My Covid Experience

I was diagnosed on July 27, 2021. After making a second trip to the ER I was admitted directly to the ICU with severe Hypoxia and Covid Pneumonia. I don't remember much of what happened to me in the following days, but I've been able to piece it together based on my medical records and what my wife and kids have told me.

Worsening issues

Within a week I developed a secondary bacterial pneumonia and was placed on a Bipap machine. Sadly the pressure was too great for my lungs and I developed three holes in my lungs and had to be taken off the Bipap and placed on a high volume oxygen machine. At day 12 my wife and kids were called in and told that I was going to die and to start making funeral arrangements. At that time my wife was asked to decide whether or not she wanted the hospital to take me off of the machines that were keeping me alive. I'm so thankful that she and the family said "no way!"

I ended up spending 5 1/2 weeks in ICU and an additional week on the regular floor. I lost 40 pounds and almost all of my strength. When I was discharged I could not even sit up in bed by myself. Discharge lab work along with imaging exams showed that my lungs were almost totally opaque, I had three blood clots in my left leg, and my kidneys were rapidly headed for disaster.

I went home on 3-5 liters of oxygen. But determined to overcome this thing that was trying to kill me.

Changes and growth

I was diagnosed with PD on April 12, 2017 and I'm 70 years old. My entire body has changed dramatically as a result of this experience, and so has my faith in God. I have lost much of my hair, I drool a lot, I have a lot of pain which I never had before, and my balance is awful. I have fallen many times, fortunately never having seriously injured myself. I have frequent non-scary hallucinations in the daytime, and act out my dreams at night.

But here is the wonderful thing about this amazing experience: my faith in God has grown immensely, and in the hospital, I became known as the miracle man. Hundreds of people, most of whom I have never heard of were praying for me! God is truly amazing!