I continue to struggle with the fact that we can't make a decision about the start of school and bringing our kids, teachers and staff back into buildings with the rage of COVID. I don't understand why we can't make a decision, even if it is the wrong one. Limbo is not the way to be. I know what my decision will be and it will be that we don't do any harm to anyone.
This is real. A little bit ago, I read about a very popular Chandler teacher and coach who just passed away from complications. From everything I have read, he was beloved. My concern is that we will be reading or hearing about these deaths on a daily basis if we don't make a decision.
One of the most amazing teachers I worked with during my time at Gilbert El contracted COVID along with her husband. They live in Gilbert and Washington. She has been keeping us informed on Bill's progress. He is considered a "miracle" by the medical professionals. I have daily read or texted her and talked to her a few times. She has been okay in terms of how awful this disease is. But hearing her worries and her journey has been heartbreaking to say the least.
Bill beat the odds and was released yesterday. However, they don't know the long term prognosis of what he will deal with. She was so excited to get to pick him up yesterday. She sent this email to us this morning and I asked her if I could share it. She said I could. THIS IS REAL!!!
There is no other way to say it other than yesterday was traumatic.
First of all, Bill called early to say he was being discharged. I called the discharge social worker and set up a noon meeting to go over Bill's discharge papers, review his medications (there are 13 of them), and to meet with the doctor.
Terri wanted to drive me to Issaquah, which turned out to be a bigger blessing than I imagined.
When we arrived in Issaquah, we were met by a team of women who were screening visitors for fever and questioning people about coughs, loss of smell, etc. Since I was the wife of a patient being discharged, I was allowed up to the floor to see Bill. Terri could not even enter the hospital. She had to wait outside in the sun (and it was 85 degrees in Issaquah). Luckily, she had a book to read.
I went up to the floor and peeked into Bill's room. He was sitting on the bed with his back to me. A nurse was combing his hair. I had to put on a gown, gloves, and I already had a mask on. I quietly walked into the room and wrapped my arms around Bill. He started to sob. He sobbed and sobbed. I cried. We just held on to each other. Later I asked him if he thought I was a nurse. He told me no, that he recognized my scent (he said smell) and my touch. After we regained our composure, we visited and waited. We waited, and we waited. The doctor had seven patients to discharge and I suspect we were the last because we sat on that bed for exactly 3 hours. The discharge social worker never came in. The pharmacist handed me papers through a crack in the door and then called me on my phone to go over the medications. The doctor never came to see us. Only Nurse Taylor checked in from time to time. She said she had told Dr. Vu we had a ferry to catch and a long drive home, but Taylor said after a while the doctor was going to do what she was going to do and nothing she could say would make her hurry up.
Finally, we were discharged and made our way downstairs and out the door where Terri was patiently waiting. We decided to take the Edmonds Ferry home as the I-5 was packed with traffic. We missed the ferry by about 20 minutes and had to wait another hour for the next ferry. By this time Bill was exhausted and hot. He wanted to sit in the backseat so he could lie down if he needed to rest. But he was so uncomfortable and miserable, we all just grit our teeth and persevered until we arrived in our neighborhood. During our ferry wait, Dr. Vu called to tell me Bill's second COVID test was positive. So now, Terri and I are once again in a two-week quarantine. She had moved out most of her things, so while we were heading home, Mike had to move everything back into our house.
We are going to see if we can appeal the test and get Bill retested. He has no symptoms, no cough, no fever, etc. If he can't be retested soon, then all of the doctor appointments we have to make will be jeopardized and I don't know if the home health nurse will come to the house. I will find out about all of this today. I am going to be assertive because Bill had one negative test and one positive test in two days and it has been about 40 days since he first had symptoms of COVID.
Our Cape George friends and neighbors were waiting for us to drive by. There were flags, air horns, signs, balloons, and cheers. However, Bill was so exhausted and we were so exhausted we barely could take it all in. The trip caused Bill's feet to swell and his skin to look modelly. He fell into bed.
Walking into the house was not difficult. Jay had lent us his walker, the kind with four wheels, a seat, and hand brakes. But we soon realized Bill is too weak to use it. He couldn't maneuver it well at all, he couldn't squeeze the brakes well, and we, including Bill, were afraid he would fall. We were told that if he fell, he would have to immediately go to the ER. So falling is not on our agenda. Especially since he's COVID positive. If he fell, he would have to go back to the isolated COVID ER room he had been in before he was admitted to the hospital in PT. So since having a walker was vital, Mike called some people in Cape George to ask if they knew of anyone with a walker we could use. He discovered the Cape George office had walkers and such in the basement, so he called the secretary of our Cape George Club at around 9:00. She promptly met him at the office and handed him a walker. By 9:20 PM Mike had put the walker on our front porch and Bill had a walker like the one he had used at the hospital. Eventually, Jay's walker will be great for Bill, because we'll need it for doctors' appointments and such.
Bill is frail. He has lost a lot of hair, especially on the back of his head from being on his back for so long. We had a rough night. He was up about every 2 hours needing to use the bathroom. I didn't sleep well because I was listening to his breathing and to give him medication.
On the upside, Bill felt better this morning. He no longer has swollen feet and his color is better. He took his morning meds and he has another round of medication to take in a few minutes. Then I'm going to give him a shower. He hasn't had a shower for 33 days. He only had sponge baths. He is going to shave. He has eczema on his cheeks we want to clear up before he grows back his beard. Then he is going to eat breakfast. At least that's the plan.
I've included some photos. One is of me wearing a PPE hack. I have to be careful tending a patient with C-Diff. I'll include photos of the parade in another email.
Thanks for the support.
Sue
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