Ted Kline
My personal Experience with COVID-19 :
My initials are T.k. I am a 48yr old white male. My wife and I visited our daughter and her husband in Humble Texas over the 4th weekend. We all had been quarantined for months with no sickness so we thought it would be safe to see each other. We wore mask and avoided crowds while traveling.
The Tuesday after, My wife didn’t feel right. She took Wednesday off work with a cough. I felt a dryness in my throat and a little fatigue, but otherwise fine. Because of Covid, we were both hyper aware of everything we felt. So, We both went Thursday, July 9, to get tested just in case. She went to her doctor in West Baton Rouge. She got a chest x-ray and was diagnosed with Bilateral pneumonia. She was given antibiotics to treat the pneumonia and was tested for Covid with results coming back in a few days. I went to a urgent care clinic by my work (I’m never sick so I don’t have a doctor). I requested a rapid test but was denied. I had a male doctor that told me to take a decongestant and Tylenol. He thought I might have a sinus cold/infection from being in a different state with different allergies. They did a swab test for Covid. Said Test results would be in 2-3 days. I went home with no prescription and a diagnosis of Sinus infection. Friday morning I felt fine.
By Friday night however, My Full body ached like the flu. Head ache, bad ear aches, pain around kidneys, no energy, scratchy throat. Still No fever. And No problems in the chest area. My wife was dealing with the pneumonia but did not have the flu symptoms I felt.
I got worse over Friday night.
By Saturday morning I was having trouble breathing and getting nauseated just by standing and going to the bathroom. My body would shake with chills. I went back to the doctor on Saturday afternoon to get a rapid test and more help. While waiting in the doctors office, my wife text me and said her results came back positive for Covid. I told my doctor this. She still would not rapid test me. The female doctor this time said they will wait to see the results of the first test on Thursday. I asked for Hydroxychloroquine. She looked at me blankly and said “we follow the CDC guidelines”. I said, “Oh. I see. What are you prescribing? She stared at me but said nothing. I asked, “Why should I not take Hydroxychloroquine? Is it harmful? Does it not work?” She just stared at me and blinked rapidly. So I asked again, “are the doctors wrong on social media that are prescribing it? What’s the truth about it?” She blinked a few times and said again, “We follow CDC guidelines for Covid” like a robot and wouldn’t say anything more about it.
She prescribed me Ondansetron for nausea, ONLY! That’s all I got from the clinic. My health deteriorated after that. From Sunday, July 12, to Wednesday July 15, I had to get my family to bring me food and water. My chest was closed up. My breathing was short staccato breaths. I could not fill my lungs. It was very painful to inhale and exhale. I could not exhale completely. My chest would spasm and intake like I was drowning. I had the shakes and chills, full body ache, hadn’t used the bathroom in days. Terrible head ache and most painful was the ear ache. I couldn’t lay my head on either side because it hurt. I got the little finger machine that monitors your oxygen intake. I was never above 93 and fell below 92 multiple times.
Wednesday morning I woke up struggling to breath and very afraid I was going to the hospital if something didn’t change. Finger thing was back and forth between 87-92% oxygen intake. I was told if it dropped below 92 I had to go to ER. I was terrified of this.
In desperation, I reached out to a friend of mine that is an ER doctor. I told him what was happening with me and I was scared. He examined me prescribed me Hydroxychloroquine and a steroid pill called Dexamethasone along with over the counter Zinc. He asked if I had any allergies or pre-existing health conditions. I said no to everything. I was completely healthy in all counts before I got Covid. He went thru the gambit me with about possible side effects and that this medicine has caused heart issues in rare cases, etc. I understood and agreed to take the medicine.
I took my 1st dose at 2pm on Wednesday, July 15.
In 1 hour I was 50% better, breathing, standing in the kitchen making food. ALL of the flu-like symptoms were gone. Headaches, body aches, kidney pains, fatigue all vanished.
I took my second dose around 8pm that night and felt like I wasn’t sick. I even walked around the front yard looking at my flower beds and pulled some weeds. (My doctor friend jumped my ass for this. He told me to get my butt back in bed and rest. That it wasn’t over.) And he was right.
The mornings were hard because the medicine would wear off over night. I would go to sleep breathing fine and be jolted awake in the morning when the tightness would come back.
I also got Budesonide used in a Nebulizer as a breathing treatment. That really helped a lot with the breathing and chest inhaling.
By Saturday morning I was waking up breathing fine, no problems.
Saturday, July 18, I get a call from Lake After Hours letting me know I have Covid-19 and that I should rest and wash my hands. (9 days later 🙄
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My wife and I now feel completely better. My wife stayed in bed several days longer than I did recovering, even though she didn’t get the full flu symptoms I got. She never battled the breathing issue that I did. I’m guessing it could be because she was started on medication for the pneumonia right from the beginning. I was not.
I received a text message From Louisiana health department (or somebody like that. I didn’t pay attention to the name) saying my quarantine time is now over and that I could go back to work.
My personal thoughts:
Without the 3rd doctor prescribing me the Hydroxychloroquine combo, I am positive I would have ended up in the hospital. I don’t know which of the three medicines was the saving grace, but I do know, the combo works. And The doctors that said “We are following CDC guidelines” did absolutely nothing for me.
This is my experience with COVID-19.
I wrote this because my Dr. Friend asked me to write a timeline of my experience for him. He is keeping up with his patients and how they did with the illness and the medication.
One of my cheer moms lost her mother to COVID. She made a post on Facebook asking people to share their Covid experience and not hide the fact that they had it. To not be ashamed or scared of people knowing. Be transparent. So, I shared what I had written for my friend on Facebook for her.
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