For Littleton resident Cynthia Westin, the crippling fatigue that accompanied her COVID-19 diagnosis was unlike anything she had ever felt.

Westin, 49, had been feeling the exhaustion for a few weeks before she was able to get tested, along with a headache and a sore throat. Her doctor told her it was probably just strep throat and instructed her to go home and rest.

For about three and a half weeks, the symptoms persisted. She experienced a few days here and there of improvement, but then the symptoms would return. By April 7, she was struggling to breathe, frequently coughing and had a fever. Because Westin works at a senior living facility, she was able to get tested for the virus.

Five days later, she got the confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis.

“I couldn’t get out of bed, my fever was 100.3,” she said.

The worst part, she said, was the difficulty breathing and the persistent coughing. On top of everything, Westin also had her 7-year-old daughter and a dog to care for. She started wondering who would watch over them if she ended up in the hospital.

“That was a scary time, there was all the fear of these horror stories and you start thinking ‘oh my God, am I going to be OK? Should I go to the hospital? If I go will I not be able to see anyone? Will my daughter have to stay with somebody?’” she said. “I was dead set against going to the hospital.”

While she was able to still provide for her daughter and take the dog out, it took all her energy to do so, she said.

“It was a fatigue I’ve never ever experienced before,” she said. “It took everything out of me to take my dog down the stairs and walk back up.”

April 17, about a month after her first symptoms, she said she woke up for the first time with no symptoms. 

“I actually feel like a normal person again,” she said a few days later.

Going forward, she hopes to use the experience as a reminder to be healthier and take better care of herself, she said. 

“I don’t think they know if I will ever have it again,” she said. “But once we’re OK to go out again, I’m going to go out. I’ll just watch things more, try to be healthier and take good care of myself.”

Westin’s hope for her neighbors is that they will heed the warnings of public health officials.

“I was the person at the beginning saying this is silly and ridiculous... it’s real,” she said. “People are dying from this. Take it serious.”