COVID-19 and a Compromised Immune System

A Saint Joseph’s University junior class of 2022 discusses his experience living on campus during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also shares his personal experience with contracting the virus and the effect it had on his friends and family. A story that is highly relatable during this difficult time. 

Start Talking SJU is a social media impact campaign that encourages members of the Saint Joseph’s University community to engage each other by discussing difficult, yet important topics, that are vital for a healthy, open, inclusive campus. Our current topic is Living in Fear, Striving for Hope.

More videos like this one on the topic of Living in Fear, Striking for Hope in 2020 can be found at http://livinginfear.starttalkingsju.com. You can also see our prior campaigns: Attacked (http://attacked.starttalkingsju.com), Belonging (http://belonging.starttalking.com), and Mental Health (http://mentalhealth.starttalking.com).

This video was co-created with the person depicted and/or represented in a story read by another. All persons reviewed and signed consent forms granting permission to share this story online. 

If you are experiencing any personal or social effects due to fear on or off campus, the university has resources that can help, including:

The Office of Student Outreach and Support (https://sites.sju.edu/sos/); the SJU COVID website (https://www.sju.edu/hawk-hill-ready); if you are experiencing food insecurity, HawkHub (https://clubs.sju.edu/hawkhubclub); The Bias Activity Review Group, which connects to Public Safety (https://sites.sju.edu/oid/bias/); CAPS (610-660-1090); TitleIX titleIX@sju.edu; REPP (*confidential support) 610-733-9650 (24 hr. Peer Helpline); or SJU Public Safety 610-660-1111.

A complete transcript of the video reads as follows:

“I just was coming off of surgery. I had surgery on New Years Eve of last year to fix a heart issue that I was dealing with; a rapid heartbeat. They say that from that surgery your immune system doesn’t fully recover and come back to normal for about a full year. Then coming to school obviously everybody has their own social things that they do. For me, with a compromised immune system, my parents were freaking out. They were calling doctors, some of my aunts and uncles are doctors, they were calling doctors to make sure that I didn’t need to take any extra precautions, which I did, [while] having the virus. I constantly had to check on my heartbeat, had to constantly check my temperature, and doctors were saying at home if any of those signs seemed to be off, or out of the normal, that I would have to check myself into the hospital. So once I got the virus it was a very nerve wracking experience and has definitely taught me that going forward I’m going to have to be extra careful just because I don’t want to put myself in that position again. I think that with the vaccine, all the news that we’ve been hearing recently about it being like 95% effective in most cases, I think that gives a real reason for hope.