A COVID recovery

Health and wellness When COVID came calling

Writer weathers increasingly harrowing symptoms in “mild” case

My name is ripped me apart from invisible warm. Imagine my fear when I feels like? Kaitlin Lembo. seams. Food became a vehicle couldn’t get the air conditioner I am 25 years with which my body would excool enough. The walls close in My sheets were their own old. I fought pel in every way it could. Water way too quickly when you’re form of wavebed and I supplied COVID-19. turned my stomach into stormy confined within them. Your the moisture. I was doing launseas. The softness of my bed, mind begins to play tricks on dry like a professional athlete,

It started with a cough. my only refuge; head you. My car laughs at me except the sweat wasn’t coming Nothing too aggressive; if I buried in a pillow from right outside the from my latest triathlon. I’m took too deep of a breath, I hacked a bit. A feather did a little dance in my throat. I had three positive coronavirus cases and legs tucked to my chest yielded the only comfort I would have for Ka by itlin door, mocking how I can’t leave. I can’t go to the doctor. I can’t even leave the sweating out COVID-19. I’m puking out a pandemic. I’m oozing what has killed 2020 for so many people. It’s now in my home when I started showing symptoms. I lasted two weeks. Lembo property. In a haze, I kept asking myself on my doorstep, holding on to my chest like a cat. I can feel its 10 days before I got it; I was Each day, why people were nails, but I can’t get them off. the last to contract it. Wearing something changed driving by the house There’s nowhere to grab except masks in my house and disinfor the worst. My all day. Can’t anyone see my soaked shirt. My stubby, fecting everything daily was no normal temperature is 98.1 what’s going on? How is the bitten nails are sore and broken match for the coronavirus. degrees. Imagine my fear when world still spinning when I can’t from clutching my headboard. Soon, my body began to deteriorate from the inside. Aches the thermometer hit 100.7. Imagine my fear when I started hallucinating from being so even hold my head up? How are people feeling well when I can’t remember what well even Somewhere along the way, I’ve Continued on Page 19

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n COVID continued from Page 18 mastered the breathing exercises they teach you in therapy. Inhale health. Exhale the virus. How is this considered mild? I think I’m dying.

Hours are lost to sleep and odd dreams. I’m six hours between life and death. In those six hours, I have to find a way to write stories my job so desperately needs for the week’s paper. That’s right; I worked during COVID-19. My team is counting on me, even when they ask me to stop working and get some sleep. I have to find a way to take a shower. Oh, hot water is amazing. I can’t get it hot enough.

The sun begins rising again. I haven’t had a fever for a week. I’m still so, so weak. I’m still confined to my house. By day, my body is raw and bruised with each unnecessary movement. By night, the fibers begin A mild case of COVID-19 can still wreak havoc on the body.

to connect. Day by day, my strength multiplies. Eight hours of consciousness becomes 10, then 11, then 12.5. Before I know it, naps are less frequent. I can feel my throat again. The feather is a mere memory. The walls are opening up. Air fills the places that once felt full.

My name is Kaitlin Lembo. I am 25 years old. I beat COVID-19. I hope you never have to experience it.

Kaitlin Lembo is a NYPA Award-winning writer serving Spotlight Newspapers as a reporter and engagement coordinator. n Learning Center continued from Page 8 they study. Turn memorization exercises into rhythmic word play and set it to any musical style.

Intrapersonal learners work better alone, doing individual study, personal goal-setting and self-esteem activities. This type of student should write down concrete objectives and the steps required to achieve them. A study schedule would be more effective if it breaks down what will be studied, rather than just “study time.”

Interpersonal learners work better in group activities, such as clubs, peer teaching, conflict mediation and active discussions. They would enjoy volunteering at a nursing home, women’s shelter or charity and documenting the experience in a journal.

Naturalist learners tend to better understand ideas when it is related to a natural occurrence. These learners prefer outdoor activities. Learning about science by doing outdoor experiments that relate to schoolwork will make that schoolwork more interesting and more likely to connect to this kind of learner.

As parents prepare their child for the new school year, it’s important to remember that he or she will be better prepared for classes if parents and teachers understand a student’s personal learning styles and use this knowledge to help the child excel in school and on homework. Parents should share their observations about their child’s learning style with their child’s teachers as the school year progresses and they receive report cards.

Patrick McNamara is the owner and executive director at Sylvan Learning of Albany and Clifton Park. For more information, visit SylvanLearning.com.

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