Covid Chronicles: My journey through the wringer (Page 5/12) Synthesis OCT 12, 08:35 PM Chris' Covid Chronicles, a tale of some scares, a lot of care, and a bear… Also, Mai Tais (which are now cemented in my brain as my celebratory drink when this is done and over with…I need to find a way to get the ingredients together without venturing out to the store as soon as I get the chance to go home…) Full disclosure: I fully understand and recognize that my Covid symptoms and treatment are not stereotypical and should not be seen as your typical experience. Everyone's case is unique and we need to be cautious to not look at my experience as the typical scenario. The treatments that I received are becoming one of the mainstream methods for helping people defeat Covid when they become infected, and I am blessed that I received those treatments before my case progressed to a much further point. When reviewing my posts please keep this in the back of your mind that there are people out there that are experiencing this at scales exponentially more severe than mine. Spirits are up in the Camp Covid today. I am able to maintain a better O2 saturation count on room air as compared to yesterday or the day before. No sign of pneumonia, and I am able to make the lung sucky test machine scream for mercy on a controlled long inhale. I spent the night on oxygen with my CPAP machine and things were going okay until my body decided that it could slow the heart rate down because it didn't need to work as hard to oxygenate me. The SpO2 machine will monitor my O2 saturation and my heart rate. Originally when monitoring my O2 saturation it would alarm because my O2 was too low. Now it spent the night screaming at me because as I was laying in the prone position which is recommended for Covid sufferers, my heart rate would slow down below 40bpm as I would drift off and start to fall into REM sleep. Of course the machine did not like that especially when I hit 38 for a sustained several minutes and it started screaming and woke me up. I may or may not have threatened to hulk smash the machine off the wall if they didn't fix the alarms… A quick consultation with the doctor overnight had the nurses turn the machine down to 40 so that I could get some rest with the understanding that if it alarmed again I would have to sleep on my back from that point forward. Apparently when sleeping in the prone position your heart rate tends to run a little slower than when you sleep on your back according to what was explained to me. I tend to be a stomach sleeper anyway so this was news to me and I didn't know. What it means in the grand scheme though is that my body felt like it was getting enough oxygen with a 95% or greater saturation level all night long because of the supplemental oxygen and the CPAP which means that I have been able to reduce my oxygen intake today. I have been on oxygen all day but can go without it now for periods of time. This is a huge improvement. My fourth round of Remdesivir treatment took place today. There is one more round tomorrow, and barring any setbacks or concerns, there is talk of being released to my wife's custody tomorrow… Poor Cindy thinks she is getting her husband back, but I fully intend to ham it up for a bit longer while I can and I'm going to be a big baby for a while. I'm still very weak and shaky, still have to be cautious as I move around so I don't over exert and fall, but have been doing very well in my mobility around the room. I am also considerably more hydrated today which has helped me feel better. No more tea colored urine, we're up to a healthy Mello Yello… TMI, but hydration is key to good blood draws, and the five or six dozen ultra dark bruises on my arms are a testament to lots of bad draws this last week. The staff here at St Francis have done everything to ensure I am well cared for, have helped me feel less guilty about being unable to self care, and have in general done everything to ensure that I feel less like a burden and more like a guest at a luxury resort. I can not even begin to describe to you the feeling of dignity that they helped me maintain, even in an environment where more people have seen my junk exposed in the last week than in my entire 42 years prior. They are heroes and deserve all of the support that society is capable of giving to them. If you know any health care providers in your life, take some time and perform a kindness for them. A gift card for their local grocery store, a fruit basket, mow their lawn one last time this season or shovel the snow while they are at work. Anything to help ease their path through this pandemic. On a related note, flowers continue to roll in. I see all of them when they show them to me at the door and then they take the card and hand it to me and the flowers go somewhere else in the hospital. I have heard so many people outside ask about all of the flowers all over and they are astounded by the outpouring of beauty that all of you have shown for me. Every new nurse or doctor that comes through the floor comments on them, patients in other rooms are commenting on them and it's been a ray of sunshine for me to know that you were able to make that happen. Thank you all so very much! One of those gift baskets arrived with a plush teddy bear. Mr Bear and I are now best buds and I have decided to name him Remy after Remdesivir. He and I spent the day watching a movie we found online, and then jumped into a couple rounds of Mario Bros 3. He actually likes playing Luigi. There’s something wrong with the boy. So, my Covid Positive journey has turned into a positive Covid story, barring any last second set backs. If all goes well I will be sleeping in my own bed tomorrow night with a long list of home self-care instructions and things to look out for. This won’t be the end of my posts, as I will continue to document the rest of the journey laid out of ahead of me with any additional issues that may arise. I just wanted to share this extremely good news with all of you. Also, I still need to figure out a way to get Mai Tai ingredients. Suggestions would be amazing. Doug85GT OCT 12, 08:41 PM Hang in there. Everyone is pulling for you. TheDigitalAlchemist OCT 13, 11:33 AM So glad to hear that you are doing well and will be home soon! Boondawg OCT 13, 12:38 PM Great news! Synthesis OCT 14, 09:51 AM Still in here. O2 saturation issues yesterday, held for observation. Should be released today. blackrams OCT 14, 10:40 AM quote Originally posted by Synthesis: Still in here. O2 saturation issues yesterday, held for observation. Should be released today. Hoping for that. Never give up the fight! Rams Rickady88GT OCT 14, 11:49 AM quote Originally posted by Synthesis: Still in here. O2 saturation issues yesterday, held for observation. Should be released today. Cool, home sweet home Synthesis OCT 14, 03:59 PM Discharged. Hospitalized for covid pneumonia. Now on several new prescriptions for everything from dexamethasone to blood thinners to avoid the pulmonary embolism or stroke that follow this type of lung damage. Rickady88GT OCT 14, 04:09 PM Nice, keep up the spirits On the home stretch MidEngineManiac OCT 14, 04:13 PM Thanks for this thread. It's a reminder. We all think we are immortal and indestructible and can get back up from anything. Until suddenly one day we aren't and cant anymore.