Gerry – Experiences of intensive care with COVID-19
Gerry spent 23 days in ICU in April and May 2020. He suffered delirium, pneumonia and various other medical complications. The episode changed his outlook on life. His recovery has been difficult but steady. Interviewed for the study in February 2021.
Gerry developed a cough in January 2020, which initially went away. When it came back in April he got in touch with the NHS testing centre, who did not allow him to get tested, but told him to self-isolate. Gerry feels that it would have been better to have somebody on the line who does not read off a script, so that they would have handled his situation better. But he did self-isolate. Meanwhile, his temperature was going up, the cough persisted, and he was fatigued. His mother had passed away the week before, and he was not able to attend her funeral as he was so unwell. He then experienced shortness of breath, which he describes as a drowning sensation. Looking back, Gerry thinks his wife and children must have had Covid too, but they were never tested either, so he cannot be sure. His wife still struggles with brain fog and tiredness at the time of the interview.
When Gerry continued feeling worse, his wife called an ambulance and with oxygen levels around 65-70 Gerry was taken straight into A&E, where they decided to put him straight into ICU. He called his wife before being intubated. He was asked to sign forms, but he was not able to understand what they were for. He remembers asking the clinical staff to do what they could.
Gerry has few memories from the first 10 days in ICU. He suffered hallucinations and had dreams he describes as weird;: he dreamt he was in Wuhan, China (where the virus was first reported) or in a computer game. He does recall being turned (proned;). Hearing sounds from IC still brings back memories of what he has been through.
When he regained consciousness, he recalls that many nurses came up to him saying they had been so worried about him. At one point they had told his wife that they did not have much hope for him. But he pulled through. He later learned that he had had a pneumonia due to Covid, a chest infection, E-Coli, and more. He was admitted before there were any treatments for Covid-19, so, when he asked his consultant whether he had been given anything, the latter said they had nothing to give him. The oxygen had helped the blood flow and his immune system probably kicked in at some poin.
At the time, he could not write properly or recall numbers – so he had to ask for help to be able to call his family. He communicated his desire to call his wife via communication cards. His family – when they first spoke to him – were relieved he came out of the coma, as they had just been told he was so unwell. Gerry also remembers crying a lot after waking up, when reading the messages from friends and family.
On the ward, the staff played music for Gerry. He found it difficult to keep track of time.
Removing the tubes was the worst experience, Gerry remembers. He found it difficult to breathe and other tubes had to be put straight back in. When he asked for a Coca Cola he got one, and that was like the best feeling in the worl. Gerry did not lose his speech as, fortunately, he had not required a tube to be inserted into his neck (tracheostomy;). Gerry spent two more days in ICU, during which he was shaved and washed. He recalls the staff were very nice. However, he still had the delirium, which continued until after his discharge to the ward.
Gerry had a high temperature on the ward. He was worried about having to go back to ICU, unsure how he would cope with it if he had to go through it all again. (Gerry was scheduled to get the vaccine on the day after the interview, which he hoped would allay this fear). Whilst Gerry was ready and determined to go home, the staff kept him in hospital for a bit longer for his temperature had started rising. He had help from physiotherapists to help him walk.
He was eventually discharged. Gerry received a call from the GP and a blood test, and a visit from a physiotherapist, who concluded that Gerry had recovered his strength enough to climb the stairs by himself. Fatigue is one of the problems that most stands out to Gerry. He walked with a walking stick for the first couple of weeks. The other was the constant pain from the many needles/IV lines, which took more than 8 months to get better. The initial months at home were tiring. He felt depleted, and his body felt painful and achy. The fatigue has remained. Gerry has some scarring in his lungs, but nothing that he would have to return to hospital for. His sense of taste came back after a couple of months.
Gerry feels lucky that he survived, when so many others did not. He tries not to look back too much. Gerry went back to work in August 2020, and he can work from home. The experience has changed his outlook on life, he says: He is more concerned about his wife and children than he was before, and he wants to spend time with them, traveling around Scotland. At the time of the interview, he was looking forward to taking the family’s new puppy out for walks.