Yet Another Corona Blog

  We continue to talk to dad every day.  The doctors seem to think that there is no hope of recovery.  They expect organ failure or blood clots.   My brother and I have both become sick.  My brother has pneumonia.  I've had a fever for 7 days and I have difficulty standing for more than a minute.  We have both been tested repeatedly for covid and it appears we don't have it.

 We spoke with dad like four times today.  His appetite has improved, but his lungs have not improved. My brother flew up from Arizona today.

This morning we were able to talk with my dad for 15 to 20 minutes. It was really good to hear his voice. He says that he wants to just relax of the cabin after this is over. He asked about how well I was doing after I got out of the hospital, and he asked how well my great aunt was doing who is in rehab. The doctors are not very optimistic at this time.

 Dad was speaking well this morning, but is back on a bipap now.

 I just got word that I will be discharged today :).  

The accurate PCR covid test that they gave me yesterday came back negative.  Looks like I don't have Covid.  

   My father is in stable condition. He called my mom and talked with her for a while today.  I don't know much more because I'm getting my news vicariously through my brother and mother.    They say that I am dehydrated because my blood pressure dropped to 88 over 59 when I stood up.  My IV should fix that.  I am kind of surprised that I was dehydrated because I drank 32 oz of liquid the evening before my hospitalization.     In the past, my son has always been the one going to the hospital.  We had a hospital bag ready for years full of the games and electronics that he needed to stay sane in the hospital.  Now I am here with no bag.  Funny.      It helps to have a knowledgeable advocate when you are in the hospital.  My son spent about six months in the hospital when he was nine.  My ex-wife may have saved my son's life by asking about a new medication which turned out to be a chemotherapy drug. My son did not have cancer, and he was struggling for his life at the time.

    Last night, I woke up feeling feverish and weak.  I tried to go to the bathroom.  I don't have any recollection of what happened next.  I woke up on the floor in a puddle of my own pee.  It took me five minutes to realize that it was pee.  I felt less feverish, but nauseated.  After dry heaving for a few minutes, I managed to crawl to my phone in the living room. Lesson learned: leave your phone on your nightstand if you are feeling ill. I called the neighbors who called 911 for me.  The stars were beautiful as they wheeled me into the ambulance. I dry heaved a lot on the way to the hospital.   At the hospital, I felt a lot better after getting rehydrated an IV drip.  I'm still at the hospital now.   Good news:  my covid PCR test from Monday came back negative.

    Today was a pretty good day for dad, but not so good for my mother and me.  My dad is off of the bipap and on nasal cannula (10 liters/min).  He seemed to be rather aware this morning and we were able to Facetime him.  My father was a bit of an athlete jogging 4 miles a day with his friends between 1978 until 2005.  Those friends are still together.  Two of them have died.  My father's lungs and heart are very strong so I am hoping that they will help him pull through.     I had a fever of 101 last night.  It was difficult, but I was able to pack my things and drive to my parents cabin.  Many of my friends (including two high school friends) have offered their help.  I wanted to go back to my house because I would then be separated from my mother, have access to all my bills and equipment, and I would be near my main support network.  But, my son, who has lung problems was in my house.  My ex-wife and my daughter volunteered to drive 9 hours to my house to pick up my son.      

   I was kind of feverish at 9 PM.  Right now (3 AM) I'm better and I found a thermometer and pulse-oxcimeter---101 with 95% O2 saturation, headache, light headed when I stand.     My plan is to have my son stay with friends and then I can go back to my house to be totally isolated.     My father is struggling with 50% oxygen on Bi-pap at the hospital.    My friend Rob suggests that I get another rapid test in the morning.

We were going to Facetime dad this evening, but when we called, he was saturating low -- 80% with 10 liters O2 per min.  They decided to put him on a bipap.  After they got him on a bipap, he was able to talk with us.  We would say something, my father would respond inaudibly, and the nurse would repeat to us what he said.  He was able to speak English.    I don't feel so well.  I have mild flu symptoms, but I can still smell things.  Hopefully, it's not covid.   My mother and brother are fine.   

    Dad is on 10 liters per minute of oxygen.  He can sit up and he is eating food.  When we called him this morning, he was more interested in eating than talking to us and he is speaking English again.  He seems to be stable physically and mentally, but he has serious eye-hand coordination and balance issues.  He is not the sharp man we have known for all our lives, but he is able to talk somewhat sensibly if haltingly.     My mother, brother, and I have either no symptoms or mild symptoms.  Hopefully we will get the results of the PCR tests today.

    Today was a little difficult.  We were told that dad now needs 10 liters per minute of oxygen.  He didn't need any oxygen two days ago.  I got check signing authority on their checking account so that I could pay the bills.  Dad had difficulty holding the phone this evening, but he could talk.  My daughter, my mother, and I were all upset.

    In the morning today my brother left for Arizona and my mother and I got coronavirus tests.  The quick tests came back negative for both of us, but they are going to perform the PCR test also.  They expect that the results from the PCR will be available in two days.       I then drove 2.5 hours to my house and got some clothes, medicine, and my bills.  I asked my son to stay in the back yard while I collected these things.  I wore a mask and glove and I opened windows.  Before leaving, I told my son to wait 40 minutes before entering the house.  I hope that will be safe enough.      I returned to my parents house around 6 PM.  During the trip I called up two more friends to let them know what was happening.  My mother and I watched the news.  I was afraid that maybe I had covid and I could infect her despite the fact that we both had masks on.  I think that I should basically just stay in my room only leaving for exercise.      At 8 PM, we called dad.  He spoke slowly and he was a

    My mother, my brother, and I spoke to dad on the phone.  He is at the local hospital.  It was very difficult to get him on the phone.  Over the last few weeks he has had more and more eye hand coordination difficulties, so it is difficult for him to answer the phone.  My brother spoke at length with his nurse and then she put the phone in dad's hands.      He spoke mostly Norwegian.  In the past he never spoke Norwegian with me.  We asked him to speak English because my brother does not understand Norwegian, but he kept speaking Norwegian.  He asked how we we doing and where we were.  Then he asked if he could sleep now.  My father was always firmly in charge of the family, so it was odd for him to ask if he could sleep now.  The covid has addled his brain.  Briefly yesterday, I saw fear in his eyes.  As far as I know, the only fears he has ever had have been fears about problems that his children or grand children were facing.  It was so strange to see that fear that I briefly

   About 3 hours ago, my brother called me from the hospital to tell me that my dad has tested positive for the coronavirus.   The Rehab Center    It all started on October 19th.  My 80 year old father fell down some stairs at our cabin near Laurel Mountain State Park. He had dislocated his shoulder and he was in a lot of pain.  The neighbors called 911 and he went off to the hospital where they performed some surgery.  After he recovered from the surgery, he went to Twin Lakes Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Greensburg Pennsylvania to recover.    He did not like being cooped up at the rehab clinic and he wanted to leave because he was afraid of covid.  There were two other patients at the center that had covid, but we were assured that they were in negative pressure rooms and any staff that treated those two patients were not permitted to leave the area where those patients were staying.  On November 2, we were informed that 20 patients had tested positive for covid19.  I am u