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'I thought I was immune': Woman who survived COVID-19 twice warns people to take virus seriously
Abigail Ogle
Anchor
'I thought I was immune': Woman who survived COVID-19 twice warns people to take virus seriously
EXCLUSIVELY AS SHE JUST GOT HOME. SHE JUST GOT HOME. I SPOKE TO HER EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON LESLIE TANNEN OF OKLAHOMA CITY JUST TURNED 46 YEARS OLD YESTERDAY. SHE SAYS HER TO BATTLES WITH COVID LIKE YOU SAID COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE DIFFERENT ONE. SHE BARELY FELT IT THE SECOND SHE BARELY SURVIVED IT. THEN I SAID WE NEED TO GO WE NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE I CAN’T BREATHE. IT WAS MID-AUGUST LESLIE AND HER HUSBAND RUSHED TO A METRO HOSPITAL. I COULDN’T GET MY OXYGEN UP. IT WAS GOING DOWN SO FAST TO WHERE I STARTED PASSING OUT ON DOCTORS IMMEDIATELY PUT HER IN THE ICU. IT FEELS LIKE YOUR HEADS GOING TO EXPLODE BECAUSE IT GETS SO MUCH PRESSURE BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT GETTING ANY OXYGEN AND SHE SAYS AT FIRST THEY DIDN’T EVEN TEST HER FOR COVID-19 BECAUSE BECAUSE I HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY DIAGNOSED WITH COVID BACK IN JUNE. SHE SAYS WHEN SHE TESTED POSITIVE BACK IN SHE BARELY HAD ANY SYMPTOMS SHORTLY AFTER THAT. SHE TESTED NEGATIVE AND THOUGHT SHE WAS FINISHED WITH CORONAVIRUS. I THOUGHT I WAS IMMUNE. I DID NOT THINK I WOULD GET IT AGAIN. AND I DID SHE SAYS THE MEDICAL TEAM TOLD HER BECAUSE IT’S SO NEW COVID IS SO NEW AND THEY’RE LEARNING EVERY DAY. LESLIE WAS THEN RUSHED TO THE COVID FLOOR WHERE SHE STAYED FOR THREE AND A HALF WEEKS. IT’S SCARY AND YOU FEEL ALONE. IT’S NOT LIKE THE FLU. YOU KNOW, THAT IS THE ONE THING I WANT TO SAY THAT AFTER HER STAY IN THE COVID. I SEE YOU. SHE GOT TO NEGATIVE TEST AND HAD TO MOVE TO A LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY TODAY. I WAS VERY LUCKY NOT VERY MANY PEOPLE THAT GET TO THAT PART MAKE IT SHE WAS AT THAT LOCATION FOR A MONTH ALL OF THAT IN MY LUNGS ARE DAMAGED. SHE’S BEEN BACK AT HOME FOR A FEW DAYS WITH THE LINGERING EFFECTS OF COVID-19. SHE SAYS HER SURVIVAL NOW COMES WITH A RENEWED PURPOSE. THIS IS SERIOUS AND IT’S TAKING A LOT OF LIVES. SHE’S ON A MISSION TO WARN OTHERS. I JUST WANT MY NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY. TO BE CAREFUL KNOW WE ALWAYS HOLD OUR ELDERS IN HIGH REGARD. SO, YOU KNOW, THOSE ARE THE ONES WE WANT TO PROTECT, YOU KNOW, OKLAHOMA WE CAN DO BETTER. LESLIE ALSO SAID THE NURSES THE TAX THE DOCTOR SHE SAYS THEY ARE THE TRUE HEROES THE FRONTLINE FIGHTERS. SHE SAID THEY DESERVE ALL THE CREDIT IN THE WORLD THE MORE THAN ANYTHING SHE CREDITS HER
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'I thought I was immune': Woman who survived COVID-19 twice warns people to take virus seriously
Abigail Ogle
Anchor
An Oklahoma City woman said she beat COVID-19 twice and that the two experiences could not have been more different.Leslie Tanyan just turned 46 years old. She said her two battles with COVID-19 could not be more different. The first she said she barely felt. The second, she barely survived.“I said we need to go to the hospital. I can't breathe,” Tanyan said.It was mid-August. Tanyan and her husband rushed to a metro hospital.“I couldn't get my oxygen up. It was going down so fast I started passing out,” Tanyan said.Doctors immediately put her in ICU.“You feel like your head is going to explode because it gets so much pressure, because you're not getting any oxygen,” Tanyan said.Tanyan said at first, they didn't test her for COVID-19. “Because I had been previously diagnosed with COVID back in June,” Tanyan said.Tanyan said when she tested positive in June, she barely had any symptoms. Shortly after that, she tested negative and thought she was finished with coronavirus.“I thought I was immune. Did not think I'd get it again, and I did,” Tanyan said. “I was really shocked. I told them I had it in June and thought we were supposed to have immunity.”She said the medical team told her that the virus is so new. “COVID is so new they're learning every day,” Tanyan said. Tanyan was then rushed to the COVID floor, where she stayed for three and a half weeks.“It's scary and you feel alone. It's not like the flu. That's something I want to say. The flu you can get over in three days,” Tanyan said.After her stay in the COVID ICU, she got two negative tests and moved to a long-term care facility.“They said I was very lucky. Not many people who get to that part make it,” Tanyan said.Tanyan was at that facility for a month.“All of that in my lungs, the damage — looks like a cloud over your whole lung,” she said.Tanyan has been back home for a few days with the lingering effects of COVID-19 and said her survival now comes with a renewed purpose.“This is serious and it's taking a lot of lives. Those numbers have families,” Tanyan said.She is on a mission to warn others.“I want my Native American community to be careful,” Tanyan said. “We hold our elders in high regard. Those are the ones we want to protect. Oklahoma, we can do better.” Tanyan also said the nurses, the techs and the doctors are the true heroes and frontline fighters. She said they deserve all the credit in the world. But more than anything, she credits her faith with helping her beat COVID-19 twice.
OKLAHOMA CITY —

An Oklahoma City woman said she beat COVID-19 twice and that the two experiences could not have been more different.

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Leslie Tanyan just turned 46 years old. She said her two battles with COVID-19 could not be more different. The first she said she barely felt. The second, she barely survived.

“I said we need to go to the hospital. I can't breathe,” Tanyan said.

It was mid-August. Tanyan and her husband rushed to a metro hospital.

“I couldn't get my oxygen up. It was going down so fast I started passing out,” Tanyan said.

Doctors immediately put her in ICU.

“You feel like your head is going to explode because it gets so much pressure, because you're not getting any oxygen,” Tanyan said.

Tanyan said at first, they didn't test her for COVID-19.

“Because I had been previously diagnosed with COVID back in June,” Tanyan said.

Tanyan said when she tested positive in June, she barely had any symptoms. Shortly after that, she tested negative and thought she was finished with coronavirus.

“I thought I was immune. Did not think I'd get it again, and I did,” Tanyan said. “I was really shocked. I told them I had it in June and thought we were supposed to have immunity.”

She said the medical team told her that the virus is so new.

“COVID is so new they're learning every day,” Tanyan said.

Tanyan was then rushed to the COVID floor, where she stayed for three and a half weeks.

“It's scary and you feel alone. It's not like the flu. That's something I want to say. The flu you can get over in three days,” Tanyan said.

After her stay in the COVID ICU, she got two negative tests and moved to a long-term care facility.

“They said I was very lucky. Not many people who get to that part make it,” Tanyan said.

Tanyan was at that facility for a month.

“All of that in my lungs, the damage — looks like a cloud over your whole lung,” she said.

Tanyan has been back home for a few days with the lingering effects of COVID-19 and said her survival now comes with a renewed purpose.

“This is serious and it's taking a lot of lives. Those numbers have families,” Tanyan said.

She is on a mission to warn others.

“I want my Native American community to be careful,” Tanyan said. “We hold our elders in high regard. Those are the ones we want to protect. Oklahoma, we can do better.”

Tanyan also said the nurses, the techs and the doctors are the true heroes and frontline fighters. She said they deserve all the credit in the world. But more than anything, she credits her faith with helping her beat COVID-19 twice.