Gig Harbor council member Tracie Markley recovering from ‘terrible’ bout with COVID-19
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Gig Harbor city councilmember Tracie Markley tested positive for COVID-19 and spent the last ten days recovering, along with her husband, who experienced symptoms of pneumonia after also testing positive.
“We just got out of quarantine yesterday. It was our last day of mandatory isolation,” Markley said. “It was a virus that was different than anything I’d ever had before.”
Markley, 44, told The Gateway in an interview Friday that after feeling ill, she and her husband went to the emergency room, where they both tested positive.
“We tested positive on the eighth, but I started having symptoms on the fourth of February,” Markley said. “I went to my regular doctor for an annual checkup on the second of February and was given a clean bill of health, I was fine. All my vitals were good, everything was great, normal checkup. Two days later, I felt like I had been hit by a car.”
Markley said she was stricken by a “terrible” headache, experienced persistent fatigue, as well as a temporary loss of smell.
“There is a weird headache that feels like it’s in the front of your face,” Markley said. “You feel like you jumped into a pool and stuck chlorine up your nose. It’s like this burning feeling in your face. It’s so weird. I’ve never had a headache like that before in my life and that lasted like five days of just feeling like I had, like I had burning in my face.”
In recovery
Markley said she and her husband, Joshua, a project manager at the Keyport naval facility, are now recovering, but that she had to miss a council study session. The next council meeting she attended with her video off. She then informed the mayor and city administration, whom she said has been very supportive.
Markley won her seat on the council in November 2019. She has deep ties to the area and a long history of community engagement that culminated in her run.
Markley said she didn’t make any public announcement about her illness because she didn’t want to draw attention to herself, but she did inform some of those close to her personally.
“We’re not quite sure where we picked it up from,” Markley said. “We’ve been doing the things we’ve been doing all year: masks, sanitizer, washing our hands. It just got us.”
Markley said she was not having any trouble breathing or shortness of breath, but still feels tired.
“I have to rest in between doing activities. I’m certainly not 100 percent yet,” Markley said. “Being so tired from being down for that many weeks, just in bed or on the couch. You just can’t do anything.”
Colleagues wish Markley well
In an email, mayor Kit Kuhn said he had been checking with Markley to make sure she was doing well.
“I have been in touch with her every several days to see how she was getting along and she seems to be doing much better,” Kuhn said.”
Fellow council member Jeni Woock said she hadn’t known about Markley’s illness,but expressed hope for her continued recovery.
“I’m glad to know that she has walked through the valley and come out the other side,” Woock said.
Woock urged residents to continue taking proper precautions and get vaccinated.
“Please get your shots and keep wearing your mask and keep social distancing,” Woock said. “I just had my second shot a week ago and we still are supposed to wear a mask and social distance. We aren’t on the other side yet.”
Council member Jim Franich said he had also been in touch with Markley.
“When I talked to her, I knew that she was doing better and that her husband had a bit of a more severe case of it,” Franich said. “I wish her all the best and was very sorry to hear that she contracted it.”
Valentine’s day at home
Neighbors have brought food and shown support for the Markley family while they were all isolating at home. Markley has two daughters, aged 16 and 14, who also were locked in with them while they recovered. That meant a birthday present for her daughter and Valentines gifts had to be delivered at home.
“My kids, they’ve been with us the whole time. My oldest had a few symptoms, but she did okay. My youngest had nothing, no symptoms at all the whole time,” Markley said. “We basically quarantined in four different rooms of our house for about ten days. My daughters stayed in their individual rooms and just kind of only went down to make food then went back to their rooms.”
Markley said the scariest part was “not knowing” what was coming next for her family and that her husband was “slammed” by the experience. “You feel so awful for so long, you feel like it’s never going to end,” Markley said. “It was mentally really hard to get through.”
Markley said it was a “weird” experience texting her family within her own home, but that they made it work. She missed other family members, too.
“I haven’t seen my mom, or my sisters, or my nephews, or my brothers-in-law, or my friends,” Markley said. “I haven’t seen anybody since February 4th so I’ve missed them all.”
Ready for Zoom
Now Markley is glad to have the ordeal behind her.
“When it did hit me, I have to say I had a little bit of fear. I’ve heard so many stories of things that have gone wrong and could go wrong. You’re just waiting to see, okay well what is today going to bring?” Markley said. “Is today the day I’m going to wake up and I can’t breathe? Am I going to be okay? Am I going to be left with some long term effects that never go away?”
Markley said she did a daily “mental health check” to keep herself grounded and push away some of these fears that she still says left an impact on her.
“It is not a disease to be taken lightly and it is certainly not a hoax or a fake disease.”
Markley said she will be at the next council meeting, over Zoom, with her camera on and ready to participate.
This story was originally published February 19, 2021 at 2:19 PM.
