Covid Chronicles: My journey through the wringer (Page 6/12)
Jake_Dragon OCT 14, 06:58 PM
Thats good news. Glad you are going home.
R Runner OCT 14, 09:14 PM
Stay strong Chris. Keeping you in thoughts and prayers.

Glad to hear you are getting to go home.

Paul
maryjane OCT 14, 10:45 PM

quote
Originally posted by Synthesis:

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.


That's great news!!
But i'm confused.
Does it mean you are discharged to home
or
discharged FROM the floor you were on and INTO pneumonia ward?
Synthesis OCT 15, 09:21 AM
Discharged home. My official prognosis was covid pneumonia and I have lung damage because of it.

I am on blood thinners to avoid the pulmonary embolism or stroke risks associated with covid.
sourmash OCT 15, 09:37 AM
Will the lung damage repair over time?
Synthesis OCT 15, 10:24 AM

quote
Originally posted by sourmash:

Will the lung damage repair over time?




Possibly. I have a list of exercises to do in order to keep the lungs moving.

In my case, I have a moderate case of covid pneumonia, which made it all the way from the bronchial tubes down into the alveoli (air sacs). The inflammation in my lungs both reduced the ability for blood to flow around the alveoli and caused ruptures in the blood vessels, filling the alveoli with fluid. Reduction in my ability to absorb oxygen followed, and I had to go on supplemental oxygen. This is the point in time where your body, with or without treatment, either has the strength to move forward and you may recover or it doesn't. Treatment increases these odds, and I had to receive Dexamethasone to reduce the inflammation in order to allow the blood to flow. Clotting happens at the rupture sites, and the alveoli are irritated, which forces a persistent hard cough as the body tries to expel the clots/liquid/etc. This doesn't help the already weakened cell walls and the inflammation, so it's a cycle that just makes things worse.

I was also treated on a five day course with Remdesivir, an antiviral that disrupts the way Covid replicates. Covid is an RNA virus. Our cells aren't designed to replicate RNA in the same way that Covid tries to, so Covid sneaks in, sets up a small factory and tells each of your cells to just give it a try, they might like it... The healthy cells are tricked into reproducing the Covid RNA sequence, and Covid's work is done. It packages itself back up and spreads around to find other healthy cells to infect, including the neurological system (loss of smell/taste is neuro), and can spread into the lung and heart control functions of the brain stem. Someone I know recently had a diagnosis of meningitis caused by Covid. Remdesivir inserts junk RNA in to the RNA replication process that Covid uses, so it does not get a viable live virus out of the end result. Do this enough times, and the factory in the cell will die allowing antibodies to come along and clean it up.

This is why when I blacked out at home, it was so urgent to get me into the hospital. The black out could have been a sign of a much more severe infection, especially with the way my symptoms progressed from "bad head cold" to "body can't regulate temperature, and it shut down". I was in the midst of what they call a cytokine storm, a potentially lethal response by the body where it turns everything against the virus to the potential detriment of the safety of the host.

The Remdesivir treatment took 2 days to start taking effect, and I began to feel better. The next treatment is what they call convalescent plasma therapy. This is live antibodies in plasma donated by a Covid survivor. There is a risk with this type of transfusion, as with all blood product transfusions. They may have Hepatitis, HIV, etc, and while screening is in place, things still get through. There is also the risk that I could have an adverse reaction to the transfusion, since I am effectively receiving a transplant of fluids. Transplant recipients that reject organs are rejecting the alien proteins that their body did not create. They are seen as invaders. This is a similar risk with blood and blood product transfusions. Fortunately, I was symptom free, and now had an army in my blood stream to help fight the remainder of the live virus. This will give my body time to build antibodies of its own, and as soon as I am out of home lockdown/isolation, I will in turn be donating.
Raydar OCT 15, 10:31 AM

quote
Originally posted by Synthesis:

Discharged home.



I'm very happy to hear that. (I was unable to check in, since I had to go in to the office on Tues and Wed. The Forum is blocked from work.)

I hope you recover quickly and completely.

Thanks for your candor. I'm sure it will be helpful to somebody, or somebodies.
2.5 OCT 15, 12:32 PM
Glad things are greatly improved! Continued prayers.
Rickady88GT OCT 15, 06:59 PM
How are you doing?
Synthesis OCT 15, 07:42 PM
I'm not. I'm struggling pretty hard core today. I can barely move around the house. It consists of five different levels all split by 5-6 stairs between each level. To get to the bathroom from my home office is 13 steps split across three levels. Moving around in the house sucks bad today. I have had several near blackout events due to oxygen starvation, and have had to go 3-4 steps at a time before pausing for several minutes to suck lungfuls of air before I can move on.

Lowst SpO2 today has been 68% during one of those incidents. My first primary care visit is on Tuesday as a follow-up. I hope to be semi-improved by then, or else I am going to ask to go on oxygen at home.

[This message has been edited by Synthesis (edited 10-15-2020).]