ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)- Abilene resident Rudy “Roel” Lopez has been battling COVID-19 for several weeks. Isolated from family and friends, he is completely quarantined in his bedroom.

“Until this thing is over, I’ve got my four walls.”

Lopez said when the outbreak began, he was a skeptic.

“I was acting a little cocky, telling people left and right, ‘I can’t catch this virus ha-ha-ha,'” said Lopez. “[I was] joking around about it.”

Lopez said he’s experienced a range of symptoms including weight gain, due to bingeing after bouts of no appetite. His cough has worsened and sometimes he fights to breathe. A self-proclaimed “warm-natured person,” Lopez said his fevers make his entire body feel like ice.

” I have a hoodie on and I’m freezing,” said Lopez. “I’ve had illnesses throughout my life, I mean you know, who hasn’t? But this one–this one hurts.”

Lopez has considered going to the hospital numerous times, but as other COVID-19 patients have described, the curiousness of the virus is its unpredictability.

“There’s times that feels like, my lungs hurt,” said Lopez. “I’ll feel a sharp pain, but then it goes away. It confuses me.”

Along with his physical health, his mental health has suffered. Lopez said he was happy to do an interview just to see another face. He has a message for those skeptics with whom he once identified.

“People are sick and tired of hearing about this virus,” said Lopez. “I don’t blame them. Believe that. But, this virus it’s not a joke.”