My stepmother seems to be recovering very slowly. They extubated her a day or so ago, but she is still hooked up to the ventilator through a hole in her trachea? Not quite sure how that works. She has been weaned off the sedation but Dad was informed that it may take her some time to wake up because she was sedated for so long.
Honestly, this outcome is much better than I expected. Given her general health and how hard it hit her, I was sure she was a goner. She’s still got a long way to go, though.
Some friends in Spain. Our friend, his husband and his mother.
Our friend is Spanish, but we knew him from Japan. His husband is Taiwanese and they moved to Spain to get married because Taiwan didn’t recognize gay marriages at the time.
Odds are just the flu. There were a couple of nasty strains going around.
IMNAEpidemiologist, but haven’t seen anything reputable to suggest there is a mild and a severe strain going around. Genome sequencing is showing small differences. Hence, the NY epicenter came from Europe instead of from China.
My oldest son lives at home and was tested today. There are a few confirmed cases where he works. My wife works at assisted living so I called her immediately. She was promptly escorted out the door and given the weekend off. We should find out in a day or two the results.
A happy one, close enough for me to care- patient’s stepfather and I have been pals since 1955.
She’s in her mid 30’s, married, one-year old daughter (her first), lives in San Francisco. Biologist, works in a lab doing research on I can’t remember what.
Early on, she came down with the telltale symptoms, her Doctor diagnosed COVID, she self-isolated at home. I don’t how sick she got, but she recovered fully. Her isolation apparently was executed properly (not surprising considering her field of expertise) because husband and infant daughter never caught it.
My wife’s uncle was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with Covid about a week ago. His wife tested positive but no symptoms so far. The uncle is 80 years old but in really good health. Used to be a boxer and always did his best to stay in relatively good shape. Never smoked. He wouldn’t even drink wine at his daughter’s wedding. According to my wife this is the first time he’s ever been hospitalized. Sounded like he was improving but last night he was put on the ventilator and went downhill fast. I watched a video a few days before he was diagnosed and the statistics are pretty grim for those needing to be put on the ventilator. The wife just informed me his family was told to prepare for the worst. My wife’s father is not in very good health suffering from COPD for the last 5 years so I know this whole thing is really concerning to her.
I just heard from an old friend that her son, 31 years old, had it and fortunately has recovered. He’s always been a healthy kid; they live in NYC. Unfortunately another young man, also in NYC, 34 years old, the son of friends of friends, died of it last week.
Thanks Susan & gkster. Apparently he’d been complying with the isolation protocols and only left the house once the last 3 weeks to get a few groceries. His wife hadn’t left the house during that time. It really does make you realize how dangerous this virus can be.
Good news first: my former landlord’s son has had it and recovered - the medical types want him to donate plasma and now that his strength is back he’s planning to, hoping that will help other people.
Meanwhile - the son of one of my friends, a healthy young man in his 30’s with no chronic health problems, has been on a ventilator since March 25. Apparently they’ve been able to turn the settings down and he’s showing some small signs of improvement, but he’s still on the vent. That’s 19 days and counting.
I have several co-workers in quarantine and awaiting test results. This is worrying, but the salt in the wound are customers at the store bitching about why more cash registers aren’t open. Because we are getting SICK you inconsiderate bastard, we are risking ourselves so you can finally get that package of toilet paper you’re clutching like a frightened child with a teddy bear and whine about customer service. So pay for your stuff, STFU, wash your hands, wear your damn face mask properly, wash your hands, and keep your six foot distance or next week we might not have enough healthy staff to open the store at all!
It was announced today that she has died. Although I’m friends with her husband more than her she is the first person I know on a direct personal level that has died. She was a very nice woman.
Someone I work with has just died. Not a friend, just an acquaintance, but still sad to hear. 68 years old, he was diagnosed with liver cancer last year and on Saturday he passed away after surgery from complications due to the coronavirus.
My stepmother was extubated a couple of days ago and is due to be transferred tomorrow to a specialized rehab facility that specializes in weaning people from ventilators. They were going to transfer her over the weekend, but her heart rhythm went wonky at the last minute so they cancelled the transfer. Fingers crossed that it works this time. Dad seems to have escaped infection, thank goodness.