This story was told by a person incarcerated at Vacaville.
UCI: I’m so sorry to hear about all your medical issues. You have my deepest condolences, but how’ve you been coping with this ongoing pandemic crisis?
Caller: All I’m trying to do day by day is hopefully don’t to get it again, right now there’s nobody in here, else in the infirmary with COVID-19 right now. None of them, nobody is in here with it. So I think, you know, it’s gone already, I don’t know.
UCI: Yeah, so you discussed how you got COVID and they just quarantined you, they didn’t give you any sort of medication or anything. What would you have done at your facility to make everything better? Like to make the situation better, what could’ve been done?
Caller: I would’ve probably got some cough syrup or flu syrup or something.
UCI: So any sort of medication would’ve made the situation better?
Caller: I think, or help, or help me with something to breathe because I had to struggle, really struggle to breathe.
UCI: Gotcha. So regarding your situation, what do you want people to know about your experience with COVID, having COVID while also dealing with cancer and all that jazz. What do you want – what do you want people to know in particular? Like if you can tell, if you can tell your story, what is one thing that needs to be taken away from your story? What do you want to tell the people?
Caller: Well, just not to be afraid of it, I guess. The only reason I got it was because my immune system was weak because of my chemo, but other than that, you know. The breathing is the hardest part but other than that, everything goes okay, you know. Once it goes away, it goes away. Everything is back to normal, you know.
UCI: Of course.
Caller: When it comes, don’t let it bother you or worry or anything like that.
