ARIZONA, USA — Sitting underneath a sign that reads, "All you need is love and pizza," Randy Walters waits for his own pie at TwistedPies in Mesa with his wife, Cyndee Walters.
"It's absolutely my favorite pizza," Randy says.
They're here to celebrate. It is one of his favorite spots, after all.
"Last night I couldn't wait to go to bed because I get to get up and do all those things I love," Randy says.
He couldn't do those things this past week, like getting his black cup of Costa Rican coffee from his favorite shop before the sun rises, or even wandering the aisles of the big box store, as this week, brought a fight.
He calls it "the bear." It's not a literal bear, though.
"I didn't want to keep saying 'COVID' because it was almost like I was giving it power," Randy said. "So I changed it to 'the bear' because I was fighting a bear," Randy said.
He started using that term in January of 2021 when his doctor compared COVID to a wild animal.
Randy was in the hospital for 20 days as he fought it and left with long-haul-type symptoms too.
"It killed my spleen, destroyed my spleen with blood clots, took 35% of my right lung," Randy said.
In the two years since, Randy has committed to working out, going to the gym and the pool, and getting the COVID vaccines and boosters.
"I'd have to say that's why I'm here," Randy said. "It frustrates me with just so people that are almost in denial that it (COVID) exists."
So when the bear returned, the fight was days, not weeks. But beating the bear still wasn't easy.
"I just told my wife this the other day. I was terrified because I didn't know," Randy said.
Randy credits the vaccines, boosters, and oral treatment for COVID he was given by a provider.
"I tested yesterday, and it was negative," Randy said. "Beat the bear again."
That's why Randy and Cyndee ate the pizza of the month Friday, at his favorite spot, because celebrations matter.
"Nothing is promised," Cyndee said.
"I wasn't just sitting through another bad cold or something. This was - I was going out the next day, today, to celebrate surviving two years ago, and now," Randy said.
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