Coronavirus Leaves Fall River Mother With Long Road To Recovery
BOSTON (CBS) -- Denisse Pumagualle of Fall River just had her last at-home physical therapy session on Monday. She has been recovering from her battle with coronavirus for months.
After testing positive for COVID-19 in November, Pumagualle lost feeling in her legs. Doctors diagnosed her with Guillain-Barre syndrome.
"I recovered from corona, and then my excessive antibodies attacked my nervous system," Pumagualle explained.
At first, Pumagualle thought she thought she had the flu. "The first week I had chills, I had a fever, a runny nose. I finally went to the doctor's on Thursday, the 19th because the night before I had a high fever, my whole body was aching, I couldn't even touch my forehead without wanting to cry," she said. "The doctor right away said to do a COVID test because of all the symptoms I was showing and the fact that my daughter was already sick [with COVID]."
"It was hard for me to just sit up in the morning without having to catch my breath. It was like I applied things that I had learned through when I pregnant, I couldn't get up right away because morning sickness would hit so with this, I had to do the same open my eyes, stay there for a little bit, sit up and I had to gasp for air. I couldn't walk up a few steps without being out of breath."
Pumagualle dealt with symptoms for a month. She had gone to the emergency room twice and ended up in a hospital because she was having trouble walking.
Beyond it being difficult to walk, Pumagualle was concerned by her exhaustion and a pinching feeling in her lungs. The virus took a mental toll as well.
"I was frustrated. I was overwhelmed. I felt trapped because it's not only physically that this messes with you but also mentally so I felt I couldn't take care of myself and my daughter at the same time. I felt I was just about getting better and then going backwards."
Pumagualle said physical therapy has helped but doctors said she could feel GBS symptoms for two to three months.
