一位被COVID-19感染的同事的治疗记录

松叶牡丹

This is what COVID-19 can look like.
First off, I want to thank each and every person who reached out, checked in, followed up, sent up prayers, love, and juju for me. I couldn’t ever imagine how many folks, known and unknown, were sending healing energy for me and it has added a next level appreciation and gratitude to my soul I feel I can barely do justice in expressing.
Second, I finally received my results today after testing on 3/20 and I did indeed come back COVID-19 positive. I was not particularly surprised by the result due to my many other tests and panels showing negative (flus and other coronaviruses) but I was tremendously relieved my situation was not one that turned fatal. I figured, with this information, that I can share my story in the event there is someone out there who needs to hear it, is laying low with low-grade symptoms as I had done, or needs the extra oomph to get some help.
It is unsure where I exactly was exposed as I had been traveling a lot for business but I am aware of two major opportunities in which it may have happened, one being a trip to downtown Nashville and the other at the home opener of the Atlanta United game. My bet is more on the former than the latter due to a large sum (10) of my other game attendees I went with have yet to exhibit symptoms (grateful and hopeful it stays this way). For reference, Nashville was March 6th and the game was March 7th. Truth be told, this thing has legs and it is often among those who are asymptomatic which is why is essential we all shelter-in-place.
This is my experience. I know the days of feeling unwell prior to going to the hospital seem drawn out but I felt in the current climate that my normal avenues for care were relegated only to those with the three COVID-19 symptoms so I, like many others, opted to try and stick it out at home.
This is going to be a bit of a long one so hold tight!
Wed 3/11: At this time, Chris has been fighting a three-day migraine and fever so I take him to the urgent care who are afraid to treat him because he had no history of migraines and then the ER where they x-ray him, CT scan him, and treat him with toradol and send him home. Neither Urgent Care nor the ER test him for COVID-19 as he is not exhibiting shortness of breath and coughing. I begin to feel body aches and fever starts that evening.
Thur 3/12: Chris is recovered from his symptoms. I start to experience an aggressive headache, my fever is at 103.7, and every joint in my body aches. I take ibuprofen as a pain reliever and fever reducer and drink a lot of water. I’m spending most of my time sleeping/resting. I am beginning to feel dehydrated, I’m drinking tons of water and Biolyte to combat this.
Fri 3/13: I start to experience nausea and stave it off by eating saltines while my aggressive headache persists. My fever drops but is still present, resting around 101. I start to feel congested so I start taking a decongestant to try to keep my lungs from getting gunked up. At this point, I am beginning to think this is flu since the symptoms aren’t aligning with anything else.
Sat 3/14: Fever is around 100.5 but my sinus pressure becomes unbearable. I’m unsure that the meds are helping or causing conflict due to dosage so I stop taking the decongestant and ibuprofen.  The headaches feel like a lightning storm between my skin and skull, shooting debilitating pain every 20 seconds from temples to the base of my skull.
Sun 3/15: I begin taking an allergy med for the congestion and runny nose and acetaminophen to combat my headaches. My body aches stop but the fever of 101 persists. I begin to lose my senses of smell and taste. As none of these symptoms are those listed in the COVID-19 list at this time, I assume I can manage to medicate at home and push through.
Mon 3/16: I am beyond fatigued. I have no appetite. Fever still hanging in at 100. I begin to get a pain in my side but I’m attributing this to not eating or drinking. Continuing resting as I have been since Wednesday.
Tues 3/17: I get a small burst of energy and a small reprieve from my headache so I try walking around outside to build up strength. I still have no appetite, I’m trying to stay hydrated, my fever just will not break, at this point, I’ve lost about 10 pounds. I start to develop a cough at night.
Wed 3/18: I wake up coughing and feeling like it has moved into my lungs. I try to steam it out in the shower which results in extreme coughing and vomiting. The shortness of breath begins, I start taking a cough suppressant, abstain from talking all day, getting lots of rest. Loss of taste and smell persists.
Thurs 3/19: Fever sits at 101. I was able to sleep through the night, low key day but I could talk without too much shortness of breath or coughing but they are still very much a reality.
*Fri 3/20: I wake up with heartburn and nausea, a low-grade fever, and shortness of breath which has now manifested into a difficulty to do anything. I am unable to talk, get out of bed, or walk, without an extreme strain on my breathing. I figure it’s time to get outside help at this point, after consulting with an urgent care doctor via video, Chris takes me to the ER. I am barely able to get out of the car, the intake folks ask me if I need a chair and I nod “yes”. They check my temperature, get my information, and hand me a standard mask which causes me to exhibit even more shortness of breath once on and they immediately wheel me around to start me on oxygen. I am currently at 70% blood O2, my BP is through the roof, and my pulse is really low. They set me up with 1liter/minute of oxygen and cart me past the regular waiting room into a hallway of others exhibiting COVID symptoms. I am the only one in a chair and on oxygen. As I am waiting for my name to be called, I begin to slump in the chair as I feel a searing heat course through my body which I can only describe as the melting of all of my internal organs. I’m unsure what this is, cannot muster up enough energy to ask for a nurse, and I’m in such a fevered state that when they call my name from the other room I couldn’t discern if it was real. They wheel me into the nurse's station to keep a closer eye on me while they wait for a room to open up. They install an IV and draw multiple panels of blood before setting me up in my own ER room, directly connected to oxygen at which point they ramp me up to 2L/minute. I get Tylenol, anti-nausea drugs, cough meds. I get flu tests where they shoot liquid up a nostril and require you to provide a blown-out sample. My blood O2 is holding at 90% with the assist and throughout the 5 hours I’m in this room more blood is drawn and an x-ray is administered to my chest. X-ray results return with pneumonia in the left lung and one ER doctor comes in to ask if I believe that I could return home tonight to which I reply that I can barely walk due to shortness of breath but willing to give it a shot since I’ve been there a while. This is followed by another doctor who comes in to brief me on more details of my results and asks if it is OK to dial down my oxygen momentarily. Immediately, my blood O2 drops from 90% to 80% at which time the doctor states that I will need to be admitted due to my dependency on the oxygen. The ER nurse comes in and administers the COVID-19 test and tells me results will be returned within 5-7 days and I am transported to a hospital room in the Trauma Unit. When I arrive, I am greeted by my two night nurses, one who is drafting up all my information on the hospital room board with a discharge target of 3/24 while the other is shifting me from my clothes into a gown. I go to sleep at 2L/minute and wake up at 5L/minute.
Sat 3/21: I wake up to a nurse coming in to check my vitals. She explains that my O2 dropped throughout the night which is why I’m on 5L and my fever has spiked to 104. I have two IVs at this point, one for hydration, the other for meds. I experience my first anti-clot shot direct to the stomach and it burns. I was told by the night crew that visitation starts at 9am so I let Chris know and I ask him for some clean clothes and minor provisions. He arrives and is just outside my door when he is turned away by the nurse staff. My door is covered with isolation text - no one to be permitted except hospital staff and even that is at a minimum. They even utilize calling my room first to be fully prepared for anything I need before they have to put on several layers of PPE just to come into my room. My BP remains a little on the high side but my pulse is correcting. I am completely unable to walk from my bed to the bathroom unassisted. I watch the White House Coronavirus Update via CSPAN and have a surreal experience of feeling completely at unease with how little progress is being made in information and support. I also hear of a perfectly healthy 42-year-old woman who recently succumbed to COVID and my heart is so heavy coupled with the isolation, it breaks me a little. I am asked to move to a wheelchair to get a CT scan and for the brief moment I’m disconnected from oxygen, I feel like I’m drowning and start to panic. The staff promptly connect me to a travel tank and I’m whisked away to the scan where I beg the staff to not have me conduct it without oxygen. It’s extremely difficult to hold my breath for the three trips in the scanner without coughing violently. I’m returned to my room where I walk unassisted for the first time to my bed and it knocks me out. As the nurses change shifts, my sweet care partner tells me she’ll be back in a few days and hopes to see me improved because I’ve given her quite a scare. I’m exhausted and drift in and out of sleep as the nurses switch shifts, check my vitals on an extended rotation to limit exposure, and administer antibiotics and pain meds through IV. The only thing I consistently request from them is ice water. Flu tests come back negative.
Sun 3/22: Due to being hooked to an IV and oxygen I have to ring a nurse any time I need the restroom which requires wheeling the IV around my bed and so I typically wait for each of their planned intervals to do so considering everything involved to enter my room. My fever is starting to reduce and I’ve been dialed down to 4L/minute at 92% blood O2. My appetite is still struggling and the staff needs me to eat. I have to have another IV ran because the one in the crook of my arm is no longer allowing meds to be delivered. I’ve never had my blood drawn or IVs placed in so many places of my arms before. CT results confirm bi-lateral pneumonia and I’m issued an Albuterol inhaler and after doctor comes in for vitals and to listen to my chest he mentions Plaquenil as an option, unconfirmed, and that I could be looking to remove the IV soon. Fever sustains at 98.8, blood O2 is at 90% at 4L/minute, BP is 109/70.
Mon 3/23: More blood is taken, another anti-clotting shot is administered, and my O2 is up to 97%. I am dialed down to 3L/minute to see how I manage. I take a slight dip but see improvement. The doctor is optimistic about my recovery and I’m issued an incentive spirometer (IS) to work my lungs. I’m barely able to get to 500ml (the spirometer goes to 2500ml) without coughing uncontrollably but I have to keep at it 10 times an hour. After I’m sustained at 94% O2, I am moved to 2L/minute. I am getting a bit of a headache each time they dial me down. They offer me Tylenol to combat it. I am currently on two antibiotics at this point to tackle pneumonia.
Tues 3/24: Nausea hit in the early morning affecting my appetite. I spend a lot of the day in and out of sleep. My sister volunteers to make a clean clothing run. I tell her what I can see out the window and she parks within eyesight, gets out of her car, and jumps around while I’m on the phone with her. It really was the highlight of my day since there is such little interaction in the hospital and I am missing my family so much! I am told by the doctor that as soon as I am no longer reliant on oxygen and since I’ve been fever-free that I can go home regardless of COVID results being ready or not. I continue training my lungs on the IS and I’m up to 1000ml, improving. I attempt to put my body through a stress test (10 squats) and wear myself out but it feels good to be off the IV and able to walk around my room freely. I am not able to go home per projected discharge target.
Wed 3/25: Woke up feeling better and with the orders that I will be dialed down off my oxygen today to see how I do and await blood bacteria test results. Dialing down the oxygen causes my head to hurt again so I’m given Tylenol but my O2 levels are sustaining. I hit 1500ml consistently with one max out at 2500ml on my IS with some coughing but improving.
Thurs 3/26: I’ve slept overnight with no oxygen assist. I’ve been fever-free for 72 hours at this point and my vitals all give the green light to go home. I’m sent home with two antibiotics, my inhaler, cough meds, and recommendation for Mucinex. The nurse who told me she was severely concerned for me is the one who wheels me out to meet Chris. She is as relieved as I am.
I’ve been at home recovering under quarantine ever since (through April 4th as instructed) but wanted to share my story in case it may help others out there. This virus is so very real and manifests in so many extremes it can be scary. I felt at least two distinct times where I was unsure if I could pull through and I typically try to abstain from the dramatic.
The hospital staff was incredible for as little as they can be in contact with you. They are figuring this all out as they go along and their need for PPE is VERY REAL! The extent of precaution they need to take is insane as they enter each room, new sets of PPE are required so they suit up and down after for every visit. They are unable to step a toe in a room without proper PPE. They are every bit deserving of their hero titles as they walk into uncertainty with every room due to lagging test result times and no consistent way to combat this.
It took two weeks for me to get my results and that was after five hours of observation exhibiting extreme symptoms to get a test administered. I am unsure if my recovery or the extremes of my conditions would have been abated if I had gotten tested as soon as I fell ill ten days before I went to the hospital because I was not exhibiting the primary symptoms which merit testing. We continue to learn more and more about this virus so that is why it is imperative for everyone to social distance.
I do want to also share that as I was going through my discharge protocol with the hospital staff that they implored not to rely on media or even the WH briefings for information and to stick to CDC information and guidelines for your sheltering practices and COVID facts. We are all in this together. I count myself among the lucky statistics but am still maintaining caution in case there is a risk of reinfection. If you made it this far, I thank you. It’s been tremendously scary and eye-opening for me to experience this and if my story helps one person, I’ve done my best.