Houston ICU nurse on testing positive for COVID-19 a second time, ‘it hit me a lot harder’

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — An ICU nurse is recovering after testing positive for COVID-19 a second time.

Tanna Ingraham when she was diagnosed with the virus the first time.

“I can honestly say I know what it’s like as a healthcare provider and a patient,” Ingraham said back in June.

Now months later, Ingraham was hit with COVID-19 yet again.

“It hit me a lot harder and a lot quicker this time,” she said. “It feels like someone hit you with a baseball bat.”

The second time around, Ingraham said she had a fever and had to be treated by a nurse. She also added that the virus hit her so bad, she doesn’t remember spending a week in the hospital.

“We had a patient that had it (COVID-19) three times. It is common. This virus can mutate and go into a different type of strain,” Ingraham said.

The hospital she works for, United Memorial Medical Center, is unfortunately not slated to get any COVID-19 vaccinations this go-around.

Although it’s a smaller hospital in the Houston area, Ingraham said it shouldn’t exempt them from receiving the vaccine.

“For them to completely bypass us… you can’t be any more frontline than we are right now,” she said. “We have some really sick patients, and our hospital mainly treats COVID-19.”

For now, Ingraham continues to recover at home, but as soon as she’s better, she will be back caring for patients.