Originally Posted by
LuvTim
Thank you, Soda and everyone, for your kind comments and interest in my niece's Covid-19 battle.
Update: Only 8 days ago, she had for weeks been consistently going downhill, despite all efforts. We were so frightened for her. As you know, she was airlifted to the only available bed in a very large regional medical center's Covid ICU, where it was expected she was to be connected to the ECMO, which is a machine they use as one of the last-resort treatments for cardiopulmonary organ failure. Then, overnight, she miraculously turned a corner towards recovery, and, as a result, was not connected to the ECMO, after all! 🙏 We are being told that it is very unusually soon for a person who was in her sort of dire condition but yesterday she was removed from Covid ICU and placed on a regular Covid Unit floor in the hospital! Over this past week, she was even weaned from her heavy sedation and the ventilator! Yesterday, my brother and sister-in-law were able to talk with her by FaceTime and she was able to verbally respond to them. She is not yet "out of the woods," as she is still on oxygen and several other strong support medications, but it is the doctor's opinion that she has made unusual and tremendous progress to reach her current status. He seems amazed by her progress, as are we.
We are feeling so hopeful today, when only a week ago, her situation looked so dire. We are now hoping and praying for the complete healing of her lungs.
We have been blessed by the prayers and well wishes of more people than she will ever know, among them, my friends here on The Border, and we are grateful. Our thanks are extended to you all, as well as our best wishes for your continued good health.
May I just add, as a precautionary statement, Covid-19 death statistics don't fully represent the number of horrid experiences associated with this insidious disease. In addition to the tragic fatalities, before this is over, an unfortunate percentage of our population will have lost limbs, experienced the after-effects of stroke and be compelled to adjust to permanent lung damage, as well as various other terrible, lingering symptoms of systemic organ failure. So please, be very cautious. Whatever our age, we all need to follow best practices and CDC protocols and take good care of our self and others. (Our hospitals are dangerously stressed.)
Wash your hands.
Wear a mask, for yourself and to protect others.
"Socially distance" when you must go out.
Much love and appreciation,
LT (for self and family)