Quote:
Originally Posted by Boomer
I have never done a cut-and-paste from a published article, but that's the only way I could do this. Unlike other cut-and-pastes I have seen that often do not cite the source, I will do so. . .
This is what is known to research as a primary source. Primary sources are defined as first-hand accounts of a topic by people who had a connection with it.
The following article was published in the Op-Ed section of the LA Times, August 26, 2021. The writer is Karen Gallardo, a respiratory therapist at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura.
(In spite of the disagreements we Villagers can have sometimes on TOTV, I think most of us have sense enough to have been vaccinated. We duly vaccinated, older and (sometimes) wiser, people do not seem to be the age-group that welcomed Covid back to another rampant run.
I have boomer friends who cannot get their adult children to be vaccinated -- not to protect their own children, not to protect themselves, and not to protect their "old" parents. Family dynamics for some are getting downright weird. . .but. . .I digress.)
Here's the article. Read it and weep.
Boomer
Op-Ed: On the front lines, here’s what the seven stages of severe COVID-19 look like
I’m a respiratory therapist. With the fourth wave of the pandemic in full swing, fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant, the trajectory of the patients I see, from admission to critical care, is all too familiar. When they’re vaccinated, their COVID-19 infections most likely end after Stage 1. If only that were the case for everyone.
Get vaccinated. If you choose not to, here’s what to expect if you are hospitalized for a serious case of COVID-19.
Stage 1. You’ve had debilitating symptoms for a few days, but now it is so hard to breathe that you come to the emergency room. Your oxygen saturation level tells us you need help, a supplemental flow of 1 to 4 liters of oxygen per minute. We admit you and start you on antivirals, steroids, anticoagulants or monoclonal antibodies. You’ll spend several days in the hospital feeling run-down, but if we can wean you off the oxygen, you’ll get discharged. You survive.
Stage 2. It becomes harder and harder for you to breathe. “Like drowning,” many patients describe the feeling. The bronchodilator treatments we give you provide little relief. Your oxygen requirements increase significantly, from 4 liters to 15 liters to 40 liters per minute. Little things, like relieving yourself or sitting up in bed, become too difficult for you to do on your own. Your oxygen saturation rapidly declines when you move about. We transfer you to the intensive care unit.
Stage 3. You’re exhausted from hyperventilating to satisfy your body’s demand for air. We put you on noninvasive, “positive pressure” ventilation — a big, bulky face mask that must be Velcro’d tightly around your face so the machine can efficiently push pressure into your lungs to pop them open so you get enough of the oxygen it delivers.
Stage 4. Your breathing becomes even more labored. We can tell you’re severely fatigued. An arterial blood draw confirms that the oxygen content in your blood is critically low. We prepare to intubate you. If you’re able to and if there’s time, we will suggest that you call your loved ones. This might be the last time they’ll hear your voice.
We connect you to a ventilator. You are sedated and paralyzed, fed through a feeding tube, hooked to a Foley catheter and a rectal tube. We turn your limp body regularly, so you don’t develop pressure ulcers — bed sores. We bathe you and keep you clean. We flip you onto your stomach to allow for better oxygenation. We will try experimental therapeutics.
Stage 5. Some patients survive Stage 4. Unfortunately, your oxygen levels and overall condition have not improved after several days on the ventilator. Your COVID-infested lungs need assistance and time to heal, something that an ECMO machine, which bypasses your lungs and oxygenates your blood, can provide. But alas, our community hospital doesn’t have that capability.
If you’re stable enough, you will get transferred to another hospital for that therapy. Otherwise, we’ll continue treating you as best we can. We’re understaffed and overwhelmed, but we’ll always give you the best care we can.
Stage 6. The pressure required to open your lungs is so high that air can leak into your chest cavity, so we insert tubes to clear it out. Your kidneys fail to filter the byproducts from the drugs we continuously give you. Despite diuretics, your entire body swells from fluid retention, and you require dialysis to help with your renal function.
The long hospital stay and your depressed immune system make you susceptible to infections. A chest X-ray shows fluid accumulating in your lung sacs. A blood clot may show up, too. We can’t prevent these complications at this point; we treat them as they present.
If your blood pressure drops critically, we will administer vasopressors to bring it up, but your heart may stop anyway. After several rounds of CPR, we’ll get your pulse and circulation back. But soon, your family will need to make a difficult decision.
Stage 7: After several meetings with the palliative care team, your family decides to withdraw care. We extubate you, turning off the breathing machinery. We set up a final FaceTime call with your loved ones. As we work in your room, we hear crying and loving goodbyes. We cry, too, and we hold your hand until your last natural breath.
I’ve been at this for 17 months now. It doesn’t get easier. My pandemic stories rarely end well.
Karen Gallardo is a respiratory therapist at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura.
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The fallacy of this list is that "Stage 1" is in the hospital. This is because Fauci and friends (NIH, CDC, FDA, fakebook, google, twitter, youtube) suppress and censor any and all treatment options. I had COVID. I beat it back in 48 hours with a treatment classified as "misinformation" by the pundits. The real list should begin something like:
Stage 1: you don't feel well and you think might have COVID. Go get tested.
Stage 2: Ignore Fauci and begin early treatment options that are working. America's Frontline Doctors have much to offer including early treatment options. This is from many doctors who are actually treating COVID patients. Fauci has not treated anyone for COVID.
Stage 3: End of COVID infection whether vaccinated or not.
Failure to do the above and just waiting at home with no treatment to see what your body will do on its own (other than a coerced vax, this is the only recommended action by Fauci, and all the 3-letter agencies) and then you have a good chance of a hospital visit.
Not getting vaccinated is not the problem. Suppression of valid, effective treatment options in order to coerce vaccination is the problem. Think for yourselves. Don't let anyone do it for you.
I (not vaccinated and staying that way) was infected along with my friend Rich (Pfizer vax) on Aug 18 at a local pub. We both got mildly sick (fever, headache, etc) at the same time and we both tested positive for the Delta variant. I took immediate action (already had "prohibited" meds on hand and ready to go from Frontline Doctors). I had enough for Rich and offered them to him. He refused preferring to rely on his Pfizer promise. A week later he was not improving and went in for the monoclonal crap. It will be 5 weeks tomorrow and he is still too weak to go out for a beer. My recovery was so fast (48 hours) that I didn't even infect my wife who shares a bed with me. No, Rich is not dead. Pfizer may have kept him from getting deathly ill. But, he is still a mess 5 weeks later.
I went and got the anti-body test and I now have robust natural immunity.
I know many of you will just file this under "misinformation". Do so at your own peril or that of your relatives who like me will never bow to Saint Anthony (fauci).
P. S. I am 64 and Rich is 67