Our CoVid19 Story

“Learn to appreciate what you have before time makes you realise what you had.”

By now most people have their own story about how Corona affected their lives or the lives of their family members. Here’s ours…

My dad is fit. He has been playing tennis his whole life and was recently ranked as one of the top players in South Africa in his age group. He was still working full time managing a business and helping to build tennis courts. He was diagnosed with diabetes 10 years ago and sometimes his sweet tooth does get the better of him.

After 2 days of feeling sick (he thought he had sunstroke from working outside all day), my dad was diagnosed positive for Covid a day after his 65th birthday. My sister-in-law arranged with “Nurse for you” to go to his house to test him. A nasal antigen swab was done and it showed a positive result within a few minutes. Covid confirmed.

He rested and he seemed to be getting better but then his oxygen saturation started to drop and his glucose was really high. The hospitals were very full already and he also really didn’t want to go to hospital. He is a fighter…and sometimes a bit stubborn.

My sister and I decided to drive down to support our family and see what we could do for my dad.

When we arrived we helped my mom to open windows to keep the house ventilated. We also bought N95 face masks for us and my mom as we were caring for someone with confirmed Covid. We also wore gloves because sanitizing one’s skin too much is not great. We could sanitize our gloves and then wash our hands when we took our gloves off. We also wore a jacket over our clothes which we could take off each time to avoid having to wear fresh clothes each time.

Our friends, Adri and Shaun, were so kind to lend me an oxygen concentration machine. We monitored my dad’s saturation levels with a pulse oximeter which was bought from Dischem. His saturation really improved with the oxygen.

I was able to put up a drip to rehydrate him and improve his glucose levels. It was really difficult for him to drink or eat anything. To swallow a pill was so much effort because of how weak he felt. We made him Life Gain shakes which he managed to sip on bit by bit… so at least it was some calories and vitamins. We made a point that he still took his chronic medication which included Cardio Asprin.

We helped to freshen up his room with a plant, played his favourite music for him and Linley read to him too.

After two to three days he looked so much better… He could get up to walk a few meters and started eating again. But that night we got the phone call from my mom saying that we must come immediately because something is wrong. We raced the 100m in the rain. He was lying on his back, his saturation was low, his nasal prong oxygen was out, he was confused and he also couldn’t feel or move his right arm and leg.

The day before, I had started to make my mom a medical book with ambulance numbers, medical aid number and details to have when phoning the ambulance. My mom had done so well to remain calm and she was already speaking to the emergency operator when we arrived.

We were lucky that an ambulance team arrived within 20 minutes of phoning them. We had already put him on his side, done his vitals and put a drip up. The GardMed ambulance team were very helpful and kind. All the hospitals were full but Greenacres said they could take him to their casaulty. We threw a jacket on him and he left the house wearing shorts and a t-shirt with nothing else with him. The ambulance lady took his ID, medical aid card and a torn piece of scrap paper on which I wrote his chronic medication. And then he was gone. It was 3am.

The casaulty doctor phoned me at around 4am to hear a bit more about what had happened and he said he had arranged an MRI to be done. Another casualty doctor phoned after about 2 hours saying that my dad had had an ischaemic stroke which means a clot cut off blood flow to a certain part of his left brain. They were waiting for blood results and would do thrombolysis for him to try to restore blood flow to his brain. They also told us that there were currently no beds available at the hospital and that we must also understand that a younger patient will be prioritized if they had to choose. He will wait in casualty indefinitely.

The GSS team fogged my parents house. This was just to be extra sure that any virus particles were gone.

Thankfully that evening my dad got a bed in high care.

I think the hospital staff don’t realize how little information we as a family have… because we knew we were not allowed to visit him, but we didn’t know what we could bring, what he looks like, what treatment he was getting, do they know what his chronic medication is!? The doctors and sisters are obviously really, really stressed and busy. It was difficult to get any information. We got some info…bit by bit, through friends and spies, through smses from the medical aid, by phoning the ward even though the sisters scolded us about the right and wrong time to phone every single time (there was never an appropriate time to phone.) It was tough for everyone.

In high care he was only allowed toiletries and his phone and when he moved to general ward he was allowed a bag with clothes. We had to drop this off at the covid screening station. They wrap it in a plastic bag and take the parcel to the ward. I wished his doctor would have explained his treatment to us in the beginning when he was admitted like she did the day before he was discharged. But I think she also didn’t realise what she had told us and how little we knew. I think we should still all be thinking of and be praying for the health workers working in all the hospitals in Port Elizabeth! It is really rough at the moment!

After a challenging 2 weeks in hospital my dad was moved to Aurora rehabilitation center. He is still on oxygen, is weak and is relearning how to use his right side again, but he is motivated and determined to work towards recovering. My dad’s friends told us that Aurora is good… and they were right! He has received such amazing care there so far! We have hope that my dad will be playing tennis again soon.

We experienced some grief from the doctor and sisters (but we understand they are tired and stressed.) But the helpfulness, kindness, love and care we were shown by friends, family, health workers and strangers far outweighed any negativity!

People asked how they could help and we received so many phone calls and kind messages. My sister arranged a food schedule for people who wanted to bring food for us and my mom. She used the website: Take Them a Meal. My mom still has frozen food in her freezer and in this way people were able to make our lives so much easier during a difficult time.

We asked family and friends to send video clips of themselves to motivate my dad to recover. I was so amazed by people’s efforts and kind words. And I think this did help make the strain of social isolation a bit better.

A doctor working at St. Georges with Covid patients was so kind to phone me and give us some advice on how to manage my dad and also on vitamins we should be taking to strengthen our own immune system. She also emphasized that covid patients should never lie on their back. They should always sit up, be on their side or prone(on their tummy). She also explained some lung exercises he could do to strengthen his lungs. It was also good to hear that my dad was currently not as infectious because he hadn’t had fever in 48 hours and his symptoms started more than 10 days ago.

We all still wore masks, face shields and washed our hands diligently. My mom, sister and I were fortunate to not get Covid while my brother, sis-in-law and her brother did get it mildly. It was tough for me to be away from my husband and kids but I knew they were happy and cared for. I am so thankful that our whole family could work so well together as a team and that we have such good friends supporting us.

It sometimes takes something traumatic to just make you realise again what you have to be thankful for every day.

I have added some pics and photos of things which helped us. This is just for ideas and is not meant as individualistic medical advice. Please do your own research and see your doctor if you are ill.

Here is a summary of things which helped us:

• We opened windows for ventilation and fresh air
• We protected ourselves by wearing N95 masks, gloves, face shields and regular hand washing. We also focused on healthy eating, drank vitamins and did breathing exercises (WimHof)
• Kept a workbook with a list of medications and when they must be given. In the same book we wrote done vital signs so that we could see if there was improvement.
• Life Gain shake when my dad wasn’t able to eat
• Pulse oximeter and oxygen concentration machine
• Wrote down my mom and dad’s chronic medication in a book which also had details of ambulance, details ambulance would ask for like medical aid number
• Put plants in my dads room, played music, read to him, got him to get a little bit of fresh air and sunlight
• Video clips of friends and family
• Meal schedule at TakeThemAMeal.com