Tuesday, March 24

2.00am report: Mom called in a panic saying that dads breathing isn’t good and that his legs are buckling and she cant get him in the car, but she thinks she has to call 911. She sat him on the bed, afraid he was going to fall and called.

2.20am report: First responders came, dressed outside in protective gear and came in, and brought him down on a chair stretcher.. Mom couldn’t go..

2.45am report: Dr Donnoghan reached out and said his signs of pneumonia seem much better once they got him on oxygen as soon as he got into the ambulance. They are not yet sure about the treatments as they are reserving them for the sickest patients - he will need to be assessed.

3.59am report: Just heard from Dr. Fandel. They are giving him hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin.. They say He is doing much better now than when he came in. He needed oxygen so he was a bit loopy when he got in. A COVID-19 hospital rule is no visitors He’s moving out of ER and admitted to a room. HE is on nasal oxygen and is at 5/6 meter which is the maximum amount. This amount will help to keep him saturated - when it is decreased, his breathing is labored.

I’ll call when I wake up and get another update.

Trump, in a report says: hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. Treated patients had less virus in their system after six days than other patients at a different center, who didn’t get the treatment.

4.16pm report: Dad has maxed out the nasal cannula option and is having labored breathing and his oxygen saturation has fallen once again. He is being put on a breathing mask. His blood pressure continues to be ok. His kidney levels are high, and at his age, this is a concern. He is alert, he is doing ok - however this is a very serious virus and his status can change very quickly.

Again, he is doing ok right now, however on the mask, his oxygen is unstable due to the fact that he continues to pull on it - they are recommending intubation to have total control over keeping the oxygen levels stable. They did point out that there is a 75-80% of recovery and a 20% chance to not making it.. We were also told that they are not allowing visitors at all, however if we are a situation where it is ‘end of life’ it will be a possibility.

5.30pm report: Alex texted dad to tell him that he loved him and he received a text right back that said ‘please call’. I immediately called and he seemed confused and sounded scared - couldn’t seem to understand why one of us were not by his side. He said ‘Im dying here’, ‘im not doing so well’ ‘I need help’ and ‘I need someone here to sit with me’.

His oxygen levels are labored once again and he is receiving oxygen at 100% by mask - it is now time to move him to ICU. His fever seems to have calmed down and is oxygen at this time is at 93%. there is a 70% possibility that he will be put on a breathing machine.

7.45pm report: Dad called mom and told her that he fell off the bed. I immediately called the unit and the nurse said that he was fine and he continues to take his oxygen mask off so with his oxygen levels dropping, he is confused. She mentioned that they have a camera on his 24/7 and they are watching him from the desk to rush in there as soon as he grabs hold. They are giving him sedation meds and have him in bed restraints on his wrists to keep him from tugging. He continues to ask for sips of water as the oxygen can dry you out. When the mask is steady, his oxygen is doing ok at 92/93. Again, he is on a mild sedative to help to keep that mask on - he is ‘stable enough’ and obviously he improves once the mask is on for a extended period of time. However, he does appear to disoriented.

9.29pm report: Finally, research in France shows that a common anti-malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, may cure coronavirus when used with an antibiotic azithromycin (usually called a Z-Pak). Patients treated with the regimen became virus-free in six days.

They have decided that they will need to intubate him at this point. He is just not getting enough oxygen. He is becoming more and more confused.

The breathing tube put down his throat will allow him to breathe better in the long run.

Risks of intubation include aspiration, however i was told that this shouldn’t be a problem and correct tube placement. He will be totally sedated so he is not able to jostle it or table it out himself. This intubation will help him to breathe which will allows his lungs to regenerate on his own.

Family friend and MD Warren says that the mask is inferior to the intubation tube as it guarantees much better protection of airways and oxygen. He was happy with his conversation with the Greenwich Hospital docs as he says they seem sharp and are for sure pulling out all the stops.

11.04pm report: I just got a call from Dr. Spano, he said to me that the intubation went extremely well and that they expect him to rest peacefully through the night. They don’t expect any hiccups, but he said you never know. Dad was originally intubated because he was constantly tugging on and taking off his oxygen levels providing inconsistent levels and therefore not assisting his breathing.

He did spike a fever of 101 or 102 at 8 PM, and they expect that that might happen a bit throughout the night. Greenwich Hospital does not treat the fever, as it has shown that patients without Tylenol for the fever have fared better.

At this time Greenwich Hospital does not does out vitamin C, the research is not strong enough for them to investigate it. They do however get vitamin D however he is not getting it.

And they are certainly aware of the plasma transfusions that just passed regulation, he would imagine that yell hospital docs are discussing that as they have not done it yet.

Of course if they get to dire situations that will be put on as a consideration.

Tuesday was a beautiful day - My older son joined me and the dogs for a walk.