DAY 11: My sister remains on a ventilator in ICU with Covid pneumonia. The last report was that she had another fever and they tried to adjust the oxygen she was receiving. At her best point so far she had been lowered to 75% Oxygen. With this latest she is back at 80%. It seems like the doctors are trying to reduce her need for the ventilator for her long term prospects. The sooner she can get off, the better --but only as she can handle it. Each day that passes means more risk of her dying, or long term effects, or long term recovery. No other way to look at it.
Best we can gather she went to the hospital Sunday, 29 August, 2021 with Covid pneumonia. She was placed on a ventilator in ICU late Tuesday, 31 August.
Her husband has no idea what questions to ask so his reports are thin, the barest of details.
Stephanie enter the hospital with shortness of breath from pneumonia. She seemed to be improving for a day or so. She was placed on oxygen and they had to slowly increase it. She was moved to ICU to better observe her condition. All this time we were in video and messenger contact with her. Yesterday she could not keep her oxygen above 88 percent and she was placed on a ventilator. She had tried so hard to fight on her own but she grew tired. We have seen some improvement in numbers but it has only been 24 hours. We truly though she would go in, get the oxygen and start recouping, but it has not been that way.
9/3/21 Quick update, they have reduced stephanies oxygen intake to 90 % and she is holding her own at 97 % concentration . Slight improvements, we will take them.
9/4/21 I wanted to update you. There was so significant changes today but they will be doing a complete blood work in the morning. Her vitals are stable.
9/6/21 Stephanie’s oxygen has been lowered to 75%. Saturation level is at 97%. Her vitals are stable. No fever. Other numbers are trending down or holding steady. Another day of small steps in the right direction.
9/8/21 No big changes. Vitals steady. Oxygen has been increased to 90. she had a fever. But as of tonight she was 98.6 . They are working on getting the mixtures right. Slow go.
9/9/21 Stephanie is stable at 80%. With a saturation of 93. They are starting to reduce her oxygen and did a test today.they dropped it to 60% she held it for a while. Then they raised it to 70. She held that for awhile , her vitals are good. Fever is gone. No growth on the bacterial cultures for 36 hours. Looking for more improvement tomorrow.
The updates leave me with more questions than answers. I found myself asking several questions.
I was under the impression Stephanie has Covid pneumonia which is viral pneumonia. Were the bacterial cultures to ensure she's not developing a bacterial infection due to the intubation process (a ventilator risk)? Or has she developed bacterial pneumonia also? Or is this precautionary because she's on steroids, I assume?? Steroids can open airways but allow for growth of some bacteria in certain circumstances.
What about fluid build up in the lungs? What are CTs/scans showing? Yes, she can be vented and receive some scans.
I take it that her husband can't visit due to Covid restrictions and with hers being an active Covid case. How does he get updates?
I really didn't expect much from him anyway; he is so medically ignorant and willfully misled he insisted his family would not get the vaccine.
We know that viruses can stay in the body a long time. People who have chickenpox as a child are at risk for shingles. The virus lays dormant for years and in some people it reactivates as shingles later in life. We have a shingles vaccine to address this potential problem. What will the ramifications be for Covid sufferers later in life? I wonder if the Covid vaccines will help with any future potential expressions of the virus? They certainly help prevent the disease or reduce the seriousness of the disease. Probably too soon to tell but an interesting argument for getting a vaccine.
Another thing I've been thinking of are flu vaccines.
*Generally there are a variety based on previous years infections, some tailored to specific groups. The Covid vaccines of the future will most likely be modified to address differences in this virus also. We are already discussing boosters for certain groups.
*Like the Covid vaccine, you can get the flu despite being vaccinated. And like the flu, if more of the population is vaccinated, then less a chance of exposure.
*And like the Covid vaccine, you will have a less worse case if you catch it.
*And like the Covid vaccine, when infected, you can pass the flu to others.
Public Health's aim is to get as many vaccinated as possible to reduce the risk, especially to the most vulnerable populations. It seems to me that those so callous to refuse vaccines not only put their own lives at risk but everyone's life also. What a selfish, stupid act. And what a selfish, stupid thing for my sister's family to make this arrogant, foolish decision based on information so easily discredited if you just listen to the experts, the real experts who aren't twisting the facts, and not some dark corner of the web. All this is so fucking pointless and unnecessary. As friends pointed out, you can't own the libs if you're dead.
And if you don't like my language then don't read my other blog post, A Terrible Question, where I tear the Cult of Trump a new one. Yes, I'm mad and rightly so!
