Alyssa Milano opens up on battling COVID-19: 'I felt like I was dying'
"This illness is not a hoax."
Alyssa Milano is cautioning fans that COVID-19 testing isn't 100% reliable after testing negative for the virus three times despite having serious symptoms. Finally, an antibody test -- her fourth overall -- told her what she already knew.
The "Charmed" actress shared two photos to Instagram on Wednesday: her breathing with the assistance of a nebulizer and her positive COVID-19 test.
"This was me on April 2nd after being sick for 2 weeks. I had never been this kind of sick," the 47-year-old explained. "I basically had every Covid symptom."
"It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t keep food in me. I lost 9 pounds in 2 weeks," Milano said, adding that she also suffered from fever, malaise and confusion.
Despite presenting all the textbook symptoms, the "Who's the Boss?" star claimed she tested negative for the virus on three separate occasions, including a finger prick antibody test.
Still, symptoms persisted and morphed into other complications, such as vertigo and "zero short term memory." Finally, she submitted herself for a fourth and final test, a blood draw antibody test, and finally learned that she did have COVID-19.
Now, she's using her platform to educate her followers that "our testing system is flawed and we don’t know the real numbers."
"This illness is not a hoax," Milano continued. "I thought I was dying. It felt like I was dying."
The mother of two revealed that she now intends to donate her plasma "with hopes that I might save a life."
Urging her 2.8 million followers to "take care of yourselves" by wearing a mask and social distancing, Milano begged, "I don’t want anyone to feel the way I felt."
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