Mike became sick on Wednesday, September 8, 2021 with mild cold/flu symptoms.  He was mobile and eating as normal until Monday, September 13, 2021.  At that time he found he was short of breath and having experienced blood clots in his lungs 3 years prior he was afraid that was happening again.  He also appeared to have low oxygen as he was somewhat confused.  We went to Morrow County Hospital at the Emergency Room and he walked into the hospital.  Of course I was not allowed in with him and waited in the parking lot for over 8 hours until he was able to call me and say they were admitting him for low oxygen levels.

I had no contact with the doctor in charge until about 2 hours later when I went in to the waiting room and waited for the admitting doctor.  She came out and told me they had administered Remdesivir and other medications that I don’t remember.  They admitted him on Monday evening and I was not allowed to see him.  His doctor called me on Thursday when they were able to get a bed for him at Marion General Hospital but basically told me good luck as he was very sick and unvaccinated with little chance of survival.  At that time the doctor told me he could not have food and said he could live 3 days without it   Mike was still able to get up in a chair and move around some with the CPAP.  He did not want to be on a ventilator.

On Thursday when I was able to visit him I went to sit with him and he was communicating albeit with difficulty because of the CPAP.  He was quite irritable and understanding that he was on a high dose of steroids in addition to medication that was more than likely damaging his body he was wanting to rest.  I left but went back daily to be with him as much as I could.  He asked for food and I asked what I could bring him but they discouraged any food.  I took him some Carnation Instant Breakfast which had protein and other vitamins.  He drank 2 as soon as I got there and I had them put them in the refrigerator on the floor for him.  I am not sure he got the rest of them.

On Sunday when I visited he was in a good mood and the day nurse said he was doing pretty good. He told me then the night nurse had almost lost him because his oxygen level went down very low and they had to revive him. He was concerned that I was coming to visit him and he did not want me to get sick.  I went anyway and this is what he told me.  Early on Monday morning the same night nurse that had been neglecting his care called and said that he had rang his bell and requested that she help him with his mask.  She said she did not get to him in time and he took it off and his oxygen level dropped low again and he had a heart attack.  She asked how long it would take me to get there.  I told her 30 minutes.

She called back and pressured me into giving permission to intubate him and put him on a ventilator even though he did not want that.  I was panicked and gave permission as I thought this was the only way for him to survive.  She called me with him on my way and I told him I loved him and would be there in just a few minutes.  When I got there I was not allowed in as they were working on him.  I sat in the Covid waiting area for over an hour before they came out and told me he was not going to make it.  I think the thought of the ventilator caused his death and I am not sure that he was not already gone when they put him on it.

They gave us no hope but then the cardiologist came to see us and told us that we could try a drug to dissolve blood clots even though he was unconscious and they didn’t know if he had clots or not.  We gave permission as it was a last effort to save him.  The nurse in charge was not in favor of the drug as he told me he was already gone showing me his feet and saying he was in the process of dying.  He said the drug could cause bleeding from his eyes, nose and mouth and that is what happened.  He remained on the ventilator for another 24 hours until we chose to remove the ventilator at which time he passed away.