Ain’t no kinda doctor. My pessimism (for her) considers the smoking, her propensity for turning run of the mill colds into pneumonia in the past, and the relative severity of the pneumonia she’s currently dealing with. I’m not confident enough in my outlook to start a betting pool or anything, just expecting the worst and hoping for the best. But all that is down the road. I’ll try to return to keeping things factual and limit speculation.
Coughing blood does sound like she might have some permanent damage. Best wishes with that, though.
I know some here just hate when some of us make comparisons to influenza but here I go again …
It is not yet known how many with what sort of severity will have what sort of lasting damage from COVID-19.
What is known that of those who have had ARDS from influenza very typically have long lasting lung function impacts which often improved months later.
For example with H1N1:
Even without ARDS, having been sick enough with influenza to be in the ICU is associated with risk for some longer term adverse outcomes.
The article does not specify much about the specific COVID-19 patients’ hospital courses. I think it is a safe guess that they were not individuals whose course were the same as someone managed at home. It would be a shock to find that sicker COVID-19 patients did not have lasting damage risk of the same sort as sicker influenza patients. Maybe it will turn out to be more, maybe less. It is not known and there is no a priori reason to believe one the other or neither.
So far what is known about the impacts after COVID-19 is consistent with its being the same as for influenza.
And yes our op being worried, hell being really scared, is extremely rational, given the risk factors he describes. Far from out of the woods and getting worse again in the next few days would not be an unusual pattern to be on the look out for. Any backsliding at that point and call the doctor RIGHT AWAY.
But based on what is currently known a full recovery from any specific severity of illness is just as realistic to hope for if COVID-19 is the cause than if influenza is. Which means it is a very realistic hope, maybe even an expectation.
I came here to post a link to this article as well. It is excellent.
The doctor who wrote it was just on MSNBC this evening (with Chris Hayes). It was quite interesting. The doctor thinks there are a large number of people in the community with COVID pneumonia who don’t even realize it. Some don’t even realize they are sick (at least initially).
They then either get better (best case), or go downhill very quickly. He calls it silent hypoxia. He says if someone’s oxygen level were to drop to 50% right away, they would immediately pass out—but if it happens slowly over the course of days, then people can compensate. It’s a lot like people climbing Mount Everest. The only way you know this is happening is by checking someone’s oxygen level (like with a pulse oximeter).
What’s alarming is that if the disease is progressing like this, some people may never realize what is happening until they drop dead. This may even happen at home before the person ever seeks medical treatment or emergency care. In some cases (in the absence of testing), these deaths may not even be reported as COVID-related.
This ties into another New York Times article that points out the increased number of deaths around the world (25,000 to date) that are in excess of those officially reported as COVID-related.
Inigo hasn’t posted in 6 days now. Probably not a good sign.
Yeah, I think we should be worried now.
Sadly, I agree with you, Dung Beetle. Hope he returns soon.
In better news, I think I’ve recovered.
That is good news, no lingering effects?
I know you said you weren’t looking for well-wishes, Inigo Montoya, but I’m sending them your way anyway. If you’re reading this, let us know how you and your Missus made out.
What a buncha sweethearts. Much regret for dropping off for a bit, got a lot going on in the old noggin lately and frankly this place stresses me out sometimes. But anyway, The Meat:
Everyone under my roof is well. Missus and I still have frustratingly limited stamina so household chores involve way more sitting down and gasping than is productive. But no coughing, and the pulse-ox thingy tells us we’re both consistently over 95% even when something like mowing lawn puts me on the floor. It’s a curiosity. Seems the lungs are functioning fine but something else is a little wonky. We’ll work through it. She’s getting a CPAP, which has probably been a long time coming but since her recovery she’s been more readily confused than normal. Sleep study results suggested she was a vampire for all the breathing she doesn’t do when she’s asleep. So she’s still O2 starved.
As mentioned, her up-the-nose COVID test was negative. The antibody blood test she had last week was positive. I don’t mean to slag on tech I don’t understand, but to a schlub like me any medical test that is predictably wrong 30-50% of the time isn’t the sort of thing you want to rely on when deciding whether or not to lift social restrictions. Until a better test is produced, every mayor & governor trying to decide whether or not to reopen is just flipping a coin and modifying the result by their own personal pucker factor.
Aaaand I guess that’s that. You know, emergencies are funny. They don’t usually announce themselves, stuff just deviates from normal until you notice it, recognize what’s happening, and then try and decide if there’s anything you can do about it. It’s been an interesting adventure watching my country, in particular, react. Not everyone who masks up and hunkers down is a cowardly hero, not everyone who does their best to ignore the virus is a mindless sociopath–everyone has their own set of priorities. The disheartening thing is watching bonds crumble because “sides” choose to look down on each other, rather than recognize the incredible potential of a society constituted by willful individuals. Admittedly, there are hordes of ignoramuses among us. Some flail their guns around in public and demand to impose their idea of freedom to live or die as the whims of nature decide, others caustically shred their chosen adversaries from the safety of quarantine, smug in the knowledge that when they do get sick they will have done their part to ensure the emergency room will not be too crowded to help them.
Glad you’re doing better and I’m glad you checked in.
Glad to hear the good news, Inigo!
I am also glad to hear you and your lady are on the mend
Yay! Thanks for the update. I hope your stamina returns soon.
I know you probably don’t remember me Inigo as I’ve only been back to the SD recently after a years long hiatus but I remember you and your kindness. I am overjoyed that you and your wife are doing well!!! We all had quite a scare worrying about you.
{{{{Inigo}}}}
Glad to see your post, Inigo. Had been worried about you and Mrs Inigo, and glad to hear you’re on the mend.
Thank you so much, Inigo! I really wasn’t expecting to hear good news, it’s much appreciated.
It’s understandable – you had a lot on your plate. But, seriously, don’t do that to us again, m’kay?
Glad you and yours are on the mend.
There are multiple articles about this phenomenon: lungs operate fine but low blood oxygen (hypoxia). I’ve tried to link several, with every damn last one being pay-walled - sorry.
You can Google it, though. One theory is that COVID-19 starts robbing people’s blood cells of oxygen while not showing any overt signs of respiratory distress. This would also explain why patients can appear to be doing fine one moment with relatively mild symptoms and then spiral into a life-threatening situation quickly.
This is why we have to stop thinking of COVID-19 is strictly or even primarily being a respiratory disease and view it more like an assault on the entire body - because that’s what it is.
There were a lot of people early on who kept posting here that this was probably not that scary a disease, and that the data we’ll show that this is probably not that much worse than flu, but they’re clearly very wrong. This is a terrifyingly destructive disease that operates in a completely different manner than flu. I’m not posting this to be hyperbolic or to scare people unncessisarily - just to scare us straight, really.
Don’t push your body to do things just because you think you ought to be recovered by now. I would definitely remain in regular contact with your physicians and care providers and monitor any sudden changes in condition - yes I’m saying the obvious but people do have a tendency to stubbornly believe that their body will just power through, and this virus seems to make people pay dearly for that belief.
All of that said, I’m glad you seem to be doing better, and all the best of luck in the future.