Matt Ford, 30, tells news about his experience with monkeypox in hopes of raising awareness of the rare virus.
The 30-year-old Californian actor and writer told news about his painful experience recovering from a rare virus spreading rapidly in the United States and why he is sharing his story with all walks of life.
“There’s no place or reason for shame or stigma in any of this. It cannot be perfect. It can be scary, but one thing that has helped me is reminding myself. That it’s temporary and there is another side to it.”
Ford received a call on June 17 that he had contracted monkeypox from someone he had been in contact with for a long time. He immediately scanned his body and noticed that many lesions had formed. After self-isolating, Ford was tested in a doctor’s office and officially tested positive for monkeypox a week. Before receiving a court-ordered stay-at-home mandate from the Los Angeles County Department of Health.
Ford suffered from intense flu-like symptoms for the first week. Including cough, sore throat, fever, and chills, although he said he would wake up with sweat-soaked pillows and sheets. Although symptoms vary from patient to patient, he noticed. That after his flu-like symptoms subsided, more lesions appeared on his body, a total of 25.
“The [lesions] that were already in the underwear area were very, very painful and on my face, but I started getting them on my torso, legs, arms, shoulders, scalp; they appear everywhere,” explains Ford, noting that the lesions become “very painful all the time” for about a week.
“And it hurts more if I move in the wrong direction and interfere with certain bodily functions that require movement. I would describe it as at least 8 or 9 out of 10.” “I understand why.”