Overcoming COVID: Nurse chronicles her frightening ordeal on Facebook - Greensboro News & Record

Johnson, a registered nurse, was fully vaccinated and had received her booster shot before falling ill Jan. 2 with a breakthrough case of COVID-19.

Struggling and short of breath for days, Johnson had great support from friends and neighbors who brought meals to her door.

Increased shortness of breath and pain in her lungs sent Johnson to the doctor’s office last week where she was diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia, known to cause severe chest pain.

Looking for answers, Johnson, who has managed her asthma well throughout her adulthood, saw a doctor last week when her breathing became more difficult.

A booster for COVID-19 vaccines, Johnson has promoted the benefits of the shots for months and regularly posted information about vaccination clinics on her social media accounts. Without vaccines to blunt the force of her COVID-19 infection, Johnson says she’s certain she would have required hospitalization and supplementary oxygen.

Johnson used an incentive spirometer, a tool that exercises the lungs and measures their strength, to keep tabs on her breathing power during her ordeal with a breakthrough COVID-19 infection and resulting pneumonia.

Mary Jordan Johnson
Special to RockinghamNow

Editor’s Note: Mary Jordan Johnson of Greensboro, a Rockingham County native and nurse at a regional hospital, chronicled her struggle with COVID-19 over the past two weeks. Johnson, 34, like many across the U.S., was fully vaccinated and had received her booster shot, yet still suffered a breakthrough infection. And Johnson always wears her mask and practices social distancing. Before she became ill, Johnson used the utmost caution. She gathered only with her mother over the holidays as the omicron variant surged nationwide and infection rates rose above 20% in Rockingham and Guilford counties where Johnson spends most of her time.

Jan. 2: Johnson’s symptoms began.

Jan. 3: Johnson had a PCR COVID-19 test done.

Jan. 4: Results for Johnson’s PCR COVID-19 test are positive.

Jan. 5: “Thank you to all my friends, family, neighbors, loved ones, work folks and just good ol’ humans that have reached out to check on me, done door drop-offs and delivered delicious food and goodies, and just reached out with pure love. I cannot express my gratitude to you all and how much it has meant.

If you know me well enough, you know I’m super independent and love the life Ellie (Johnson’s Goldendoodle ) and I have, but when you’re sick and short of breath, living alone can be terrifying. Day 3.5 (calling it this because my symptoms started late Sunday evening) has been fever free, not as congested since I got started on prednisone yesterday, and I have more of a productive cough. I have a long history of super controlled asthma, so I do have some shortness of breath with movement and talking, but my oxygen is fine once I sit back down.

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