'Breathe and count:' Simple act of breathing sapped energy, says Saskatoon woman hospitalized with COVID-19

Speaking from her hospital room in Saskatoon, Kathy Ziglo recalls not being too worried about COVID-19 earlier this winter. 

"I remember not that long ago, six weeks ago, I was having a conversation with my mom," she said. "And [I know] COVID is real — no ifs, ands or buts — but ... I was like, 'Man, Mom, I don't even know anyone who's even gone for a test. I don't know anyone who's sick.'"

But within the month, people she knew started getting sick — acquaintances, her neighbour across the street. 

Then her partner, Patty, tested positive for the illness, after attending a curling bonspiel in Regina where a number of participants were later diagnosed with COVID-19. 

And then Ziglo, a 47-year-old administrator at Reliance Home Comfort in Saskatoon, started showing symptoms. 

"I started feeling body pains, aches, flu-like symptoms," she said. "And then I had gastrointestinal symptoms.… I couldn't keep anything down."

After a week of trying to manage her symptoms at home, Ziglo knew she needed medical attention. 

"So I called [HealthLine] 811, and they recommended that I call 911 and go to the hospital," she said.

"In my mind, I was just going to be going for IV fluids," she said. She had borrowed a blood oxygen monitoring device from a neighbour, which showed her levels were within a normal range.

"So I really just thought I was weak."

Sask. woman says she is shocked at how quickly she went from not feeling well to critically ill

4 years ago

Duration 2:34

Hospitalizations continue to increase in our province. Kathy Ziglo is on the mend from the COVID-19 but she is still shocked about how quickly she became critically ill. Bonnie Allen delivers her story.

When the paramedics arrived, Ziglo said they tried to persuade her to stay home despite her symptoms. 

"They said, 'You realize that by going into the hospital, as a COVID-positive patient, you're putting people at risk?'" she recalled.

"And I said, 'I'm putting myself at risk by not going to the hospital.' [So] I got into the ambulance, at which point in time they asked me again if I felt it was the right thing to be going to the hospital. And I said yes."

By the time Ziglo got to the hospital, her oxygen levels were dropping and she started finding it difficult to breathe. She was first placed in a highly ventilated "makeshift ER," then transferred to the ICU. Within hours, she was told she might have to be intubated. 

"I asked the doctors how long I had [before intubation]," she said. "They said they had to do some bloodwork, and I had about two hours. So I just remember staring at the wall. … I started counting these tacks that were on the wall, and I just said 'breathe and count.'"

In the meantime, she called her family. Her partner was "beside herself" that she brought COVID home, Ziglo said.

She tried to sound healthy for her parents, even though her voice wasn't strong. 

'I could see myself scrambling'

And while her oxygen levels eventually stabilized enough that she did not require intubation, she said the simple act of breathing took all her energy and concentration for two days. 

"Honestly, for the next 48 hours, I stared at those two pieces of paper on the wall, and I counted tacks and I breathed and I counted and I breathed," she said.

"And it was honestly the only thing I thought about. I didn't think about my family, I didn't think about my friends … all I did was put all my energy into counting the tacks and breathing."

When her focus shifted, she would stop breathing, she said.

"I could see myself scrambling. So I would just go back to the tacks and count. I don't think I slept in 48 hours. I think all I did was stare at the wall. But it worked."

Now Ziglo is on the mend, and she feels "pretty good" about her recovery. She's looking forward to getting a COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available. 

"Every day I've made progress," she said. "Baby steps — it's amazing. I had a shower and I dried my hair and it was like I ran a flipping marathon.… The nurses here have been absolutely incredible." 

But she hopes her experiences will be a "reality check" for people to keep maintaining and strengthening their COVID precautions where they can. 

"You can have all your procedures and protocols in place, but at the end of the day, you just don't know who has the virus and who's carrying it," she said. "And clearly, it can pass quite easily."