A COVID Story #1 – Rubbing Elbows with Death

I contracted COVID-19 in March of 2020. As a professional and somewhat celebrity Acrobatic Dancer who traveled the world and danced in front of millions of people throughout the years, losing my strengths and ability to even walk was devastating.

I originally refused to go to the hospital... but I'll tell you more about that in the next post. For now, I just want to share with you the bad and the good... Yes, I learned it the hard way - in every bad there is often some, or a lot, of good...

I was in the hospital for 88 days and in a medically induced coma for 32 days. Part of being in a comma for such a long time, as strange as it may sound, definitely had some benefits.  For example, you lose a lot of weight without feeling hungry, your Amazon account goes months without any spending,  and you get to hear your eulogy without ever dying.

Then once you are out of the coma, when you forget someone’s name, you can blame it on your COVID brain. Finally, you can tell your enemies  you’re not done yet.

The tough parts of the experience, though, were excruciating. The fear of death is terrorizing. The despair of loneliness is like being stranded on an empty planet without knowing how you got there. Losing your body functions as a dancer removes your purpose for living. It wasn’t fun or easy.  However, deprivation did lead to reevaluations for me.

I learned that people cared about me more than I ever realized. I understood that life was an extraordinary gift that I used to take for granted. But no more. I almost died - in fact, I did die three times for a brief period while I was in a coma.  But now that I'm back, I walk with eyes wide open, appreciating every bit of life... Except, there are residual side-effects to my experience; but more about all this in my next posts.

Till then, stay healthy and appreciate every moment of life. You and I, we are still here. Let's make the best of it!