Coming Off the Vent
Between the low o2, high heart rate, blood clots and now a major stroke, everyday was a fight. But one thing remained constant, my family.
Like I said before, when I was on the vent, there is not
much to tell from my side. I guess I was just trying to breathe, but the
machine was doing that for me. The good news was that I made it through the 13th.
My O2 levels had stopped falling but were still low. I now had blood clots
forming in my lungs. Between the low O2, the extreme heartbeat fluctuations and
now blood clots, every day was a struggle. My highlights were the hand
squeezing and arm rubbing from my family.
I remember those.
Somewhere on the early morning of the 17th I
suffered a major stroke. They called it a Covid stroke because it was caused by blood
clots that were a side effect of covid.
They told my family that it had affected two hemispheres and three lobes
of my brain. I was stable and they were going to run more
tests, but at this time they had no idea what the long-term effects of the
stroke were going to be.
They kept fighting the O2, high heat rate, blood clots and now
bacteria in my blood. Every day, there seemed to be something new. I kept
getting my hand squeezes, arm rubs and Ivermectin. By the 19th I had enough and was
fighting the vent, I kept trying to wake up and was trying to breathe on my own,
so the doctor started me on a sedation vacation to help speed up the process.
On the 20th I remember the doctors telling me to
open my eyes. They told me I was doing good, and they were taking me off the
ventilator and getting ready to take out the vent tube. Why the HELL am I on a
ventilator and WHO the HELL are you I thought. The room was full of unfamiliar faces. Someone
said OK breath out and the room flashed red as he yanked the vent tube out. The
room soon turned back to normal and then erupted in cheers and praise. Casey,
you made it! You are off the vent. YOU made it! They CHEERED!
I looked around at the faces cheering loudly and one young
man was crying. What’s going on and why is that guy crying, I thought to
myself. I had no clue, no idea that I was the first one at the hospital to make
off the vent alive.
