Husband with Long Covid and now pneumonia with ICU admit

Posted by brandidlt @brandidlt, Sep 24, 2021

My husband has been "Long hauling", had covid beginning of Aug, long recovery. To ER (very small rural hospital) on 9/19 after new fever and coughing up blood. He is now on BIPAP in ICU, bilateral pneumonia and right side heart enlargement, currently waiting for a bed in a higher acuity ICU to open up somewhere. Covid negative at this point, but no improvement with hospitalization. Anyone else have any similar experience like this? Treatments that were successful? RN here that is going crazy since visiting hours are only for 2 hours per day!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Caregivers Support Group.

Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Sep 26, 2021

Hi @brandidlt, welcome. I also added your message to the Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 support group here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/post-covid-recovery-covid-19/

I did this so that you can connect with others who have experience with long-haul COVID and recovery, including caregivers like @becabranch @donna562.

It must be so difficult to not be by his side with visiting being restricted. I hope a higher acuity bed opens up soon. What treatment has he had? Is he conscious and able to communicate?

becabranch | @becabranch | Sep 26, 2021

thanks for adding me @colleenyoung. @brandidlt so sorry to hear about your experience. luckily my mom was able to avoid the hospital but she has been VERY strict with her regimen since August 18 when she officially was positive then few days into it started going downhill much faster than her may covid infection... Not laying on her stomach sleeping, or sitting propped up for very long, i guess it’s bad for lungs. She started these breathing exercises we found from a resource colleen suggested yesterday that lead us to find this:

it very much describes my moms experience. she is also on super strict anti inflammatory foods only and cut back significantly to only 1 cup coffee in the morning that’s all her caffeine intact. the Diet has been very important for her too. also the stretching and forcing herself to get up and walk around the house with a few minutes outside of fresh air during her “good hours” usually around 1030am-2pm. When she feels winded and tired she rest and doesn’t over do it. we’re starting the breathing techniques from the link i shared to try and strengthen her lungs some and see if that works. I hope a bed opens up for you i’ll pray for you too!

becabranch | @becabranch | Sep 26, 2021

It would not let me post a link with my comment since I am a “new member” and to limit spam on this site…. but if you go to The Atlantic .com website then search UNLOCKING THE MYSTERIES OF LONG COVID … sorry i could not post the article link directly in my comment!

Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Sep 26, 2021

In reply to @becabranch "It would not let me post a link with my comment since I am a “new..." + (show)

Hi @becabranch, I noticed that you wished to post a URL to a resource with your post. You will be able to add URLs to your posts in a few days. There is a brief period where new members can't post links. We do this to deter spammers and keep the community safe. Clearly the link you wanted to post is not spam. Please allow me to post it for you.

- Unlocking The Mysteries Of Long COVID https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/04/unlocking-the-mysteries-of-long-covid/618076/