Have you or your family been affected by COVID-19?

I DOZED OFF, Asking God TO BLOW HIS BREATH, INTO MY LUNGS!

BY BETINA MOFFITT, COVID-19 SURVIVOR

The week prior to Easter I found myself at work treating what I believed to be a common cold, that was not responding to any over-the-counter medications. Because I of a previous conversation I had with an elderly lady whom I met three weeks prior to her dying from pneumonia because of COVID-19. I noticed that I was experiencing similar symptoms that she shared with me. So, I thought I better go get checked for COVID-19.

I went to my local hospital for my COVID-19 test. As I waited for the doctor to give me the test, the ER doctor literally stood outside my room door masked up telling me, because I did not have a fever and shortness of breath, I could not have COVID-19. Although, I had a concerned area on my lungs; he diagnosed me with pneumonia and sent home.

A few days later, I lost senses of smell and taste. Days went by and I was still wondering what was going on with me? I was asking God to help me. He reminded me of the thermometer He advised me to take to work that day. I clearly heard the Holy Spirit advised me to take my temperature. I did, and it read 99.8, but by the end of my workday, my temperature was 101.5!

I clocked out and could barely make it to my car because of extreme fatigue and shortness of breath. I asked my co-workers to wait for me to get myself together before I headed home. Upon arriving home, I could not get out of the car right away, so I sat outside in the car and called the COVID-19 hotline. The representative told me not to come to the ER until I received a call back from them. They needed to prepare for my arrival.

By the time I got to the ER my chest felt like it was caving in and with every breath tear filled my eyes and fear had taken over. My husband dropped me off at the emergency door, because he could not enter the hospital with me. Immediately after entering the hospital, a nurse covered from head to toe in protective gear, swiftly swept me around the side of the hospital, because COVID patients could not use the main emergency room entrance.

They placed me in a room and told to remove my clothes, which took me a while because with every motion of my arms strength would leave my body. I remember feeling like my breath had literally grown legs and was running down the corridor of the hospital, as I was gasping, trying to catch it! My heart was speeding up with every attempt to catch my breath, but while trying to catch my breath, it felt like something was shredding my lungs.

The nurse came in to take my temp again and by this time it was 104.3 my head was pounding, and I was crying because the nurse kept telling me in a very stern voice Mrs. Moffitt, I know it hurts but I need you to continue to take deep breaths because if you do not your lungs will get weaker and that is not what we want to happen. After several tests and breathing treatments, the doctor came in and said to me. We cannot let you leave the hospital!

It was not until four days later; that I got a positive COVID-19 test reading. My mother would call me sometimes three times a day to tell me do not speak, save your strength. She would tell me I was going to be alright, and that I was coming home. I had tears rolling down my face, because I knew if my mom could have been there, she would have stayed by my bedside day and night!

My mother made sure everyone in my church received updates daily of my healing. Then the night before Easter I was laying in the hospital bed and I had a horrifying feeling that if I did not go home, I would get worse. I read Genesis 2:7, “Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” I dozed off, asking God to blow his breath into my lungs.

On Easter Sunday morning, I Rose! I woke-up feeling better than I had in days. When the doctor came in and listened to my lungs, she could not believe how good they sounded from the day before.

After 58 days being in quarantine, my mom was at my home waiting on me when I arrived home. She stayed at my house the entire 58 days! Where she prayed for me, believing that one day, I would walk back through the door of my home! Despite her health issues, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other vulnerable issues, she risked her life to save mine!

My mother showed the strength of a mother. She cooked my meals, prepared my favorite snacks, washed my clothes, and cared for me as if I were a baby! Every day my mom would hang a bag on my doorknob with whatever I asked for without thinking of herself.

My mother plays the background in all her children’s lives. She pushes us forward while she hangs back, making sure that the most important things get done, never asking for a thank you. She is so self-sacrificing, and I saw every day how she risked her own health to make sure I got better.

Thank you, Mom, this story is for you! I love you!