COVID recovery (a reboot?)

Maybe this post title should be “two steps forward, one broken leg back”, or “just when you thought it was safe to be healthy”

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So here is the update as of may 26, 28 days since this all kicked off.  That’s 4 weeks now and my life is still in some danger.  

Yeah. You read it right. 

Went in for a CT scan. A quick hour of dye pumped into my body and a cool 3D image of my ravaged lungs. No sweat. 

Plug the parking meter for an hour and let’s do this, I’ve got shit to do, plans and such! 

Ironically I was going to try and schedule my vaccine.  

  Well, scan comes and goes and all seems fine except they won’t let me leave after. Can’t reach any of my doctors and they won’t talk to me about my imaging.  

I wait. 

My hour passes and now I’m thinking about getting a stupid parking ticket. 

Two hours. The tech needs doc 1 to talk to doc 2 about my results. 

Uhhh, sure, that doesn’t make any sense but the nurses are obviously overworked and very nice people so I won’t make any problems for them. If I’m ticketed then so be it. 

Three hours. 

Ok, now this is just silly. Finally a nurse comes and she asks me to quickly grab my things and follow her.  Sure! Why not? Not like I have anything else going on or brand new parking tickets to go fight downtown now. 

I sigh. I follow.  She seems rattled and that’s worrisome for a COVID swarmed emergency ward. She explains they found something on the scan. It’s no big deal, nothing to worry about. 

 Now I’m worried.  

I interrupt and ask if there were clots and she says yes, they found a clot. 

Ok. One. Not bad. 

She takes me to emergency and triages me.  Explains that they can’t let me leave in my condition and to sit tight. 

I sit tight, images flashing between an embolism to the brain and immediate death, to chasing after my jeep being towed away by the city. 

  Not too sure which scenario is stressing me out more at this point. 

  I’m brought into emergency and they find me a room and tell me to undress and get comfy. 

So now I’m naked with a pulmonary embolism and my car is probably impounded. 

Fourth hour.  Nurse is here to tell me they found multiple small blood clots (multiple now!) and not to worry (they keep telling me this, like a mantra). 

I’m not worried. Dad had to be put on blood thinners for the same reasons a few years back and I mercilessly grilled the nurse-practitioner about it. Embolisms are bad. A killer clot floating through the blood stream is very bad but painless. If I’m a ticking time bomb, it will be quick and relatively painless.

That won’t happen, I’m told. Don’t worry. 

I grin wryly. The odds of a brain embolism are small.  True. The odds of getting blood clots form COVID are also small. And somehow here we are.  

They take blood and poke more holes in my arm for IV and I wait some more. Finally a doctor pops in to tell me more of the same. Blood  clots. Not to worry. They will hold

Me for a 

*i interrupt*

Is there no way we can do this from home? My sats are good. I feel good, I’m not prepared to stay here. My parking meter is expired!

  They don’t catch my sarcasm. 

Eventually I negotiate with the doc and he gets me some wicked small and wicked expensive pills to help dissolve the embolism sitting on my pulmonary artery. Coooool. 

 I walked into that place with a cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, no appetite and I guess these little

Travellers. 

  I came out with the reality of how quickly I could have died at any point in the past 4 weeks or so. Not from COVID but what COVID triggered my body to do. 

So. I walk out to the car eventually. It’s still there and, miracle of miracles, no ticket!  I hop in and drive away. 

So now I’m on blood thinners and need to be very careful for 3 months at least. Any bruise or cut is an emergency room visit. 

COVID, the gift that keeps on giving.  But! I’m still Alive to write this so I think it’s still considered a win for now. 

By the numbers -

$2.50- amount of money I tossed in the meter

4 - hours in the hospital

1 - hours I was expecting to be in the hospital 

2 - emergency visits since may 6

3 - minimum months on blood thinners 

10% - the percentage (or less) of getting blood clots from COVID 

28 - days since my first COVID symptom appeared. A cough. 

Some folks have asked why I’m not more scared, upset or frustrated. Fair questions. 

I could be dead.  That’s the alternative. I am alive and so far I’m doing alright. Just a slower recovery and gotta go easy with every damn thing for now.  

Oh, and my coworker is off the ventilator, Alive and slowly getting back to good. 

Prayers and thoughts and energy and whatever else you amazing people, my gentle readers, having been throwing our way, well, it’s working. I’m an extremely lucky man. For dodging two COVID death bullets but way more so for having such amazing people supporting and caring for and about me. I’m blessed.