Monkeypox Patient Talks About How It Feels to be Suffering from the Condition

Matt Ford is a creative writer, actor, singer, and freelance video producer. He proudly mentions that he is gay and stays partly in Los Angeles and partly in New York according to his schedule. This article is about his condition of monkeypox. He has shared with the world about how he is taking the sickness, he says, “ This is my experience, but it boils down to this: This shit sucks and you don’t want it.”

He says that he did read an article that suggested queer men need to be aware and not perform sexual activities as the pox is targeting them. He decided not to worry about that and went on with his life.

Read: Gay and bisexual men are at a higher risk of getting the infection

On the 17^th of June is when he received a call from a friend in Los Angeles, and this friend tested positive for monkeypox. Why this was worrying is, that Matt was exposed to skin-to-skin contact with this friend the weekend prior. He decided to take a quick check and noticed a few spots and lesions in the underwear zone. The incubation period of monkeypox is between one to two weeks and that made him wonder if these spots could be a sign of monkeypox.

The very next day Matt began to experience flu-like symptoms.

These were his symptoms other than the spots and lesions, that lasted about a week:

• Night sweats
• Cough and sore throat
• Fever
• Full-body chills
• Swollen lymph nodes

On the 20^th of June, Matt went to the doctor and after the test, he was declared positive. The health department was worried about who Matt might have been in touch with and who could have spread the condition. They asked him questions about his travel and symptoms.

Here’s what happens after you have tested positive for monkeypox in the U.S.

• You are issued a stay-at-home order.
• A nurse would call you and check on you regularly to know if you need immediate assistance.
• Only medical visits would be allowed to you until full recovery.

Meanwhile, with every passing day, Matt’s symptoms were getting worse. Now there was pain, he was not able to sleep comfortably like before.

Here’s what he did to help reduce the pain and treat himself:

• Applied ointments given by the doctors.
• Took baths frequently.
• Consumed prescribed narcotic painkillers.

Sure enough, these helped him and the symptoms abated gradually. He says that a week after he was tested positive that was by the 24^th of June he was feeling better. Other than the lesions, he was feeling normal. Lesions continued to appear on his arms, legs, feet, and even on the scalp. Even though he is feeling better now, he is waiting for the outbursts of the lesions to stop and cure.

He admits that he is not fully recovered, because the lesions haven’t stopped showing up, however, he feels incredibly normal, like before he was positive and he believes that he will be well soon.

Read more: My experience tracks with that of others I’m linked to, but the severity of monkeypox can vary from person to person.