A temporary Stalemate - long

   My dad has been fighting a long, arduous battle against covid since November 2.  For a month, he experienced the fevers, weakness, and the shortness of breath that is common for covid patients.  Why has he survived?  I think he has had three great loves that have allowed him to persevere:  love of family, love of nature, and love of sport.

   My father has always had strong emotions.  Over the years, he has done much for my mother, my brother, his aunt, and my children.  My mother has had chronic fatigue syndrome, so my father did the shopping and ran the house financially.  He always helped his now 97 year-old aunt in Brooklyn with any financial matters together with multiple phone calls.  He sent my brother and I though college and calls us a few times per week even though he is not talkative (my mother does most of the talking.)  He always drove the 4 to 6 hour trips to the hospital when my son was having lung issues (more than a dozen times).  Many times he drove to my house to rescue me also.

   Love of family would not have been enough.  Dad always loved outdoor sport.  He was a strong runner in high school and enjoyed tennis.  Starting in 1978, my dad and his Westinghouse nuclear engineer friends started jogging 4 miles a day at lunch.  This sport group ended up running the Pittsburg Great Race dozens of times, skiing 50 kilometer cross country ski races (once in Norway), canoeing all over Algonquin park in Canada, and bicycling hundreds of miles in the USA.  They love hiking Laurel Mountain State park near Ligoneer PA.  I believe that all of that exercise has given dad the means to survive this last month.

   So that is dad.  The rest of us have struggled less.  My mother was hospitalized for two days with exhaustion.  My father's aunt had a fall and was hospitalized for two weeks.  My brother struggled with the flu for a week.  My brother, my mother, and I have repeatedly tested negative for covid, but I have had my own struggle also.

   On November 15, my father tested positive for covid.  Three days later, I got my first fever.  I did the usual:  drank a lot of liquid, stayed in bed, got tested for covid, and avoided others.  On November 20, I fainted and went to Latrobe hospital.  My fever disappeared temporarily and I tested negative for covid, so they let me out the next day.  I struggled with fevers and weakness for a week before returning to the hospital around Nov 28 for shortness of breath and pneumonia.

   I have been in the hospital with pneumonia ever since.  I've never tested positive for covid, but the CAT scan appears to indicate covid.  My main problem is that I need oxygen to survive, about 4 liters per minute.  While in covid isolation, they vacuum the air from your room to the outside protecting the rest of the hospital.  The fan is loud and takes some getting used to.  I can listen to the TV only by having the speaker near my ears.  Every day I have x-rays, blood drawn, occupational therapy, and lots of IV antibiotic.  I have been loving all the email, texts, and phone calls from family and friends.  I have been avoiding laying on my back because I read that that leads to bad outcomes for covid patients. (i.e. laying prone is better.)

   A decade ago, when I photographed hundreds of star clusters, nebula, and galaxies, the book I read said that you've got to have a reason or philosophy for your photography.  For me, I loved finding the astronomical objects, drawing them,  and sharing my amateur photos.  With any long battle, you need to know and focus on "Why".  Know why you need to survive.  For me, I need to support my family and I desperately want to write about math, investing, and games.  I believe God often gives you second chances.  Type II diabetes scares me (I've had it for two years), and it has made me into a 3 mile per day walker.  I am hoping that my weeks of pneumonia (covid?) will excite my passions for writing and investing in the same way.

   Let me end with a quote from my brother on the front lines, "All hospitals full in Tucson.  Multiple sick staff cannot work in the ER.  We have covid everywhere.  Traumas must be done in the hallways as the bays are full.  All ICU beds taken."  So, please be careful and wear a mask whenever you are in public.  

TLDR: Dad has fought covid to a stalemate.  I am fighting pneumonia.  (789 words)