Brigham And Women's Nurse On COVID Symptoms: 'It's The Worst I've Ever Felt In My Life'
BOSTON (CBS) – A nurse at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Trish Powers spent the last several months caring for COVID patients. Friday she tested positive herself.
"I feel like someone is beating me with a baseball bat, that's my main complaint is I feel like my bones are broken," she told WBZ-TV.
We asked the operating room nurse if she was worried. Powers said yes but she feels blessed that she has no breathing issues so far. "As a person who obviously saw the sick of the sick with COVID, at this point, I'm pretty hopeful that I will not get that sick."
But Powers has other concerning symptoms - a rash on her torso and no sense of smell or taste. She said, "It's the worst I've ever felt in my life."
An outspoken advocate for nurses, Powers has spoken to WBZ-TV many times since the pandemic began. She was among the first group of nurses to begin working with COVID patients and really wanted the vaccine.
The COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Boston hospitals on Monday. Powers, who's now in quarantine, says she was scheduled to get her shot Thursday and will now have to wait.
"As soon as I am eligible to get the vaccine I will get it," she said.
Powers is advocating that others get the vaccine as well.
"For people I care about I want them to get the vaccine," said Powers. "I want my mother to get the vaccine. I think that's the way we'll get back to a normal life again."
Powers said with the recent surge in cases, retired nurses have stepped up and volunteered to staff the vaccine clinics.
