So, long story short....
My parents both tested positive for Covi-19. My dad had first symptoms on Jan 4, my mom had symptoms just a couple days after that. They finally decided they were sick enough to go get a covid test, and both came back positive.
My dad is diabetic, and my mom has asthma. They are both 81.
On Monday, January 11, dad was very sick, and not able to keep his oxygen level up. My brother Jeff had Covid in December, so as we understand it, he isn't supposed to be able to catch it again, so he came up from Kanab to help make decisions, and take care of the sick people.
That evening, Jeff took my dad to the Emergency room. My mom was too sick to go with them. Her oxygen levels were not great, but ok. They admitted my dad, and I understand we were very lucky Jeff took him in when he did.
Tuesday, they gave my dad treatments for Covid. Wednesday they gave him the next treatment. He responded really well to the treatments, meaning they thought he was fighting the covid virus really well. Meanwhile, his oxygen was terrible, he was using up to 4 & 5 liters, and at 6 he would need to go to intensive care. His heart rate was in the 30's. His white blood cell count kept climbing, which means his body was fighting an infection in his body. His immune system was working way too hard, and that is bad for his organs. He also had viral pneumonia. No one was allowed to visit. We were told if dad was going to die, they would let my mom come in to see him. This time in the hospital was very hard on both of my parents. If dad could get his oxygen use down to 2 liters, they would let him try to recover at home. With his low heart rate, and low oxygen, alarms kept going off, and he just wanted to go home. The dr wanted him to stay, but agreed that with his oxygen at a 3, and a heart monitor, he could be release from the hospital.
Sunday, Jan 17, he went home. The oxygen was delivered to the house, but not the heart monitor. My mom basically was his heart monitor and pace maker, and oxygen monitor. His oxygen went up to a 4, and heart rate was still a problem. He was not getting better. After spending that whole week staying with my mom while Dad was in the hospital, Jeff returned home to Kanab.
Dad needed to get his blood checked, so we got him portable oxygen so he could make the trip to the hospital for a blood draw. Mom started to drive him, got about a block from her house, and watched his oxygen level drop from 92 to 55! She turned around and got him back to the house where he was able to get hooked up to his plug in oxygen machine (concentrator). Dean and I went up to get the portable ones and return them to the company and get ones that worked. When we got to the house, we were able to talk to the oxygen company on the phone, and they were able to walk us through getting the portable tanks to work. We got home, and got a call from my mom around 10 pm that the concentrator broke while she was hooking up the humidifier. In a panic, she was able to go get the portable tanks that we had just hours before got working, and hook my dad up to those while we waited for the company to come out with new parts for the concentrator. Two close calls just a couple hours apart! We feel so lucky we didn't take the tanks in to the store that evening, he would have had no back up oxygen!
The decision needs to be made as the whether to take my dad back to the hospital. His oxygen drops too low while he is on 4 liters, and his heart rate drops while he is sleeping. If he gets up, he can raise his heart rate, and we could crank up his oxygen, but above 4 should be done at the hospital.
So that brings you up to date. He is home, its not a great situation, but doable, and he is more comfortable in his own home with my mom around. Mom is still recovering from being sick, and she can't have people come in to help because of the risk of Covid. She is tired. She spends much of her nights watching dads levels, and waking him to get his heart rate up.
Each morning, the decision is made to take him to the ER, and then his levels stabilize, and they decide to watch it for a few more hours. By evening, they are both beat, and the decision is made to wait till morning, and then we continue in this cycle.
Right now, plan is to take Dad to the hospital tomorrow morning.
Stay tuned...
