T+62 (Are You Kidding??!!)

Having found myself back in hospital, I had barely woken up on my first morning to hear the nurse telling me, “You tested positive COVID.” I was stunned. All I could think was “ARE YOU KIDDING ME ??!!)

This latest hospital journey started on T+51 (18 January 2024). After a busy morning of hospital visits and prescription refills, I was tired and napped most of the afternoon. I wasn’t particularly hungry for dinner and just felt “off”; something wasn’t quite right.

I continued to feel “off” on T+52 (19 January 2024), with the feeling growing progressively worse during the day. I didn’t do too much that day. Tracy and I hung out and watched TV shows that we had recorded.

Friday evening my temperature started to climb. Due to the extreme risk of infection, The Ottawa Hospital Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (TCT) program insists that patients live within a one hour drive of the hospital; apparently infections can go from “0 to 60” that quickly for stem cell transplant patients. The protocol that patients are asked to follow is to call the program (someone is available 7 X 24) if their temperature exceeds 38C for more than an hour.

Throughout Friday evening my temperature increased steadily and was 37.8C when I went to bed. I woke up around 1am feeling warm and took my temperature. It was 38.1C. I continued take periodic readings for about 40 minutes and, when I realized that my temperature was not decreasing, I woke Tracy and asked her to call the TCT program. 

The hematologist on-call instructed us to head to the hospital’s emergency department for an assessment. Very fortunately, we arrived during a lull in activity and I was admitted for observation without an overly long wait. I spent that next 15 hours in the observation area of the emergency department (which at The Ottawa Hospital consists of approximately 2 dozen beds) undergoing a series of tests and, in between tests, waiting. 

After a few miscommunications with the team on 5 West, the hematology resident finally made her way to the emergency department and, in consultation with the emergency room staff, determined that I should be admitted, at least overnight. The next morning I learned that I had tested positive for COVID.

Because I am considered at high risk of complications from COVID, I qualified for intravenous remdesivir treatment. According the MedLine Plus web site, “Remdesivir is in a class of medications called antivirals. It works by stopping the virus from spreading in the body.” It is used “to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 infection) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in hospitalized adults”. 

I stayed in hospital for a week and was discharged on T+59 (26 January 2024). I was fortunate to get on the Remdesivir treatment quickly before the virus spread to my lungs or gastrointestinal tract. Other than the fever, a mild sore throat, and a splitting headache, I had no other other symptoms. The symptoms that I did have disappeared within 48 hours of the start of Remdesivir treatment.

I am finally feeling “human” again and able to get back to light physical activities around the house, reading, and blogging. I have been kicking around a few ideas for future posts in my head and hope to publish at least one of them this week.

Thanks for listening,

Mike