Im losing my mind series#

(Courtesy of Bernard Bell)īack at home, I was still sleeping a lot. Thankfully, I did not have to go on a ventilator.īernard Bell, sick with COVID-19, at Greensboro’s Cone Health Wesley Long Hospital. They admitted me, and I stayed for two and a half days. My doctor told me to immediately go to the emergency room. from Penn State in 1964 and was the chair of the NCATSU department of agriculture for 35 years.Īll in all, I was doing OK, but then my oxygen levels dropped. My dad graduated from North Carolina A&T State University, a historically Black university, at a time when Black people couldn’t go to white universities. And my 90-year-old father tested positive, too, which really scared us. I felt knocked out, like during a colonoscopy when they give you anesthesia and tell you to count backwards. I had COVID-19.īy then, I already had the classic symptoms - chills, body aches and fatigue. She called back a few days later to say the test was positive. I called my doctor, who suggested I come in for a test. Two days later, I lost my sense of smell, too. We fully anticipated being able to ride this thing out. I like to think we’re intelligent and informed consumers. I protect my immune system, but I was not so cavalier that I let my guard down. I don’t have the typical Black diseases, like high blood pressure or diabetes or high cholesterol. I was already strict about my diet and health. One reason is that I have Crohn’s disease, an autoimmune condition. We were extremely cautious and thoughtful about it. I’d come back, leave my shoes outside and put my little surgical footies on before entering the house. I would go to the grocery store, masked-up. She would clean the doorknobs with Clorox wipes. Like a lot of people, we were being careful to avoid COVID-19. She said she didn’t notice.Īt the time, we didn’t think anything about it. She had read that sage tea has antiviral properties, so she cut some sage from my mom’s sage bush and had it in the house. in chemistry and nutrition from Howard University. My sister is a Carolina alumna with a Ph.D. My sister lives in Maryland, but due to the virus was home at our dad’s house in Greensboro, the house I grew up in, which is only a few blocks from where my wife and I live now. This was in July 2020, around four months into the COVID-19 pandemic. The first sign that something was wrong was when my sister lost her sense of smell. If you have a story to share, email us at with COVID DIARIES in the subject line.

Im losing my mind series#

His story is part of The Well’s COVID Diaries, an occasional series exploring the physical, mental and emotional toll the pandemic has taken on members of the Carolina community.

Carolina Next: Innovations for Public Good ↗īernard Bell is the executive director of the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences.