“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Dr. Seuss, “The Lorax”

Our recent run-in with Covid-19, has completely opened up our eyes to the world of healthcare. And how broken it really is.

I have always had a great respect for doctors. They helped me through three pregnancies, and delivered three healthy babies. It has been rare for me to question their opinion or advice. Even when the answer was sometimes “We’re not sure, we’re going to keep monitoring to find out”. I respected that because it was my baby on the line, and every situation is different, so they don’t want to assume based on another mother or another baby. I respected that, and everything turned out fine.

About a week into my husband‘s symptoms, I knew something was off. He had very little energy, barely able to get out of bed, and when he was in bed he was back-and-forth between being too hot, and being icy cold. His temperature would spike, and then there were times where he had no temperature. It was hard to even get him to stay hydrated, much less eat anything at all. He would have coughing attacks, which I could tell were in his throat, not his lungs. All of this was pretty typical of a bad cold. However when we approached day seven and eight of this, I noticed his breathing was different at night. He was no longer taking long drawn out breaths, often accompanied by snoring, he breathing was short and fast. Much faster than normal. It reminded me of what it sounded like when my son got pneumonia.

I started looking it up in combination with Covid, and it talked about the potential for pneumonia or even blood clots. That night, in a state of deliriousness, he even started telling me “If I die, please get remarried, do this and do that, know that you’ve been a great wife and I love you”, which of course had me bawling like a baby. That’s how bad he felt. So I took him into the hospital first thing the next morning on day eight of his symptoms.

One good thing about going to the hospital first thing in the morning, is that it is not packed. He was seen right away. However as they were taking his vitals, they kept saying “Everything looks fine”. His oxygen was at 94, blood pressure looked fine, and his lungs sounded great. He asked them several times about different treatment options, and they kept saying that he wouldn’t qualify, or even if they tried to order the monoclonal antibodies, it would take a few days to get approved and he would be out of the range of being able to get it. Apparently it’s not supposed to be given after the 10th day of symptoms, or the 10th day of testing positive. Plus, he would have to drive a half an hour south to get it anyway. They were very reluctant to do anything, not even give antibiotics and told him to just ride it out at home (like everyone else does).

But I could feel that something wasn’t right. Being curled up in bed for that many days, not being able to regulate body temperature, not even being able to eat, barely able to drink anything. I felt completely helpless, not knowing what to do to help him. Were we supposed to just wait for him to get worse? Really not be able to breathe before they would help him? Because at that point it’s a ventilator, and we all know what happens when people get on those.

Two friends had recommended that I reach out to Kirkpatrick Family Care, as they helped them when their family had gotten Covid. When I called to find out more, the first thing on their answering service was an announcement that they had Regeneron available for those who are at risk or have been exposed to Covid or are dealing with Covid. I immediately thought, “This is already a night and day difference”. A hospital who is reluctant to give medicine, and someone who is telling everyone who calls we have this available. We got him set up to talk with the doctor over the phone that day, who was able to pull up his charts from the hospital. After talking with him about his symptoms and hearing him over the phone, said “You need to start antibiotics tonight and come in tomorrow for the monoclonal antibodies”. He hadn’t even received treatment yet, and I already felt like the care and service between these two, was night and day!

Even after just one pill of antibiotics, he already felt a slight difference the following morning. But he was still pretty out of it and very warm. His whole body was releasing heat. We took him in to get the Regeneron, monoclonal antibodies, which they administer intravenously. It took about 45 minutes to get it, then they had him wait in the clinic for a half an hour for monitoring.

He seemed about the same for the first 12 hours after treatment, but that night during sleep, I heard his breathing go back to long drawn out breaths. I just about cried, being able to hear him take a normal breath. I knew he was on the mend. Once we passed the 24 hour mark after treatment, it was like he woke up again. His eyes were more open, his energy was up, he was able to drink and joke, it was like he was alive again. About 30 hours after, he could sit up and watch a movie with me, and he didn’t even fall asleep during. He was no longer radiating heat out of his body, he could eat a little and drink more than he had before. He would still get hot flashes, and would still cough, but he was like a whole different person. Now, 5 days later, he continually tells me how much better he feels and he barely has a cough left. He is almost back to normal activities and no more hot and cold sweats!

This whole experience has opened our eyes and made us lose complete respect for the doctors who subscribe to “the rules” and don’t actually treat their patients. Even our regular care doctors who are under the same umbrella as the hospital, told us the same thing, “Ride it out at home”. You’d think they would want to treat patients, to keep them out of the hospital and on ventilators. The switch is happening, we are no longer putting our healthcare and our lives in their hands! Moving on to a clinic who isn’t even anti-vax, as they are offering the vaccine and booster, they just actually practice medicine and treat their patients. I wonder what else they can help with, that I’ve been told so many times over the last few months “We don’t know why”.

If you are sick from Covid-19, and feel something isn’t right, please don’t wait for the need for a ventilator. Get a second opinion, because there is actually treatment available!!