Josh got home on Tuesday, December 15th and wasn't feeling well. His chest was heavy and his body ached. He went to bed early and was running fever around 11 pm with the shakes. The next morning he had a terrible headache. We figured it may be Covid. It felt a lot like the flu to him. He went to get tested on the 17th at Lake After Hours and he was told it was too soon to test. He went back on Saturday, the 19th and tested positive. He wasn't examined or given anything. He was told to treat his symptoms at home. We quarantined him in the bedroom and he was taking all the supplements for immunity that was recommended for Covid. He continued to run low grade fever and more symptoms came like nausea and diarrhea. On December 22nd , we reached out to his primary doctor because Josh was not getting any better. They called in a Z Pak, steroid and antihistamine. He was coughing up blood that night on December 23rd. The next morning he continued to cough up blood and had trouble breathing. I brought him to the ER on Christmas Eve. We tried Lake After Hours first, but they wouldn't see him (and wasted an hour waiting). He really didn't want to go to the hospital. I dropped him off and wasn't allowed inside. I waited in the car to hear from him.
He was put in this room and I could see him from the parking lot. He couldn't see out. They did a chest X-Ray. It showed something that could be small blood clots or inflammation. They did a CAT scan to get a better look.
My Mom came to wait with me and we went close to the window to see if we could figure out what was going on. He got a breathing treatment and fluids. The breathing treatment made him feel so nauseated and his heart rate went up high. We were there for about 5 hours. He was so miserable. They would take so long to just give him Tylenol and water. He didn't quite finish his IV because he was ready to leave and threatened to pull it out of his arm! They said it was inflammation from Covid. He was sent home with a prescription for an albuterol inhaler and to keep taking the meds that Dr. Padgett had given. I couldn't get the prescription filled until the day after Christmas.
Mrs. Angie came by on the 26th and a nurse friend said to check his oxygen level with a pulse ox reader. His level was around 87, which was low. We talked to a few people and it was best to get him back to the emergency room. I drove him and his parents met me there. We waited in the parking lot and asked the nurse inside for updates. He was put on 4 liters of oxygen right away and it raised to around 92. The x-ray of his lungs showed they were worse than 2 days earlier. He was admitted to BR General on Saturday, December 26th. Because of Covid, he had to go alone and no one could visit or stay with him. That was hard on him and us! The first night/day was hard to get updates from the nurses. A nurse finally called me about 10:30 pm that night. He had 100 fever, sweats and chills still.
Sunday (12/27) He was diagnosed with Covid pneumonia and they estimated he could be there up to a week. He was on the Covid floor and there were a lot of elderly people around him. There was a patient who was very loud and Josh got moved away from him. It was making him uneasy. He also had some anxiety and would panic if he couldn't breathe. They gave him Xanax and it helped to relax him. He started on a steroid pill and got shots in his belly to prevent blood clots. He was on 5 liters. He was so winded and struggled when we talked to him. He was very weak from not eating or drinking much the past 10 days. His oxygen came off sometime during the night or the early morning hours.
Monday morning (12/28) he woke up and panicked. It was back in the 80's. He wore an oxygen mask at 6 liters to get it up quicker. He was close to going to ICU because he couldn't stay on the mask on that floor and he was maxed out on liters. After a couple hours he was back on the nasal oxygen at 91. He started eating and drinking a little, but he would get very winded while eating. He had 99 fever and was very tired. His x-ray looked the same as on Saturday. They started a diuretic to get fluid and mucus off of his lungs. He was able to wash his face, hair, shave and change his clothes.
Tuesday (12/29) The x-ray still showed fluid in his lungs, so he continued with the diuretic. His oxygen level was 94-96 during the night so they lowered him to 3 liters. The doctor started to called me once a day to update me. He said Josh was doing much better and on the downside of his recovery! They started weaning him off the oxygen. He struggled some that day from it being turned down. I dropped more clothes off at the hospital for him. I brought it to the nurses' desk on his floor. It was hard being so close and not able to see him. I slept on the couch when he was quarantined and continued to do so when he was in the hospital. It just didn't feel the same while he was gone.
Wednesday (12/30) Physical therapy came and got him out of bed to walk around his room. He was able to walk to the bathroom by himself and his level stayed at 93. He could also sit up in the chair now.
Thursday (12/31) He did very well with walking and he even took a shower. They turned him down to 2.5 liters. It was still a day by day evaluation on when he could go home.
Friday (1/1) The doctor said he can probably go home tomorrow if no problems came up.
Saturday (1/2)- After rounds around 9:30 am, they told him he could go home that day with oxygen! It took a while to get the oxygen delivered to the hospital before he could leave. It was almost 5 pm when he was discharged. The kids and I were waiting outside to pick him up.
As we came down our street, our neighbors had made signs welcoming him home!
The kids and I did a sign, balloons and some snacks for when he got back
So glad he was home!! His family came by to see him. He lost about 20 lbs in those 18 days. When he was feeling better food started tasting so good to him! He still had a long recovery ahead.
It had been such a hard time for all of us! It was a relief to have him home. It was tiring, scary and weary at times. We certainly struggled with our faith, but I had a peace through it that only comes from God. The prayers and faith of our family, friends and church were holding us up. There was a huge community of people praying during this. It is incredible to think about and it meant so much! People also brought food and snacks, texted and called with support and concern.
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