How I came to be an hour from a life-supporting ventilator and coma at COVID-19 intensive care unit.
You probably know by now that I value scientific information, and think sharing it is important so we can all be well informed to make the best choice of what is right for us. That is why I'm sharing what happened to me when I got COVID-19.
I out of nowhere got a high 38,8°C/102°F fever on Monday 27th. I was tested for COVID-19 on Thursday 30th, as well as had a chest x-ray - next day, May 1st, I got COVID-19 positive results, but at this time my lungs were clear of infection.
The weekend went by and I felt worse, my breathing got much much more labored and my fever was at a steady high 38,6°C/101.5°F but could be brought down with paracetamol.
On Monday 4th my boyfriend got his COVID-19 check up call and I asked to talk to them asking to go back to see a doctor as I felt horrible. They agreed and my boyfriend dropped me at the Laakso Coronavirus Center, there I begin to feel worse and couldn't sit up. They took me by ambulance to the emergency room in Haartman where I was isolated and tested for blood, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, and heart rhythm, and my medication was adjusted with antibiotics and anti-blood coagulation injections (due to Covid-19 risk of blood clotting in your arteries) - and sent home 9 hours later.
Three hours later I was at home, I couldn't breath in properly and the paracetamol seemed to not lower my fever in the past two hours and I asked my boyfriend to take me back to Haartman emergency room. Which was Absolutely the right call - and I encourage everyone to listen to their inner voice that guides us, if it tells you it's time, it's time.
I spent the night in the ER isolation with so many wires stuck in me it wasn't funny. Little did I know there were going to be more. Something alarming happened during mon-to-tue the night that they woke me up to put on additional oxygen moustache on me. Can you imagine if I had been at home when it happened. To what would I have woken up to that Tuesday morning - or would I have woken up.
I was transported to Helsinki Surgical Hospital (which had been turned to Helsinki's Coronavirus Hospital in April) on morning of Tuesday 5th to the Covid-19 ward. I don't remember much, but I recall I was constantly on oxygen that was slowly increased, I couldn't walk to the bathroom by myself having to have an escort as I was so weak, as I couldn't breath in properly. My memory begins to be bit fuzzy here, but at some point between Tuesday and Wednesday I got a very rapid rise of fever to 40°C/104°F which lead to chills and uncontrollable shaking, which led almost hyperventilation, but not enough oxygen came in. I called for the nurses who immediately saw something was wrong and put on a large half of a face covering oxygen mask and gave a me lot of extra air. The next morning, Wednesday 6th I was taken to the ICU.
I remember being taken to the Intensive Care Unit upstairs, and I purposefully kept my eyes closed as I did not want to see the people in ventilators, under anesthesia. I didn't want that image in my mind as I was fighting to breath and stay off a ventilator and the medically induced coma. When asked at the ICU if I knew what day it was, I recall telling them I knew when I got sick and when I got to the hospital, but didn't know what day it was. The doctor put in an wrist arterial IV which hurt like a mothaf... so they could have my blood 'on tap' to run tests whenever needed. I recall exasperatingly half-shouting 'f*ck, cun*, how does this hurt this much?'. To the small laughter of the nurse who insured me just few more seconds.
I don't recall much more. But what has stuck in my mind was that I was told that we were going hour-by-hour to see if they needed to put me under anesthesia and into a ventilator if my lungs simply couldn't do the job on their own. I had an ICU nurse watch over me 24 hours in a day by my bed. I recall trying to rise up twice to a sitting position and got horrendous breathing difficulties where I could not get any oxygen in for 30 seconds and I remember asking the nurse in despair to help me, help me, give me oxygen while she tried to calm me down and stroked my shoulder. After that I was ordered to total bed rest, there I could turn in bed but nothing more. My lungs couldn't take the stress on being upright.
I was not allowed to drink or eat the first two days for two reasons, to keep any liquid weight off my lungs so they had a chance to work and so that when they had to intubate there would be nothing rising from my stomach to my lungs and causing massive problems. I had a small spray bottle of water to use to wet my mouth and lipbalm to wet my lips, and the giant mask blowing oxygen on my mouth and nose was drying everything - it was like added torture to not being able to take a breath. On odd occasion I got a sip of water with medicine was bliss, but it also hurt my dry throat and made me cough.
On Thursday 7th of May, they brought an x-ray machine to the ICU and took a chest x-ray. And the doctor told me it looked bad, the COVID-19 infection was everywhere, the white blurs all over my lungs - with my right lung having it worse. Luckily there was two infection, covid-19 and secondary bacterial infection which was responding to the antibiotic IV. Which gave us hope. Hope that I could survive without the ventilator and the medical coma.
Friday 8th was the day when I got a ICU nurse who had been doing this for 20 years, and her approach and how she spoke to me gave me hope, some joy and I believe her optimism started to help me feel better. She cave me icecream at end of the day when my vitals were getting better and I had energy to talk few word with my mom and boyfriend. Friday was my tipping point, where my healing started.
On the afternoon of Saturday 9th I was doing well enough, my infection rate (my CRP) was down from 280 to 16 and my blood was transporting enough oxygen - and I had had 2 days of fever free existence... which meant I was allowed back to the regular COVID-19 ward, I no longer needed to be watched 24h a day.
On Sunday 10th, I started to slowly feel better, I managed to take a shower (with help of two nurses), which felt like I was reborn. I started to walk again, small trips. And I got water and food, glorious food - I had not eaten since Tuesday. And breathing, I was beginning to breath deeply, which I hadn't done in about two weeks. I also got off the oxygen mask, and got the oxygen moustache, which made breathing, moving and sleeping so much easier.
On Monday 11th I could move without assistance, and I feel better, I begin to smile again and I have energy to talk longer on the phone without getting out of breath. Tuesday I walk around more and begin to leave off my oxygen at times to train my lungs to not rely consistently on additional oxygen - and to work to working normally. I ask when can I go home, and the doctors are optimistic and can tell I feel much better. But as I've only been out of the ICU two days they are cautious.
When Wednesday 13th comes I've been off oxygen 18 hours and feel good enough to walk around and rest. The doctors take last blood tests and OKs my discharge from the hospital. I am super happy to go home and stay in bed, cause if it's just about staying in bed I can do that at home with my boyfriend and my two fluff ball puppies. My boyfriend gives me the longest hug as he picks me up from the hospital. And I get a thousand happy puppy kisses and uncontrollable tail wagging when I get home week and a half after leaving for the hospital.
~ Niina,
Helsinki Finland
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