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San Diego ICU nurse shares COVID-19 story: from active fitness competitor to unable to walk

Posted at 2:35 PM, Nov 02, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-02 22:46:45-05

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) - A San Diego ICU nurse who tested positive for coronavirus at 29 years old wants to share her story with the community. Marianna Cisneros was participating in fitness competitions and in the best shape of her life at the end of 2019. She tested positive for coronavirus July 20, 2020 and since then, has gone from the best shape to the worst, showing that the virus can impact anyone, even someone young and healthy like herself.

She said the first couple weeks of her sickness were mild, then in the third week, her symptoms got worse. She lost feeling in her right side, couldn’t walk and spent six days in the hospital. Now, three months after testing positive, and she still has not recovered.

“You can’t even get out of bed. There are times when I am crawling to the bathroom to try to take a shower,” she said.

The mom of three said she doesn’t have the strength to pick her four-year-old up now, and also has not been able to return to work. She doesn’t know when she’ll have the strength to keep up with the physically demanding job of an ICU nurse.

“Even I, at the beginning of this, was thinking even if I caught COVID, I’ll be fine. Here I am months later and I am not fine. We don’t know what the future holds for me. If this is permanent, if I’ll be able to go back to work as a nurse. The future is really uncertain,” she said.

Cisneros said her husband has been a stay at home dad for almost five years and is now looking for a job to compensate for the loss of her work. She now wants to share her story with others to remind the public that anyone can get sick.

“People really just need to take this virus seriously. It can impact anyone, regardless of age, regardless of your health.”