2.5 days in the Covid unit.
I am at high risk for Covid-19 because I have severe asthma. Last Monday (6/15) I had a fever of 102 and low oxygen saturation (88%). I was achy all over and had diarrhea. I was so weak that I could barely stand up. I called the hospital and the nurse on the Covid unit called an ambulance for me. I was taken to the local hospital ER (Leominster Hospital, Mass.). After an examination the ER doctor told me I probably had a mild case of Covid-19. All I can say, if that is what a mild case is like, you do not want a medium case of Covid-19! I haven’t ever been so weak and sick.
I was put into the Covid unit and my fever reached 103 before the meds brought it down. I think the highest temperature I ever had before was under 102; I don’t normally run any fever unless I am really sick. The rapid Covid test was negative, but the rapid tests give lots of false negatives (20-40%). The slow test needed to be sent to the lab at U Mass. Memorial hospital in Worcester and I would not get the results until the next evening. These tests were not as nasty as I had heard. On Tuesday (6/16) I felt considerably better but still had a low fever and an oxygen saturation lower than my normal.
Tuesday night, my slow Covid test came back negative. Since I had most of the symptoms of Covid, they did another slow test. This time they made sure they got any virus lurking in my head using a swab technique similar to the process developed by the Egyptians for mummification: “Excerebration: they first draw out part of the brain through the nostrils with an iron hook.” At least, that is what it felt like. Actually, though painful, the pain only lasts a few seconds. My second Covid test also came back negative Wednesday night. At that point they turned off the noisy machine that kept the room at a negative pressure, keeping the virus from escaping. The next morning I was moved into a regular, non-covid, ward. I was on that floor until Saturday (6/20) when I was discharged. I did not have Covid-19, but I did have a very nasty respiratory virus.
The nurses, nurses aids and doctors who treated me in the Covid ward were superb. They were very professional, competent and caring. They took really good care of me. It was also a real pain of a job. Each time they came into my room, they had to suit up and then unsuit when they left. They had a variety of masks, with all using more than one layer of protection. Most had face shields plus some sort of fancy mask, some had just an N95 mask with a surgical mask over it.
All the doctors treating me were immigrants who went to medical school abroad. Most of the nurses and nurses aids on the Covid unit were minorities and/or immigrants. I presume they volunteered for this dangerous job. Almost all the nurses and nurses aids on the non-Covid floor were not minorities or immigrants. They also took good care of me.
This small hospital did not have large numbers of Covid patients or regular patients. I suspect that a Covid patient in bad shape would have been transferred to the main hospital in Worcester. If I had needed the ICU, I probably would have asked to be transferred to Worcester. It also did not appear to have large numbers of non-Covid patients. Indeed, the non-Covid floor I was on was being shut down as I was discharged. This makes me worry about the fate of smaller hospitals.
I felt OK by the time I was discharged, but tired. I am OK now, but still kind of tired. The most disturbing part of the experience is that somehow I caught this virus. Because of Covid-19, I was being very very careful. I’ve stayed home and only gone stores for groceries and only gone to stores that are taking significant precautions (small numbers of customers in the store, everyone masked, carts sanitized).
Some recommendations: wear the best mask you can at all times when near people; wash hands after stores; minimize trips to stores; socially isolate as much as possible; if possible have somebody young drop off groceries and meds for you. Finally, be sure to have a thermometer and get a pulse oximeter for measuring oxygen saturation (Amazon has them again). If you have a significant temperature and your oxygen saturation is below 90% call your hospital; if they tell you to go to the hospital get an ambulance! I really would not have been safe driving myself.