Emil: At this point I had no idea what was going on. I was on a ventilator and I was “out.”
Anne: In the meantime, my family made sure I knew they were thinking of us. Every day I woke up with a text from one cousin asking how the night was while my sister checked in every afternoon. They sent flowers and baskets of goodies. Knowing how difficult it was waiting for updates, they sent me a jigsaw puzzle with a thousand pieces. I was surprised at how important that was for binding my anxiety. A friend sent books from my favorite writers.
Despite all this, I was absolutely beside myself the night Emil was placed on the ventilator. I cleaned and scrubbed the house; not that it needed it, I needed it. In the bedroom I saw a bottle under the bed. I retrieved it but couldn’t get up off the floor. I was weak and had tremendous muscle pain each time I moved. I had my phone, so knew I wouldn’t be stranded, but … I didn’t relish the idea of calling 911 and have them break down the front door in their hazmat suits. After more than 30 minutes, and much effort, I was able to get myself up; soon after, I put a house key outside.
When a friend who was taking care of our 2 dogs in Chicago heard that Emil was on the ventilator, she drove through the night to bring them to me so I would have them for solace. She couldn’t even come in the house. She stayed at a nearby hotel and visited with me from outside with masks on waiting for the updates.
Emil: Being an elder lawyer married to a physician, Anne knows a thing or 2 about medicine (because she’s seen a thing or 2 about medicine). She’s even been known to give her elderly clients Mini-Mental State Exams. In addition to talking with members of her support system, Anne was also talking with friends and relatives who are physicians. One exclaimed, “He’s having a cytokine storm!” and said I needed steroids. Another said, yes, that and serious “anti-inflammatory” drugs. At that moment, data supporting the use of steroids or “anti-inflammatories” in COVID hadn’t yet become public. The data on steroids came out early the next week in the Lancet and the data on “anti-inflammatories” was still in process until a few weeks later.
Continue to: Anne was ahead of the curve...