Fight With Coronavirus

BEVERLY, MA — More than two months after being released from Beverly Hospital, Amanda Mazzaglia, 44, of Beverly, says she still has good days and bad days.

Mazzaglia was hospitalized for nine days in late March and early April after contracting the new coronavirus. What she first dismissed as seasonal allergy symptoms ended up being the virus which, as of Sunday, had killed 6,486 Massachusetts residents since March 20.

"I didn't find out it was [COVID-19] until the day I got discharged, when my second test came back positive," Mazzaglia said. "I'm a fairly healthy person, so I just kept thinking I should be able to work through this."

While almost all the coronavirus deaths in Massachusetts have been in older people or people with preexisting condition, Mazzaglia's story suggests that there are exceptions to that rule. A pair of videos she posted on social media to update friends on her condition have garneered nearly 5,000 views on Facebook.

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Mazzaglia said she still doesn't know anyone else who has tested positive for coronavirus. Despite living with her after she was discharged from the hospital, her teenage son is not eligible to be tested because he has not shown any symptoms.

A 'Thousand-Pound Weight On My Chest'

When Mazzaglia finished her shift as a restaurant manager on Sunday, March 15, the last day Massachusetts restaurants were open before the coronavirus shutdown, she had a headache. But, at the time, media reports were saying the virus was only risky for older people or people with preexisting conditions. Mazzaglia said she was more concerned with the fact that she was out of work for the indefinite future.

Over the course of the following week, her symptoms worsened. On Thursday, she woke up with a tight chest and difficulty breathing. She started sneezing, and by Friday the Beverly mother had developed a painful cough. But her temperature remained normal, so she attributed the symptoms to seasonal allergies.

It was only when her temperature jumped to 104 degrees and she had difficulty walking that she realized something more serious was going on. When she called her doctor on Tuesday, nine days after she started developing symptoms, she was told to call an ambulance to get her to the emergency room.

"Everything just kept getting worse. I felt like if I had a thousand pound weight on my chest," she said. "I just kept getting sicker and sicker and my breathing just kept getting worse and worse.

A Five-Day Blackout

Mazzaglia remembers her son driving her to Beverly Hospital on Tuesday and being told she was going to be admitted to the respiratory floor. When she woke up, she was on oxygen and the white board in her room said it was Saturday, nearly five days after she had been admitted.

"I was a complete, utter disaster," Mazzaglia said. "Prior to that, I just wasn't even conscious enough to communicate with them."

After nine days, Mazzaglia was desperate to get home. She says she probably left too soon, but was determined to go home after seeing her 74-year-old roommate get discharged after a coronavirus diagnosis.

"She was very inspirational. Her name was Mary, but I didn't talk to her because I couldn't," Mazzaglia said. "But I just was like, if a 74-year-old woman can get through this, I can get through this."

More Coronavirus Coverage On Massachusetts Patch:

• Coronavirus Herd Immunity In Boston Won't Come 'Any Time Soon'
• Crime Syndicates Target Massachusetts Unemployment System
• Latest Town-By-Town Coronavirus Case Counts For Massachusetts (Updated May 27)

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).