55 Days on a ventilator
My unvaccinated sister is now on day 55 on an ICU ventilator due to Covid. That's just shy of 8 eight weeks ventilated. Last week they were able to remove her intubation tube and place a trach tube. Usually this would have been done sooner but she had Covid, her lung collapsed, she had four chest tubes to drain fluids, and overall, her condition wasn't good enough to get to that point until last week. She remains sedated but less sedated than before and unresponsive. While her vital signs remain steady, she does experience BP fluctuations when she coughs. This is normal given she is recovering from Covid, but most likely, it's because of the dryness which occurs with the trach tube and there may some fluid issues which will require suctioning if warranted. Imagine laying flat, unable to drink, unable to clear your nose and throat of phlegm- the dryness in the mouth and the phlegm causing two contrasting problems. They'll be using premoistened swabs inside her mouth for dryness, lip balm, and trying to provide some basic dental care also through swabbing. Nothing can be taken by mouth because of sedation, with her nutrition and fluids given by tubes. Someone has to clean a diaper or absorbent pad like a baby's nappy being changed. This is not a situation anyone should willingly go through but that is exactly what has happened by refusing the vaccine and risking a severe Covid infection.
Last weekend we fully expected her to die given how bad she was. The doctor tried a brief period of iNO and this helped reopen some of the areas of the lungs. It worked somewhat, enough to improve some lung function. Reading over the journal articles about using this with Covid patients I found this shows mixed results overall. But more, it showed the intensivist wasn't ready to give up. Do not be mistaken, this is all down to medical intervention. There is no magic man in the sky arbitrarily choosing who dies and lives, gets an iPhone, a new car, or a job, or makes it to the church on time. This is modern medicine at work. And it was the science of modern medicine that gave us the vaccine. That so-called miracle her family is praying for was there all along in the form of a vaccine.
