OVERCOMING COVID She’s among the first to recover

She’s among the first to recover

Risk management officer Kris Meyer, MSN, RN, has worked at Bryan for five years, and her nursing career spans more than 27 years. But this winter she was among the millions worldwide who experienced a new health threat.

Kris was one of the first to test positive for COVID-19 at Bryan. This is the story of her gradual recovery.

“As a nurse,” Kris says, “I was concerned not only about my health and my family’s health, but also for people I had contact with before I had symptoms as the coronavirus pandemic was beginning to spread in Lincoln.

“I presumably contracted COVID-19 during a trip to Nashville in mid-March with my husband and two oldest children, despite using lots of hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes,” she says. “By March 18, I had a fever of 101 degrees, plus a cough, headache, sore throat and body aches. When my tests for influenza and pneumonia came back negative, my doctor instructed me to selfisolate at home because it was likely I had COVID-19.

“Thirteen days later, I received the positive COVID test results.”

Working while in isolation

Kris was able to work a few hours a day from her bed. She says she had excellent support from family and friends, and her family was quarantined for 19 days.

But her long recovery was only just beginning.

“On day 20 of my illness, I was hospitalized to determine if I had a secondary infection like pneumonia because my symptoms were not improving. I was very fortunate that my lungs were not affected and my pre-existing mild asthma was not made worse.”

After hospitalization Kris returned home to self-isolation and subsequently developed a blood clot in her arm, a condition she learned can be associated with COVID-19.

After 32 days of isolation, she finally was able to leave her bedroom.

“I then began the task of rebuilding my strength, which was more challenging than I expected,” she says. “Five weeks after first developing symptoms, I was able to return

to work at Bryan East Campus.”

In the ensuing months, she’s slowly regained her stamina despite dealing with new back pain issues.

Learning from what’s happened

“This virus doesn’t discriminate or spare people based on race, gender, age or previous health status,” Kris points out. “Before I contracted COVID I was active and healthy — but for over a month, I was very sick. There are, though, pearls of wisdom in every life experience.

“As humbling as it was to suffer

Kris Meyer was isolated for five weeks while she recovered from COVID-19 symptoms. She worked from home (left) until the happy day (right) she was able to return to her risk management office at Bryan East Campus.

This story is brought to you by Union Bank & Trust.

through COVID and to publicly share my story, I learned that social isolation, hand hygiene and mask wearing were effective in preventing the spread of the virus to my family, co-workers and those who cared for me. It’s also taught me to be even more cognizant and respectful of individual views and levels of risk people are willing to take as they live through a pandemic.”

She says, “I don’t want anyone to go through what my family has experienced with COVID-19.

“Until this virus is controlled, I’m urging everyone to please practice the prevention measures — hand hygiene, masking, social distancing, avoiding large crowds — because those work. We all need to be cautious, not just for ourselves, but for those who can’t fight the virus well.”

How to help others

Finally, Kris shares her thoughts about how to help isolated friends, family and neighbors.

“We can look out for people isolating at home by offering to drop off a meal or groceries. I didn’t have the energy to prepare meals, so I appreciated my husband doing this for me,” she says.

“Sending a simple text to let others know you’re checking in on them and are available if needs arise goes a long way. Others in isolation may just need someone to talk to in an effort to combat loneliness.”

Kris adds, “Although this virus causes us to socially distance, our hearts need to break the social distance barrier and be creative in helping others in need.” n

Go to bryanhealth.org/covid to learn more about Bryan’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and how you can protect your family against COVID-19.

To find out how you can support the work of Bryan Health, please contact the Bryan Foundation at 402-481-8605.