My Adventure with Covid19 - Part 9

 

OK, now I go back and look at all that has happened with Covid19.  My story will not be the same as someone else’s. I may have mentioned this before, but on of the strangest things to me is the fact that I never ran a fever.  It is hard to imagine how I could have been so sick with no fever.  The truth is I never had fever.

As of the writing of this, since getting Covid19, last night I got the best sleep. I did get up at least 5 times to go pee. That can be expected with the medicine I have been taking.  However, I went back to sleep right away each time.

Hopefully  I can soon share bout going out in public and/or getting off of oxygen.  This has been an adventure I do not wish upon anyone.

More to come later.  Stay safe!

 

My Adventure with Covid19 - Part 8

One more hospital visit (so far). I get cellulitis, which according to the report, is related to  a MRSA infection.  On March 29,2021, I had to go back to the hospital for treatment. They ran an ultrasound on my left leg, as it looked pretty bad.  It was red and swollen and somewhat in pain.

The test results revealed it was a MRSA infection.  I don’t know where I got it from, but all I know is that I wanted to limit my contact with other folks.

Apparently, The treatment they gave me of clindamycin for the infection, and furosemide for the swelling have done the trick.  I am still on both medicines as of this writing. They seem to be just the treatment I needed.  The redness and swelling are both almost completely gone.

I am really hoping this is the last complication I have with covid19. 

I know there is still a long row to hoe for me with covid19. I am hoping and praying for no more complications.

More to come later.  Stay safe!

My Adventure with Covid19 - Part 7

 

So far 27 days in the hospital. I now have a physical therapist to help me get back on track with breathing. I have been informed that it will possibly be a few more weeks that I will be on oxygen.  That means at least three more weeks before I completely get off of the oxygen. I have no timeline at the moment.

Now I am dealing with shortness of breath.  I do not feel bad.  I just cannot breathe as deeply as I am used to doing.

I have finally got into the routine of checking my blood sugar and giving myself insulin every day.  Here I will say screw you Joe Biden for reversing Trump’s actions to lower the costs for diabetes sufferers which resulted in much lower payments by folks on diabetes medications.  That was totally uncalled for.

More to come later.  Stay safe!

My Adventure with Covid19 - Part 6

 

After the 23 days in the hospital, I felt pretty good and went home. That lasted one whole day. After I was home for the one day, I began to feel horrible.  I found out why. I had developed blood clots in my lungs.  This would be the cause of my 2^nd visit to the hospital.

I got put on blood thinners.  I now need to be on O₂ to get enough oxygen when I breathe. (as of the writing of this, I am on 2 liters of O₂ per minute).  This is something new to me.

I also have to take a blood thinner. This is something that means I have to be extra careful so as not to fall, as that can be tragic. I did fall once already, but it was not too bad. Fortunately, this stay at the hospital was only for 4 days.

More to come later.  Stay safe!

vMy Adventure with Covid19 - Part 5

 

Sleep- it is not over rated.  Through my whole time dealing with Covid19, getting sleep has been an issue. I never thought hat I would have issues getting enough sleep. Getting sleep has been quite a challenge. Now I have had trouble getting enough sleep. I often catch myself dozing off sometime during the day.

Fortunately for me, last night was the exception.  I got more sleep last night than I have in a couple of months. Part of the issue is the fact I was in the hospital so long.  I don’t know about you, but for me getting sleep at all was a huge challenge while I was in the hospital was quite a challenge. I catch myself dozing off when things are slow, but I don’t want to sleep during the day.  I want to sleep at night.

While it can be productive to do things at 4am, I would rather get on a schedule of sleeping during that time.

 

More to come later.  Stay safe!

My Adventure with Covid19 - Part 4

 

Well, the twenty-three days I initially was in the hospital was a tough time.  I could not be “visited” by anyone.  The only folks I got to see were the doctors and nurses caring for me.  These were all fine folks.  One nurse that previously had covid19 had no sense of taste or smell.  That is one thing that never happened to me, so I consider myself as blessed.

On March 6,2021 I was finally got out of the ICU.  I was in regular hospital room. Why was this a big deal?  I could finally go to the bathroom on my own.  Also I could get a shower. Those were great milestones for me.  You don’t realize how much you can miss simple things until you are deprived of them.

I will just stop here and say that the food in the hospital was not bad at UTMB Clear Lake. They did have a fondness for serving broccoli at least once per day.  I will admit that having coffee every day turned me into a regular coffee drinker.  There are worse things that could have happened to me.

More to come later.  Stay safe!

My Adventure with Covid19 - Part 3

 

Well, I had a long stay the first time I was in the hospital. I checked in on February 15,2021.  I checked out on March 11,2021. Twenty- three days I spent some time in the hospital.  Covid19 had left me very weak.   I would get encouragement when I would see m oxygen levels in my blood increase.

Covid19 gave me a very special gift.  That gift is diabetes. I was not diabetic before I got sick.  Now, I am a diabetic.  This is all new to me. So now I get to pay close attention to what I eat.  I test my blood every morning. I watch my blood sugar levels change from over 300 when I was first in the hospital to a low of 119 before I left the hospital.  That is quite a change,

Speaking of diabetes, they showed me how to give myself shots with a normal syringe. However, when I checked out, they gave me a “pen” to give myself shots that I dial in how much insulin to inject.  This was all new to me and I  had zero training on this.  The good thing is that it is an easy process to learn.

Covid19 gave me another special gift.  I lost significant weight while in the hospital. I lost about 40 pounds.  This ended up being very good for my blood pressure.  At least one good thing came from me getting Covid19.

There is more to come about the stay in the hospital I will work o tat post for next time.

More to come later.  Stay safe!