Covid Almost Killed Me

Chapter 5

I would like to take a moment right now to let it be known this chapter will solely be what was happening through my husband's eyes. For the most part this is all what I went through from my point of view but at this time in my story I am now in a medical induced coma, so I had to get a lot of what was going on and feelings from my husband.

Shortly after I called my husband to tell him I am being taken to the ICU the hospital calls him to tell him that I am now intubated. They had also told him that at this moment things are not looking so well. They went over options and wanted him to green light a treatment plan. Of course, my husband and I are like best friends, so he tells them to do whatever they need to do to keep me alive. 

They let him know that I need to be put on a machines that they do have but are being taken up at the moment. They explain that they have found a hospital with an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine. Basically, my body is having issues with holding oxygen. Everyone when they breathe has oxygen the oxygen enriched blood runs through the body. Not only am I having issues breathing in itself, but I am also not getting that oxygen enriched blood as I should. So, I needed to be on an ECMO machine that would take blood out of my body and put oxygen in it and transfer it back to my body. It would be the only way I will be able to stay alive. Unfortunately, this hospital can no longer take care of me the way that I need it, but they can make sure that I get that I need.

My husband said to do what they have to do to save me and was told that they would start getting everything set up to fly me out there. My husband started to get very scared as we have never been in this kind of trouble ever in our relationship. Everything was very new. He now had to go to bed alone again. He is an only child as was very use to that when he and I first got together. But through the years of us being together he got very use to being able to talk before bed, to cuddle, to tell someone about his day after work. This all is now gone. On top of that bills don't stop for nothing. The next day while at work my husband was told that at 8 pm I will be flown to Memphis and at 5 am I will be put on the ECMO machine.

Shortly after 8 pm he received another call telling him that I did have to be revived prior to flying out. I was still scheduled to be on the ECMO machine at 5 am. Of course, reality hit my husband now. Now he is getting calls pretty much telling him that if it weren't for them there reviving me, I would no longer be on this earth. And this would be the start of the phone calls and the start of his personal hell on earth.

Not long after that phone call he received another phone call from the hospital in Memphis saying that they know that I was scheduled to be hooked up to ECMO at 5 am but they will have to do it now if I am to stay alive. I was hooked up to the machine as well as hooked up to a ventilator.

Over the following days my husband was gathering up as much information as possible. He was told that he needs to get the covid shots prior to seeing me and so he did. By doing that of course he couldn't get the shots in the same day. He had to wait in between shots but took the first time he was able to receive the second shot to try to make a road trip and see me.

Every day my husband would go to work and every day co-workers would ask him why is he coming in. If the shoe was on the other foot, they wouldn't be able to come into work. But my husband is built different. Bills don't stop, so him going to work didn't stop either. He couldn't escape the constant thoughts going through his head. Hoping I pull through. Wondering if I'll be okay. Trying not to think about what life may be like losing me. He was able to keep his phone with him at all times in case something was to happen and the hospital has to get a hold of him.

This whole time he is also calling the hospital every day and the nurses would tell him how I am doing well. Then later on in the day he would get a call from the hospital telling him something different. He kept getting calls telling him how I would be running a fever, I had sepsis, and two more times I had to be revived.