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I do not often share personal stories here on Live Springdale, however, given the
impact of Covid-19 on all of our lives I felt like this was something I wanted to talk about
and share our experience with others. I know when I was sick it was helpful and
encouraging to hear from others who had also had the virus. It calmed many of my
fears and answered many questions I had along the way. I hope this helps you as well
should you or a family member have to take this journey.
I first had symptoms on December 21st, my Mother's birthday. As such I chose not to go see her and my Father and began my quarantine. I felt awful, had a fever over 101, bad body aches and exhaustion. The next day my oldest son, 15, also began feeling really bad. We both took rapid finger prick tests and they both came back negative. We continued to quarantine to be cautious and set up testing on the 24th. On Christmas Eve both myself and my oldest tested positive for the Coronavirus. Fortunately for both of us our worst symptoms last just a couple of days. Three days later, on a Sunday my 11 year old began feeling sick and showing symptoms. He was positive as well, but again was fortunate in the fact that he only had one days of actual symptoms.
We were very proactive in our approach to the virus. I am in no way doctor, but I did see my general practitioner and visited with a doctor friend about what steps to take. All of us began a regimen of vitamins which included the following: Vitamin C, Vitamin D2, Magnesium, Zinc, Quercetin and a multivitamin. We took those twice a day and in the morning added Vitamin B12 and in the evening Melatonin. Also, as someone with more risk factors I took a Z Pack, an oral steroid and got a steroid inhaler. The steroid inhaler was very expensive ($280) so this is something to consider.
My wife, Amelia, also contracted the virus showing symptoms on December 30th and testing positive on December 1st. She has autoimmune health issues as well as some concerns with her heart that require a pacemaker so we were very concerned and attentive to her health. She experienced far more symptoms and sickness than anyone else in the family. As she began to have worse symptoms we took her to the hospital and they determined she was a candidate for convalescent plasma treatment on the 3rd. This took a few hours, but was important in her treatment. She experienced a week to a week to ten days of very strong symptoms. She had a reoccurring fever, extreme exhaustion, pressure in her head and neck, pain in her chest, a terrible cough and troubling breathing. She continued to faithfully take the vitamin regimen as well as the steroid and Z pack. Fortunately for Amelia, she has been able to recover and now is just battling a lingering cough that seems to be an after effect of having the virus.
My Dad began having symptoms on Christmas Day. A few short days later he was given convalescent plasma as well. However, his story took a turn here. My Father has diabetes and coupled with Covid he was taken to the hospital on January 4th in diabetic shock. On January 11th he was placed on a ventilator. We had been in constant contact with his doctors and nurses, but by far the hardest part of this is not being able to see him or be with him during that time. Almost 3 weeks later my father was given a trachea tube and continued his treatment on the ventilator. During those 3 weeks he was fully sedated and given a paralytic to ensure there were no issues with trach tube. Mentally we have no idea how heavily the health of our loved ones weighs on us until we are in the middle of it.
We went a full 39 days without being able to see my Father. During that time we were in constant contact with the doctors and nurses daily. At one point we were asked what his "directives" for care were and at another we were told "you might just be delaying the inevitable. We never gave a thought to giving up on him. We were finally able to get in to see him. My Mother, brothers and I were clothed in full PPE and given 30 minutes with him in the Covid ICU. As we walked in I completely lost it.
There lay the man who had been present for every significant moment of my life. He was unable to move or speak. In al honesty he looked like a lifeless body just existing. At the end of the visit we got dressed in our regular clothes and we met with a nurse who told us, "We've done all we can do. We just hope he is comfortable. It is in God's hands now." I think that was the hardest walk I have ever taken as I made my way back to my car that evening. Two days later I reached out to the hospital and after much discussion he was moved into a regular ICU room and we were able to begin visiting him every day. It did not seem as if he was there. In the beginning he was just locked into one place with no movements from his limbs and no reaction to our voices. Week after week we visited every day. We talked to him about what the family was doing, how the Razorbacks were playing and how all of his friends and family were asking about him and praying for him.
Then slowly but surely he began to come back to us. His fingers and hands began to move. His head began to turn and his eyes began looking back into ours. He was fighting, but he just couldn't tell us about it. He had a wonderful physical therapist at the hospital who, along with her team, worked with him when he couldn't do much of anything. People reached out to me from all walks of life. People who are staunch political opponents with well wishes and prayers and uplifiting words of encouragement as we supported not only my Dad but my Mother during this time. My parents have been married for almost 43 years. This has been awful hard on her.
At nearly the 60 day mark Dad was moved to a long term acute care facility who could still support him on the ventilator. All during this time he had begun doing breathing trials to strengthen his lungs as he had battled Diabetic Ketoacidosis, Covid-19 and Pneumonia. At the new facility they have continued to try different approaches to his lungs and his ability to breath. That is the most important factor to his continued growth towards a healthy recovery.
I am happy to say that here we are on Day 96 of this journey. Dad is still with us and improving every day. They have given him a speaking mechanism so he can communicate with us and he is fully lucid and aware and mentally sharp. He has a long road ahead of him with many hours of physical rehabilitation and nutrition to get his life back. I am about to head over to see him as I finish typing this story.
I have told you all that to tell you this. Nearly 7 years ago I started Live Springdale to promote our city, its businesses and its people. This community has grown to nearly 45,000 people and many of you have continued to frequent the website for the many tools it offers during this time. For the last few months I haven't done a great job of giving you the breaking news or new information about what is going on in town. While I wish I had done a better job for these few months I hope you can understand where my heart and mind has been. I look forward to being back to normal and getting you all back on the front edge of all things new in Springdale. I cannot say thank you enough to the businesses who support Live Springdale via sponsorship to help us to bring you everything exciting about our town. Thanks for being a part. Thanks to many of you for loving on us. We're glad to be 100% back.
I first had symptoms on December 21st, my Mother's birthday. As such I chose not to go see her and my Father and began my quarantine. I felt awful, had a fever over 101, bad body aches and exhaustion. The next day my oldest son, 15, also began feeling really bad. We both took rapid finger prick tests and they both came back negative. We continued to quarantine to be cautious and set up testing on the 24th. On Christmas Eve both myself and my oldest tested positive for the Coronavirus. Fortunately for both of us our worst symptoms last just a couple of days. Three days later, on a Sunday my 11 year old began feeling sick and showing symptoms. He was positive as well, but again was fortunate in the fact that he only had one days of actual symptoms.
We were very proactive in our approach to the virus. I am in no way doctor, but I did see my general practitioner and visited with a doctor friend about what steps to take. All of us began a regimen of vitamins which included the following: Vitamin C, Vitamin D2, Magnesium, Zinc, Quercetin and a multivitamin. We took those twice a day and in the morning added Vitamin B12 and in the evening Melatonin. Also, as someone with more risk factors I took a Z Pack, an oral steroid and got a steroid inhaler. The steroid inhaler was very expensive ($280) so this is something to consider.
My wife, Amelia, also contracted the virus showing symptoms on December 30th and testing positive on December 1st. She has autoimmune health issues as well as some concerns with her heart that require a pacemaker so we were very concerned and attentive to her health. She experienced far more symptoms and sickness than anyone else in the family. As she began to have worse symptoms we took her to the hospital and they determined she was a candidate for convalescent plasma treatment on the 3rd. This took a few hours, but was important in her treatment. She experienced a week to a week to ten days of very strong symptoms. She had a reoccurring fever, extreme exhaustion, pressure in her head and neck, pain in her chest, a terrible cough and troubling breathing. She continued to faithfully take the vitamin regimen as well as the steroid and Z pack. Fortunately for Amelia, she has been able to recover and now is just battling a lingering cough that seems to be an after effect of having the virus.
My Dad began having symptoms on Christmas Day. A few short days later he was given convalescent plasma as well. However, his story took a turn here. My Father has diabetes and coupled with Covid he was taken to the hospital on January 4th in diabetic shock. On January 11th he was placed on a ventilator. We had been in constant contact with his doctors and nurses, but by far the hardest part of this is not being able to see him or be with him during that time. Almost 3 weeks later my father was given a trachea tube and continued his treatment on the ventilator. During those 3 weeks he was fully sedated and given a paralytic to ensure there were no issues with trach tube. Mentally we have no idea how heavily the health of our loved ones weighs on us until we are in the middle of it.
We went a full 39 days without being able to see my Father. During that time we were in constant contact with the doctors and nurses daily. At one point we were asked what his "directives" for care were and at another we were told "you might just be delaying the inevitable. We never gave a thought to giving up on him. We were finally able to get in to see him. My Mother, brothers and I were clothed in full PPE and given 30 minutes with him in the Covid ICU. As we walked in I completely lost it.
There lay the man who had been present for every significant moment of my life. He was unable to move or speak. In al honesty he looked like a lifeless body just existing. At the end of the visit we got dressed in our regular clothes and we met with a nurse who told us, "We've done all we can do. We just hope he is comfortable. It is in God's hands now." I think that was the hardest walk I have ever taken as I made my way back to my car that evening. Two days later I reached out to the hospital and after much discussion he was moved into a regular ICU room and we were able to begin visiting him every day. It did not seem as if he was there. In the beginning he was just locked into one place with no movements from his limbs and no reaction to our voices. Week after week we visited every day. We talked to him about what the family was doing, how the Razorbacks were playing and how all of his friends and family were asking about him and praying for him.
Then slowly but surely he began to come back to us. His fingers and hands began to move. His head began to turn and his eyes began looking back into ours. He was fighting, but he just couldn't tell us about it. He had a wonderful physical therapist at the hospital who, along with her team, worked with him when he couldn't do much of anything. People reached out to me from all walks of life. People who are staunch political opponents with well wishes and prayers and uplifiting words of encouragement as we supported not only my Dad but my Mother during this time. My parents have been married for almost 43 years. This has been awful hard on her.
At nearly the 60 day mark Dad was moved to a long term acute care facility who could still support him on the ventilator. All during this time he had begun doing breathing trials to strengthen his lungs as he had battled Diabetic Ketoacidosis, Covid-19 and Pneumonia. At the new facility they have continued to try different approaches to his lungs and his ability to breath. That is the most important factor to his continued growth towards a healthy recovery.
I am happy to say that here we are on Day 96 of this journey. Dad is still with us and improving every day. They have given him a speaking mechanism so he can communicate with us and he is fully lucid and aware and mentally sharp. He has a long road ahead of him with many hours of physical rehabilitation and nutrition to get his life back. I am about to head over to see him as I finish typing this story.
I have told you all that to tell you this. Nearly 7 years ago I started Live Springdale to promote our city, its businesses and its people. This community has grown to nearly 45,000 people and many of you have continued to frequent the website for the many tools it offers during this time. For the last few months I haven't done a great job of giving you the breaking news or new information about what is going on in town. While I wish I had done a better job for these few months I hope you can understand where my heart and mind has been. I look forward to being back to normal and getting you all back on the front edge of all things new in Springdale. I cannot say thank you enough to the businesses who support Live Springdale via sponsorship to help us to bring you everything exciting about our town. Thanks for being a part. Thanks to many of you for loving on us. We're glad to be 100% back.
Fight Of A Lifetime:
Our Personal Covid-19 Journey
Our Personal Covid-19 Journey