Houston nurse in recovery shares struggle with COVID-19
A Houston nurse who was treated for COVID-19 in her own hospital is now back at home and recovering. Now, she's sharing her struggle with the virus.
"I'm ready to get back to my team. I'm ready to kick this COVID's butt," said nurse Tanna Ingraham.
ABC13 first introduced you to Ingraham a couple of weeks ago when she was in the ICU at her very own hospital with COVID-19. She's one of the many success stories happily recovering at home now.
RELATED: Houston ICU nurse admitted to her own unit for coronavirus
"I still have shortness of breath," she said. "Possible inflammation in lungs."
Ingraham is getting better each day and hopes to be back at work at United Memorial Medical Center alongside her nurses who took care of her as she was fighting for her life.
"The hardest part truly was being away from people because I'm in a room with plastic covering,"she said.
Ingraham hasn't missed a beat even while bedridden. She knows the situation at many hospitals across our area are getting worse.
On Monday, we got a firsthand look inside Memorial Hermann's COVID-19 unit, where nurses and doctors are hard at work. Memorial Hermann CEO Dr. David Callendar told ABC News that the staff is doing their best, but they're tired and this battle is slowly taking a toll on their people.
"The stream of patients for care is greater than it has been. They're sick they require a lot of attention a lot of focus," Dr. Callendar said.
The rise in hospitalizations is forcing them to take a different approach and make additional space to accommodate demand. He's asking leaders to carefully look at the situation and make decisions wisely.
"We anticipated this problem," Ingraham said.
As for nurse Ingraham, she knows what awaits her.
"It's scary because how am I going to take care of this patient when I have five others on ICU ventilators?" she said.
However, it will never stop her from doing what she loves.
