A personal Covid Experience

[Gremlin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Since that 7am phone call he is washed, shaved, and has seen the doctor who told him he is making REALLY good progress. As I said above it was the first time talking to him since he went in that he sounded normal, not out of breath or gasping so it's good to get confirmation from the doctor on his progress. Hopefully it will only be a week or so before he is well enough to come home. He still can't get himself out of bed to sit in a chair yet. Since he asked us to drop off some items so we drove over to his place, then to grocery store, hospital and onto the seaside a few miles away where we had a lovely walk along the seafront, coffee, then haddock and chips all while looking out to sea over a glorious beach and a cloudless sky. Brilliant morning, really starting to relax some now.

Nothing like the illness of a loved one to put life into sharp perspective. So happy to hear the good news and continued prayers/healing vibes until your son is fully recovered!

[Vacation4us]

Hopefully he hasn’t lost too much weight. I have heard of multiple patients loosing 30 to 50 lbs while hospitalized with Covid.

He will be weak for a while but with your support and strength I am sure he will make great strides in returning to his past healthy status.

So glad he’s gonna beat this battle!

[Gumby]

My 37 year old nephew lost about 15-20 lbs to COVID and he wasn't even hospitalized, just confined to his bedroom at home.

[CDRE]

Load the young man up with his most favorite ice cream.

[Alan]

He says that he has lost 25 lbs so far.

He had to be put on the large cannula in the nose oxygen overnight as his stats dropped but is back on the small clear 2 pronged one today and his blood oxygen is again stable at 97-98%.

He still has pneumonia so they continue to treat that with antibiotics. He has spent more time sitting in a chair yesterday and today but needs help getting to and from it. Physiotherapy starts tomorrow to help his mobility. As he gets better one of the tests he has to pass is climbing stairs before being allowed out. He is still nauseous, he brought back his tomato soup last night, but managed okay with weetabix today. (Ice cream also seems to stay down).

We are still hopeful that he will continue to make progress and be out in a few days time.

[Aerides]

The docs will probably recommend he try things like Ensure and protein drinks, which are usually far easier to digest, and optimized for nutrients. Tomato soup having acid, i can see that being problematic.

As much as you want him to come home, it's likely they'll want to see his digestion stable before release. and that's often slow to come around. Still, amazing to see his progress so far!

[sengsational]

I have a few nephews and nephew in laws that are saying they don't want the vaccine and are saying "I'll be fine". Well, maybe, and maybe not. I'm going to tell them this story. Of course Jeffrey didn't have the opportunity to get the vaccine. Hopefully hearing a specific story about some their age having to go through the suffering will get them to protect themselves.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational I have a few nephews and nephew in laws that are saying they don't want the vaccine and are saying "I'll be fine". Well, maybe, and maybe not. I'm going to tell them this story. Of course Jeffrey didn't have the opportunity to get the vaccine. Hopefully hearing a specific story about some their age having to go through the suffering will get them to protect themselves.

It might help, but it's tough to get the youngin's to listen to good reason. It seems like unless they have "been there and done that" then it can't happen. I suppose I was guilty of it when I was younger, too.

Glad to hear the news with your son...getting better everyday!

[Alan]

He has been having protein shakes and the like for the last couple of days since they removed his feeding tube. He is keen to get onto “solid” food again.

Got a text from him this afternoon to say that the physio-terrorists came today instead of tomorrow. They had him marching in place and were pleased to see that his blood oxygen stayed high. As we thought, they will be working towards having him climb stairs and even after he is released home the physiotherapy will continue.

Here’s hoping his digestion improves, his pneumonia gets fixed and his physical strength increases enough to be released home soon. I suppose he will also have to test negative for Covid. When we talked this morning he was telling us about some of the other folks in the ICU with him, and there was one person in an ICU side ward where the doctors and nurses donned an even higher level of PPE before entering the room. Maybe infected with a very infectious variant? The UK does genome sequencing on a very high percentage of Covid cases now that the numbers of infections are low, and the rapid genome sequencing is described as near real time.

[Helen]

Holy cow, 25 pounds in such a short period of time, that is pretty amazing. I can't wait to read that he has come home.

[ivinsfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan He has been having protein shakes and the like for the last couple of days since they removed his feeding tube. He is keen to get onto “solid” food again. Got a text from him this afternoon to say that the physio-terrorists came today instead of tomorrow. They had him marching in place and were pleased to see that his blood oxygen stayed high. As we thought, they will be working towards having him climb stairs and even after he is released home the physiotherapy will continue. Here’s hoping his digestion improves, his pneumonia gets fixed and his physical strength increases enough to be released home soon. I suppose he will also have to test negative for Covid. When we talked this morning he was telling us about some of the other folks in the ICU with him, and there was one person in an ICU side ward where the doctors and nurses donned an even higher level of PPE before entering the room. Maybe infected with a very infectious variant? The UK does genome sequencing on a very high percentage of Covid cases now that the numbers of infections are low, and the rapid genome sequencing is described as near real time.

Thanks for telling us what we need to mention in prayer. In the giddiness of his dramatic improvement we forget he has obstacles in front of him

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan .... Now that he is whining at warp factor 5 we can tell that he is definitely on the mend.

That is indeed a great sign.

[rodi]

Is ice cream considered a solid food? He should be given large bowls of it since it seems to stay down.

I literally lol'd at the term physio-terrorist.

Your and yours remain in my thoughts.

[pacergal]

Hoping your son continues to improve.
A bit of weight gain and increased strength and mobility, without O2 reduction , will be in my prayers for him today.

[powerplay]

Happy to read that he is progressing and hope he soon can take solid foods without issue and stand and walk up those steps!
Wishing him a steady recovery so that covid becomes a distant memory.

[skyking1]

It is a general ICU, right? That high PPE room was probably not Covid at all, and they are doing everything they can to protect those patients from Covid, or it might have been a case of MRSA. That stuff is really bad, you know what I am saying.
So glad his Sats are up with activity.

[simple girl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Got a text from him this afternoon to say that the physio-terrorists came today instead of tomorrow. They had him marching in place and were pleased to see that his blood oxygen stayed high. As we thought, they will be working towards having him climb stairs and even after he is released home the physiotherapy will continue.

LOL yeah I've been called something similar several times in my career. We have a reputation to keep up, you know.

Alan I am sooooooooooo happy to hear how well he is progressing!!! He is young so now that he is on the mend his strength should come back fairly quickly and steadily with PT. Continuing to send healing energy!

[Dash man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan He has been having protein shakes and the like for the last couple of days since they removed his feeding tube. He is keen to get onto “solid” food again. Got a text from him this afternoon to say that the physio-terrorists came today instead of tomorrow. They had him marching in place and were pleased to see that his blood oxygen stayed high. As we thought, they will be working towards having him climb stairs and even after he is released home the physiotherapy will continue. Here’s hoping his digestion improves, his pneumonia gets fixed and his physical strength increases enough to be released home soon. I suppose he will also have to test negative for Covid. When we talked this morning he was telling us about some of the other folks in the ICU with him, and there was one person in an ICU side ward where the doctors and nurses donned an even higher level of PPE before entering the room. Maybe infected with a very infectious variant? The UK does genome sequencing on a very high percentage of Covid cases now that the numbers of infections are low, and the rapid genome sequencing is described as near real time.

Alan,
Just so you know, your story is an inspiration to many of us. Praise God he is doing well and will hopefully be home soon. We will continue to pray for him and your family. It is so great to hear a positive outcome after all the bad news we hear.
May God Bless the health care team that worked so hard to help your son.
Thank you for sharing!

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyking1 It is a general ICU, right? That high PPE room was probably not Covid at all, and they are doing everything they can to protect those patients from Covid, or it might have been a case of MRSA. That stuff is really bad, you know what I am saying. So glad his Sats are up with activity.

This particular ICU is dedicated to Covid patients. On my way up there to drop something off there were directions to other ICU units, he was in ICU 2. I had looked up the stats in our local online newspaper when he went in and saw that the hospital was at its lowest number of Covid patients since December with 27 patients, 6 in ICU. The other patients in the ICU Jeffrey talked about were also Covid patients, he named 3 of them, one was not communicating and then there was the one in the separate room. But you are correct, he could have had additional infections like MRSA rather than a more infectious case of Covid.

[harllee]

I wish there was some way that younger people who are reluctant to get the vaccines could read Jeffrey's story. I don't know what social media young people read these days (being an old person myself).

Anyway, Jeffrey's story is very sobering. But things are definitely looking up.