COVID-19 pneumonia landed my husband in the hospital
Because of his pulmonary fibrosis, treatment has been aggressive
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My name is Kylene, and I’m writing this column from my husband’s hospital room.
For a little backstory, my husband, Donnie, was diagnosed with autoimmune-related pulmonary fibrosis in 2022, after a year-long battle with continuous and unrelenting symptoms. He was hospitalized at his initial diagnosis because of a pulmonary procedure gone awry, and spent about nine days in the hospital before he was strong enough to come home.
Thankfully, my husband slowly recovered. The inflammation in his lungs decreased, and he started the anti-fibrotic medication Ofev (nintedanib), and later Jascayd (nerandomilast), to help slow the progression of his disease. The past few years have been fairly peaceful, for the most part.
Earlier this week, after a night of intense coughing, Donnie woke up feeling miserable. He couldn’t catch his breath, his fingers were cold, and he felt like he was freezing, even though he had a fever. His pulse oximeter showed his oxygen levels in the low 80s, even while he was on supplemental oxygen.
All of this was unsettling enough, but then he also started coughing up blood-tinged mucus. We quickly decided we needed to go to the emergency room.
He was taken back to a room immediately after checking in, thanks in part to Donnie calling his pulmonology team on the drive down. They started running tests soon after our arrival, and radiographs and a CT scan showed that he had pneumonia.
While his initial COVID-19 and flu tests were negative, an in-depth virus panel showed he did have COVID-19 after all. The ER doctor said that his X-ray looked like someone had grabbed a fistful of rice and thrown it at his lungs.
Long story short, Donnie was hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia.
The virus still demands respect
His care team decided to start aggressive treatment right away. Each day, he’s been getting three antibiotics intravenously and one by mouth. Doctors have also started him on high doses of steroids to help strengthen his lungs and an anticoagulant injection to help prevent blood clots. Lastly, he’s on a five-day course of remdesivir to help stop the COVID-19 virus from replicating in his body.
He is doing well right now, and his doctors told him that if he were a “normal” patient, he would probably be able to head home. Since he has interstitial lung disease, they are being as aggressive as possible and want to make sure that he gets the full course of his medications before sending him home.
What’s interesting to me is that we aren’t even sure when Donnie had the initial COVID-19 illness that has now turned into pneumonia. About a month ago, he, I, and our youngest daughter had what felt like mild colds. We didn’t feel bad, other than some drainage, sneezing, and coughing. It cleared up fairly quickly for my daughter and me, except for lingering drainage and a cough. Donnie seemed to take a little longer to fully recover.
A couple weeks later, our oldest daughter came home from school with body aches, a fever, and a general feeling of being unwell. She had some signs of COVID-19 or the flu, but none of the respiratory symptoms. I bought a pack of combination COVID-19 and flu tests, and it came back clear. She felt bad for a couple of days, but it passed quickly, and she was back to normal.
That entire month, Donnie had a little more difficulty breathing. Still, we thought he was recovering from the previous mild illness, or potentially from the heavy allergy season we are experiencing in our area this fall.
I asked Donnie’s doctors how long they thought he had been infected with the virus, and his pulmonologist guessed probably seven to 10 days before we showed up at the hospital. If that is correct, the illness didn’t come on like it had for any of us previously, and we will be sure to remember that in the future. While COVID-19 may have changed over the past few years, it still demands respect.
As for Donnie, he’s stuck here for at least a couple more days. They’ve been able to reduce his supplemental oxygen use, and he feels much better than when he was first admitted. He’s bored to tears, but he’s been getting plenty of rest and, hopefully, getting a little stronger each day. If all goes well, he will be able to come home soon, and we can put this behind us.
Note: Pulmonary Fibrosis News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Pulmonary Fibrosis News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to pulmonary fibrosis.
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