I became ill with something on September 17, 2021, and just treated the symptoms, and took a lot of supplements and alternative care.  My husband did not get ill until September 27.  He went in to get tested and when he was positive, he asked me to go in and get tested.  We were both positive.  At that time, we had ivermectin on hand and we both took that, along with Azithromycin, and prednisone. We had researched before getting sick what some of the treatments were.

The first 3 days, my husband was still able to ride his bike 10 miles a day.  When it hit him harder, I was giving him everything I was taking for supplements, and I made sure he was getting fluids and nourishment. Since he was a physician, I had him check me out.  I was not wheezing but my oxygen level had dropped to the low 90s.  I knew a doctor in town who ordered a home oxygen concentrator for me.  I think I got that on Friday, October 1.

By the next day, Jerry was needing oxygen as he was also in the low 90s.  We were able to get another oxygen concentrator.  I seemed to be doing better than him, so I kept watching his oxygen and taking care of him.  He was sleeping in a recliner because it was easier for him to breathe.

By Monday, October 4, he was dropping in the 80s, and I tried everything to increase his levels.  I had him inhaling essential oils in warm water, I was rubbing his chest with oils, I tried castor oil on his chest, and I could get it to come back up to the 90s.  That night, he started with asthma attacks. We tried his inhaler and thought it helped a little but it didn’t stop it.  I noticed that when he got anxious his oxygen dropped.  He took a Xanax and that seemed to help hold him in the 90s.

On the morning of the 6th, I couldn’t get his oxygen to come up.  It was hanging in the low 80s, and I was very worried.  We were in a second marriage and I feared his kids would hate me and think I didn’t get their father help, if I didn’t take him to the hospital.

I called his son and told him the situation. He thought his dad needed to go in. I told him that I was still sick myself and on home oxygen, but he didn’t offer to take his dad in. I called the ambulance, and my son came and got me and took me to be with him in the ER.

They put him on high flow nasal oxygen.  Jerry had a hard time handling that because of his claustrophobia. They only allowed me to be with him about an hour, and then they took him to a room at a different hospital that was set up for COVID-19 patients.

They would not allow me to be with him under any circumstance.  I called and talked to nurses several times a day.  Jerry tried to call when he could, but after the first 5 or 6 days, it was hard for him to talk because his oxygen would drop.  They wouldn’t get him up to go to the bathroom because they said his oxygen dropped, so from the day he entered he didn’t get up again.

It was only about 3 or 4 days in when he told me he thought they were trying to kill him.  I did get them to give him Budesonide under the recommendation from Dr. Richard Bartlett.  I was so hopeful that it could help based on what he was telling me.  I don’t know how much or how often they administered it.

When I finally got to see him on October 17, he had lost a lot of weight, and they would not give him any water.  They said he already had COVID-19 pneumonia, and they didn’t want him getting a secondary pneumonia because he seemed to aspirate when he tried to drink.  He was still urinating several times while I was with him.

I told this part up above but I’ll put it here as well.  The day he went to the ICU, the doctor had told me that there was no change in his x-ray from the day he arrived, and yet he was needing more oxygen.  I told her that his high anxiety (because he was claustrophobic) usually caused his oxygen stats to drop, and if we could keep him somewhat sedated, maybe his oxygen stats would stay up.  She agreed, and said that he would have to be in the ICU because the sedation could affect his breathing.  I agreed.

About 30 minutes after we got the ICU, she was telling me he needed to be on the ventilator because he was working his lungs too hard,  and they needed a break.  My husband and I had said we never wanted that because it seemed to be a death decision.  I told the doctor I could not make that decision.  They asked my husband if he wanted it, and he agreed with a nod.  I think he was tired of fighting and felt it didn’t work, and if he died, he would at least not be suffering.  I felt like it was a bait and switch.  His lungs were not bad at all on Tuesday the 19th,and yet on Thursday the 21st, the doctor showed me his lungs were completely white. How can that happen??  I feel the medication and the vent killed him.

I had tried to take him home 3 days after he was admitted, and they told me he would die in the parking lot.  I tried so hard to find home health help that could handle his oxygen, and couldn’t find anyone to help.  I wish I would have kept him at home after the things I have learned about the illness.  I was scared, and still on home oxygen from having COVID-19 myself.