DAY 318: "Interview with Paul, part four (conclusion)"

     Paul & I conclude the last part of our interview:

♦ what's working at home been like, any unforeseen complications? has work been understanding?
Synch issues with some email, but it has been ok. Check-in my staff in morning, then deal with emails, texts and phone calls. Board of Directors and management has been supportive. I have never missed a month of work in my life. Board presidents really helped with some of my duties. I have a lot on my plate and just last week finally caught up after 2 weeks back to work.

♦ have they had any bad illnesses there too?
My evening concierge got sick and was out and in the hospital for a couple weeks, that put stress on me during recovery. I don't know what his issue was. Won't say. He does have Crohn's, too.

♦ what else has been helpful?
Meditation during the dark times. Literally that is all I had to keep it together at times. Thankfully I had someone to help. Alone with this would be a disaster.

♦ how have others been helpful, other than by being sympathetic?
Neighbors bringing over dinners and lunches. Checking in, getting perscriptions. Watering our lawns, taking out garbage,etc. We are lucky to have such great neighbors and friends.

♦ what are your recommendations to others?
...Pneumonia vax. What else? Yes, stay on VAX and still be diligent. Don't be around non-vaxxed people or crowds. It sucks, I get it, but I played by all the rules and I was slammed. Doctors said if I wasn't vaxxed I would be in ICU on ventilator or dead. Stay hydrated and healthy.

♦ what questions should i have asked you, what other info do you want to impart?
I could not stomach any gory or sick movies! Tried starting new American Horror Story and it was too much.

Very thorough questions.

And I forgot to mention a couple songs that resonated with me:

"Hedda Gabler" by John Cale

"Vicious Streak" by New Order

"North Star" by Robert Fripp

They just hit me emotionally, I guess. I need calming music. Cale's is more dirge, but it was a song I played constantly when I left home for Seattle. 

Thus ends our interview. To date, Paul is doing well.

DAY 311: "Interview with Paul, part three"

     When we last left off, Paul & I were talking about his symptoms and his stay in the hospital. Now we move on to the details of his ongoing recovery:

♦ what has recovery after your stay been like and are you seeing progress?
The 1st week back home was very tough. I have been on oxygen for 6 weeks. I developed pleurisy too, which was very painful. 1 day of extreme hiccups which were a sign of healing process per my doctor friend. Coughing was horrific. Could not sleep, and just lie in a daze of brain fog. No taste or smell. That's about 50% returned.

♦ you mentioned some of the lingering physical effects, like what?
Fatigue, out of breath/panting are the worst. Brain fog lifting and smell/taste returning. Any exertion starts the cough and panting. Still get night sweats here and there. Wake up with damp t-shirt on my chest.

♦ any changes in your careful diet? are you continuing with your yoga? have these helped?
Minimizing carbs, sugar and portion control are the biggest factors. No eating after 8pm. Have not gotten back into yoga yet.

♦ there's talk of permanent or long-term effects; what's expected in your case?
Breathing capacity would be mine, I suppose. Short term memory seems to be bothersome at times, but that could be age too.

♦ how often are you in contact with your medical team?
Communication via email with doctor and his nurse. The My Chart app is great. I get all results, emails, reminders, refill availability, etc. If your doctor is connected, get on his portal access for patients. Had check up last week and one in a month.

♦ what's the insurance situation been like: a nightmare, a deleterious cost?
I have only gotten 2 bills, but I imagine it will be a pricey event. So far, after insurance, I owe $224 for CT Scan and $21.00 for chest x ray.  

My initial emergency room doctor evaluation was $678.00, apparently because he is "out of network," so I owe $486 out of that. Strange, since Swedish is IN network. 

I am forced to have Kaiser Permanente via work, however I hate HMOs, so I pay extra monthly to have PPO coverage via them. I will have to appeal that charge. I'm sure when all is said and done, it will be a couple thousand...

♦ what's a daily recovery routine like; you mentioned oxygen...
Wake up, take finger poke glucose test, pop all my asthma pills and inhalers, eat something, take a Diabetes pill, turn on computer and work.

I work from home and then go into the office around 1 for the remainder of day. Get home, get back on oxygen to catch up and chill, as usually fatigued.

♦ how do you feel right now?
OK, but low energy.

      To be continued...!

DAY 305: "This Month in Covid History (October 2021)"

10-01 --- US reaches 700,000 COVID deaths
10-01 --- Merck sells back Federally-funded Covid pill at 40 times cost
10-04 --- Rep· Ken Weyler (R-NH) refuses Covid vaccine because "tentacles"
10-11 --- Texas Gov· Greg Abbott issues anti-mandate mandate
10-12 --- Data confirms COVID-19 as the no·1 cop killer

10-13 --- Conservative propagandist Dennis Prager "deliberately" contracts & spreads COVID-19
10-17 --- White-wing televangelist Kent Christmas places a pox upon pro-mandate businesses
10-18 --- US General Colin Powell dies of Covid & cancer complications
10-19 --- Racist Xian, Rick Wiles, claims Covid vaccines implant alien egg parasites
10-19 --- Crazy MAGA Doc, Stella Immanuel, says Clones Of Satan aim to Kill anti-vaxxers

10-20 --- Brazilian Senate finds Bolsonaro responsible for pandemic deathtoll
10-21 --- England's lockdown-free policy leads to 50,000 new Covid cases
10-24 --- Florida Gov· DeSantis offers USA's anti-vax cops a 5K signing bonus
10-26 --- US Rep· Chip Roy (R-TX) denies Ivermectin is for horses
10-29 --- FDA authorizes Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for ages 5-11

DAY 302: "Interview with Paul, part two"

     Paul & I pick up the interview where we left off, starting with Paul's hospitalization for COVID-19:

♦ at what date were you hospitalized?
Tuesday, 9/7.

♦ by then what were the symptoms (this part must have been Horrible)?
I was dying on the couch. Could not walk upstairs or shower. Just walking to bathroom on main floor was difficult.

103° temp, can't breathe, coughing, pain, no appetite for 5 days of HELL. We argued about going to E.R. and finally agreed I should go. I got dumped off alone at 9pm and finally had a room at 12 midnight (guess they had to remove the body!).

♦ how long, then, were you hospitalized? which hospital?
5 days at Swedish on First Hill. Excellent care. Everyone that I interacted with was great and caring. I think once they knew I was a breakthrough and not an idiot anti-vaxxer, I got priority and better care.

♦ what was your prognosis & when did they tell you?
I was in an emergency room until midnight. Got on oxygen, was given IV for dehydration, started Remdesivir and Azithromycin IVs. Then they put me on Dethamethasone, a steroid. Side effect is it shoots your blood glucose through the roof. I had to have insulin shots in my stomach daily. I take Metformin 2 times daily now to keep it down. Hopefully it doesn't trigger type 2 diabetes, also a concern.

Received chest X-ray & ultrasound to see if I had blood clots due to my leg pain (negative) and a CT Scan. This confirmed pneumonia and also exposed a gallstone, liver fat and cyst and a hernia behind my navel (my innie has become more of an outie), so all lovely bonus issues. 

Liver cyst pretty average, not to be alarmed. If hernia starts to bother me, then will need surgery. Don't have gall bladder symptoms so that was a surprise. After wheeling me all over the emergency floor, I didn't realize what a party it was. Nurses and ambulance dudes visiting in the halls. Johnny and Roy flashback.

♦ did they confirm that it was your lifelong asthma condition a/o lack of pneumonia vax that made
you susceptible?
It does contribute to the worst of the symptoms. They didn't mention the pneumonia vax, but I do believe that it would have helped me. Jeff already got it in 2015 and his covid was FAR more milder. He just had a bad headache, possibly high pressure and fatigue. All over in about 7-10 days. He got off easy.

♦ were you able to maintain contact with the outside world while you were there?
Yes, had my phone.

♦ what was your fear level?
Well, didn't want ICU or respirator. My mom was a nurse so I am fairly educated a bit. I trust science and medical community. This was the sickest of my life. More than shingles and awake eyeball surgery and aftermath laying face down for 2 weeks in a massage chair.

♦ aside from that, Mrs Lincoln, how were you treated, both medically & personally?
Excellent all around. No complaints at all. Staff was great.

♦ (optional) had you ever made steps to have your affairs in order?
No, but it has bumped up on my priority list.

     Our interview continues soon with details about Paul's ongoing recovery.

DAY 296: "Local Booster Information"

     UW Medicine has opened a vaccination clinic in Shoreline at 18560 1st Ave NE (9am-5:30pm Mon-Fri, accessible via Metro bus route 348). However, I'm told they do not at his time administer Pfizer booster shots at that location (so far, it looks as if they only offer Moderna vaccines). 3rd Pfizer shots are otherwise still available by appointment elsewhere, including NW Hospital and one other newly opened site: The cafeteria at Shoreline Community College.

     It's recommended that you get your booster not less than 6 months from the date of your 2nd Pfizer vax. Call the UW Med Covid-19 hotline at 1-844-520-8700, and press 3 for booster.

     Also, this, from my primary care physician: It's medically fine to get your flu shot at the same time as your Covid vaccine booster.

     …And be sure to watch this space for the next installment of our interview with Paul to be posted in the week ahead.

DAY 291: "Interview with Paul, part one"

      Despite all precautions, my close friend Paul was recently hospitalized with COVID-19. He's now recovering & working from home, but the experience has left him with lingering symptoms for the time being. What follows is the first installment of an interview we conducted via email when he could find the time & energy to spare:

♦ intro:

Just had a check up with doc Thursday. Had a chest X-ray and confirmed upper right lobe still shows some pneumonia (and various spots around my lungs); so that is why I still feel not super great and have symptoms. Told me to keep O2 machine and use when needed.

Also will come back in a month for another check up and test blood to see if my elevated glucose was due to the meds and being sedentary or if Type 2 kicked in for real. I take Metformin twice a day for it.

♦ when were you vaccinated? what brand?

2nd Pfizer shot was April 30th

♦ what reactions, if any, did you have to the vaccine?

Sore arm for a day, that was it for both shots.

♦ what was the date roughly when you think you made contact with the virus?

Last week of August, I am assuming. I actually met friends for lunch (covid paranoids) on 8/28, sitting outdoors and having to show vax card and wear masks to table, etc.. After I tested positive on 9/1 I told them. They all got tested and all negative.

♦ ...and you feel contact was actually at a grocery store? what location?

Metropolitan Market, Queen Anne. It could have been my [office] building, although I stay in my private office as much as I can, and my staff are all vaxxed, and I would think most residents in the building are.

♦ do you think it was by touching an infected surface or just breathing the air?

Doubtful it was via touch, but who knows? Once mask mandate started again, I followed that. Maybe I scratched my eye, or whatever. I try to sanitize my hands as often as possible.

♦ you otherwise kept to yourself, so it's a safe bet that this was the contact point, yes?

Before that Saturday lunch, I came home after work each night and stayed home. The Sunday after lunch, I worked on chores at home with no interaction. I did not go anywhere else that week to interact with public. I felt fine this day.

♦ when did the very first symptoms appear afterward and what were they?

8/30 got home from work and felt more tired than normal. Had an "allergy tickle" in my throat which I get often.....but not this one...

8/31 woke up and my legs from the waist down were aching and painful which is odd. Took a couple Canadian 222s and went to work.

That afternoon, felt progressively worse: tight chest, fatigue and body aches. Left work around 2 and got tested on way home.

9/1 Woke up with fever and got progressively worse as each day passed. Bad cough set in, trouble breathing, pain everywhere. Lost sense of taste and smell 100%.

♦ when afterward did you realize that it had to be covid?

Called in sick on 9/1, but attended a morning Zoom meeting which was important. I was breaking out in sweats and felt like crap. Around 9pm that night I got an email saying I was positive. Kaiser called me the next day to get information, contact tracing, etc.

♦ what did you do / where did you go?

I stayed at home getting worse, hoping I would be better by the end of my 10 day quarantine period to return to work.

♦ when were you tested, if so; and how long did it take to get results?

Kaiser Permanente 8/31. I received email results 30 hours later on 9/1. I got a phone call from Covid counsellor there to check on me, offer free grocery delivery, contact tracing, and medical planning, etc.

♦ what viral strain was it, there are so many...?

Delta, as it was a bad breakthrough.

♦ then at what date were you hospitalized?

Tuesday, 9/7.

     Please stay tuned for further installments of this interview in the days ahead.

DAY 288: "Recent events in Covid History"

09-02 --- 252,000 pediatric Covid cases added during Back-To-School week
09-02 --- Anti-mask school-board member claims her god decides what child lives or dies
09-02 --- Oregon doctor loses license for spreading Covid misinformation
09-06 --- Vietnamese man sentenced to 5 Years in prison for spreading COVID-19
09-12 --- Tampa GOP official & "plandemic" conspiracist Gregg Prentice dies of COVID-19

09-14 --- Conspiracist Jason Kimball calls Hospital Covid treatments "murder"
09-15 --- Tulsa Pastor trades vaccine exemptions for church donations
09-16 --- 1 in 500 Americans has died from COVID-19
09-16 --- Ohio's GOP Medical Board renews license of crackpot vaccine-conspiracist
09-21 --- Chiropractors capitalize on anti-vax conventions in Wisconsin

10-01 --- US reaches 700,000 COVID deaths
10-01 --- Merck sells back Federally-funded Covid pill at 40 times cost
10-04 --- Rep· Ken Weyler (R, NH) refuses Covid vaccine because "tentacles"
10-11 --- Texas Gov· Greg Abbott issues anti-mandate mandate
10-12 --- Data confirms COVID-19 as the no·1 cop killer