Harold tested positive on Sept. 1 2021.  On Sept. 6 2021 he drove himself to the hospital because he felt he needed fluids.  He was getting weaker and he could not eat anything. We tried many different foods and broth, but he just couldn’t eat.  He came back home from the ER after arguing  with the Dr to get some IV fluids.   On Sept. 8 2021 he was having a real hard time breathing and the high fever was just not going away.  I took him to ThedaCare in Waupaca Wisconsin, and from there they transported him to ThedaCare in Appleton Wisconsin by ambulance.   It was a roller coster ride from that time on.  He was doing good then bad.

Some days he would text me a lot then not at all, but one day, he texted me where to find all important papers and things in the house, and what to do with it. He was disabled, and stayed home, did all the cooking, and took care of business, so he wanted me to know what to do just in case, i guess.

I would call the nurse twice a day for updates and they would tell me his oxygen numbers.  On Sept. 19, 2021 his isolation time was up, so I got to see him.   I was shocked to see that he had lost 30 pounds in 8 days!  His eyes were so scared and sad. One day I was rubbing his feet and noticed one foot was ice cold and the other one was burning up.   When the nurse came in I told her and she felt his feet and said oh that is weird. Now thinking about it it was probably a blood clot.  Hhmm.  I’m not sure what day my kids came up and we sat and talked to the Dr, but they wanted us to put a DNR on Harold. The kids and I said no!!  Absolutely not- we can deal with broken ribs, but not him dying!  A day went by and that night the Dr called me and begged me to put Harold on DNR.  I cried and said no he is going to be fine, but he Dr would not take no for an answer, so after some time, I finally said yes.  My kids were so upset.

A few days later i was there with Harold, and he was sitting up with the nasal canula, and we talked for a bit. The Dr rushed in and said his oxygen was dropping and he needed to get that big mask on.  The top of his nose was cut open from that mask.   He broke out in sweats and I could tell he was scared of getting that mask on again. The nurse came in and  put something in his iv and he fell asleep breathing very heavy. When he started waking up the Dr listened to his lungs and said yep his lungs sound like they are leather and he needs to go on the ventilator right now. They let me say good bye and rushed me out.   That was the last time I talked to my husband. Out of those 4 hours I spent with him he was maybe awake a 1/2 hour before they gave him the drug that put him to sleep.  I would drive everyday to the hospital to hold his hand and watch his numbers, praying for good news. I never thought he wouldn’t pull through this!!  We both trusted these Dr’s, never thinking this would happen.

A couple of days later, the dr called and said I could not come to visit him until further notice because Harold had gotten some very contagious bacterial infection.  Again, i was separated from my husband, but on the early morning of Oct. 12 2021, the Dr called and said the family needs to come right away for a family meeting. (What happened to the dangerously contagious infection?) He told us that Harold had 2 big holes in his lungs and there was no chance for survival. Since I had signed the DNR, we took him off the ventilator, and he passed away 11 minutes later.

We are devastated, and our lives will be forever changed without him.