SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento Firefighter Matthew Rogge was getting ready for a camping trip in July when he felt something wasn't right.
"I felt excruciating body aches, back pain, hip pain, couldn't hold anything down," Rogge said. "Couldn't eat anything. I lost 25 pounds in two weeks."
He tested positive for COVID-19 and quarantined himself in his trailer. He said it wasn't just hard physically, but also emotionally, being away from his family during that time.
"I could see them from the trailer window and they would bring me breakfast, lunch and dinner and just have the small interactions through the day," Rogge said. "It was sad and difficult at that time. I had my phone and my iPad and that was most of my contact with the outside world."
Rogge's recovery hasn't been an easy one and it hasn't been quick. While he was able to return to work in August, he wasn't fully recovered from his bout with COVID-19. It's been tough to get back to the shape he needs to be in as a firefighter.
"Coming back to work, I would workout once and get a light workout and I felt like it would take all of my energy and then do some light cardio and that's about all I could do at work," Rogge said.
Right now, he's in a pulmonary rehabilitation program at Mercy General Hospital. As part of his therapy, he has to be in his full firefighter gear, which weighs about 60 pounds.
"Talking with my doctor at Mercy General, we came up with a plan for pulmonary rehab and that's to help get my lungs back to where they were with strength and conditioning and small weights," Rogge said. "I've been in that program and go three times a week."
His road to recovery has been a long one, but he's optimistic he'll be able to get his body back to what it used to be and be able to get back to work.
"We're all in this together and it's sad that people have lost loved ones to COVID right now and we're still in this," Rogge said. "Just because it hasn't affected you personally. It had affected other people."
