MACON, Ga. — Macon Photographer Matthew Odom considers himself one of the lucky ones, exposed to the coronavirus but was asymptomatic. But, it was far from a painless ordeal.
Odom is a well established photographer in the Central Georgia area. Capturing pictures that are worth a thousand words.
On July 9, after finding out he tested positive to COVID-19, he struggled to find the right words to express how he truly felt.
"I was kind of surprised. Like, wait a minute you know, is this really happening to me?" Odum said.
Fortunately for Odom, who suffers from kidney disease and is a primary care giver for his grandmother, he was asymptomatic. He was only required to self quarantine for 14 days, but he says the time in isolation was draining.
"It's the second week, where everything wears on you, whether you're asymptomatic or not. It just starts to wear on you mentally. You start thinking down the line,, once you're done with this will it come back? Things of that magnitude start going through your mind," he said.
Odum says he's been careful while out in public, practicing social distancing, wearing a mask and routinely washing his hands.
He has no idea how he was exposed to the coronavirus which has been unnerving, but he urges everyone to stay precautious.
"I have a half mask respirator. I've gotten so many jokes about that mask. I always get looks when I go out. I do everything. From changing clothes when I get home, having a disinfectant spot where I take off my shoes and spray them down, anything and everything and I still ended up catching it," Odum said.
Now that Odom has been released from self quarantine, he says he's had a lot of time to reflect, journaling in his time alone. He created a Facebook page for COVID-19 survivors and has some advice to share with others.
"I've been encouraging people to share stories. Because once I told people I had it, I probably got about 30 to 40 messages from people who were encourage to go get tested and encouraged to know it was real. Nobody needs to be ashamed about this, man. This is just something that is unfortunate and it's here and we got to deal with it. If you contract it, you just contract it. Stay hopeful and look for a strong support group and you'll make it through," he said.
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