My parents, ages 87 and 92, came to visit us.  We took them to the casino to eat and play for a short while. We shared a pizza from Papa John’s. Within days, all 4 of us had COVID-19. My husband, age 66, and myself at age 62. All of us had varying health problems. Mom has a pacemaker and heart problem history. Dad was healthy for age 92 years old. Dan was on Cosentyx for psoriatic arthritis, and I have a history of weak lungs and asthma attacks.

All of us seem to be dealing with covid okay. We had been fighting it for about a week.  Just another bad cold. Our son, Jake, was worrying about us and came to visit. He is a member of the volunteer fire department. When he arrived, he took his dad’s vitals and was concerned that his oxygen level was a little low. Thank God he didn’t take all our oxygen levels, or we might all have ended up like my husband. Jake convinced us that we needed to take his dad somewhere to get medication because Dan was on Cosentyx which modifies the immune system, and he might need something to help him. Dan was not in any kind of visible breathing distress, but to be safe we complied. It was a Sunday night at almost 8:00, Jake took us to the ER at Alliance Hospital in Durant, Oklahoma. The ER immediately took Dan to a room and sent me to fill out paperwork. By the time I arrived at the room, they had Dan hooked up to an IV. A doctor came in and asked if he had gotten a COVID-19 shot. Dan told him that his knee doctor had recommended that he did not get it and that he was on Cosentyx so had decided not to. The doctor had attitude with that being a big mistake. They came in and said they were admitting Dan to isolation in ICU, and I would not be allowed in there with him. We should have left. Our big mistake was staying.

According to the medical records from Alliance on November 8, 2021, they started Dan on Dexamethasone, Montelukast, Zinc sulfate, remdesivir, Ascorbic acid, Doxycycline, Infliximab, Insulin, Enoxaparin, Famotidine and Zofran. Dan has never had diabetes. A long time ago, Dan’s A1C was high for a very short time until he quit drinking Mountain Dew and lost weight. He was not being treated for diabetes and did not have diabetes. I am not sure why they were giving him insulin. They admitted him to ICU and I was told I could not stay.

On Wednesday, November 10, 2021, they stated they needed to intubate him.  According to Jake’s Facebook posting, “Yesterday morning he was intubated (placed on the ventilator). His oxygen saturation was in the low 90’s, heartrate was 140ish and his left lung was full of inflammation. “

By November 12, 2021, Alliance Hospital records state that he is vent dependent, his BUN and liver counts are bad, hyperkalemic and he is in acute renal failure and currently bedbound. They had him strapped to the bed. The doctor came in and stated to my son and I that he was going on vacation and did not trust his backup. That we needed to get Dan out of there and he was requesting a transfer to Texoma Medical Center in Denison, TX. Dan was transferred to TMC at around 5 am the next morning. Doctors at TMC spent the next 47 days trying to undo the damage that had been done. Dan was transported to Colbert Nursing Home where he spent another 19 days doing rehab, physical therapy and occupational therapy. Dan came home wheelchair dependent and was given continued care at home. Dan lost 80% of his muscle mass. Dan is in renal failure, has cirrhosis of liver, erectile disfunction, balance issues, frequent bloody noses and blood count issues, fatigue and almost 2 years have passed. The rest of us survived just fine with taking care of ourselves at home.