Austin orthopedic surgeon relives his battle with COVID-19

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Dr. Scott Smith is an orthopedic surgeon with Texas Orthopedics. He’s now also a COVID-19 survivor.

Dr. Smith said his symptoms started small, but grew into a serious problem — a problem that required hospitalization for the novel coronavirus.

“You know, this virus is sneaky,” Dr. Smith said.

What started as a headache turned into a low-grade fever within two days. From there, the virus took hold. Dr. Smith was hospitalized in Georgetown, but was moved to the Intensive Care Unit at Ascension Seton Medical Center in downtown Austin as his condition worsened.

“The isolation was…. the mental health side of this is cannot be overstated,” Smith said.

Smith’s story with the coronavirus ended with a positive result as he has now tested negative for COVID-19 and has generated antibodies for the virus. He’s sharing his story in hopes that everyone continues to take the virus and its implications seriously.

“We have to respect this. I know there’s a lot of people who are saying. Hey, it’s not that big a deal. Well, I’m a perfectly healthy 50-ish year old person and there were a few nights. I’m not certain I was going to make it…so the respect has to be there. We have got to turn this thing around,” Smith told KXAN.