The quality of a survivor’s life may also be big question….
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As Michigan enters its third month of COVID-19, those hit first and worst by the virus that has infected more than 45,000 state residents are being weaned off vents, leaving hospitals and heading home only to realize that the virus may no longer infect them, but it has left their bodies weakened and wrecked.
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Michigan health officials list 22,686 patients as “recovered” from the virus, but it’s a loose definition and includes all patients “who are 30 days out from their onset of illness.”
To be sure, some patients are mostly recuperated after leaving hospitals, but for countless others, the road to true recovery is daunting and uncharted.
Going into the weekend, more than 1,600 people remained hospitalized with COVID-19, including 570 on ventilators, according to state data.
“The doctors keep telling me they can’t tell me what’s going to happen,” said Jeff Curtis, 66, of Osseo who spent three days on a ventilator at Hillsdale Hospital.
Nearly a month later, he said pain through his arms and legs is overwhelming and the exhaustion, ever-present.
“They can’t tell me what’s normal and what’s not. It’s too new.”
Doctors do know, however, that COVID-19 can set off a storm of immune responses that can kill cells, hurt or even shut down the heart, liver and kidneys, said Dr. Sheryl Wissman, chief medical officer for Ascension Providence Rochester, which opened a 12-bed recovery unit April 22.
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At Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids, Dr. Ralph Wang said some patients have been so hypoxic, or deprived of oxygen, that their brains now struggle to perform simple tasks — “almost like a mild brain injury.”
Some patients, Wang said, must “learn to walk and talk and go to the bathroom” again.
The quality of a survivor’s life may also be big question….
~
As Michigan enters its third month of COVID-19, those hit first and worst by the virus that has infected more than 45,000 state residents are being weaned off vents, leaving hospitals and heading home only to realize that the virus may no longer infect them, but it has left their bodies weakened and wrecked.
✁
Michigan health officials list 22,686 patients as “recovered” from the virus, but it’s a loose definition and includes all patients “who are 30 days out from their onset of illness.”
To be sure, some patients are mostly recuperated after leaving hospitals, but for countless others, the road to true recovery is daunting and uncharted.
Going into the weekend, more than 1,600 people remained hospitalized with COVID-19, including 570 on ventilators, according to state data.
“The doctors keep telling me they can’t tell me what’s going to happen,” said Jeff Curtis, 66, of Osseo who spent three days on a ventilator at Hillsdale Hospital.
Nearly a month later, he said pain through his arms and legs is overwhelming and the exhaustion, ever-present.
“They can’t tell me what’s normal and what’s not. It’s too new.”
Doctors do know, however, that COVID-19 can set off a storm of immune responses that can kill cells, hurt or even shut down the heart, liver and kidneys, said Dr. Sheryl Wissman, chief medical officer for Ascension Providence Rochester, which opened a 12-bed recovery unit April 22.
✁
At Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids, Dr. Ralph Wang said some patients have been so hypoxic, or deprived of oxygen, that their brains now struggle to perform simple tasks — “almost like a mild brain injury.”
Some patients, Wang said, must “learn to walk and talk and go to the bathroom” again.
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https://www.freep.com/in-depth/news/local/michigan/detroit/2020/05/10/michigan-many-recover-covid-19-but-its-not-easy/3094695001/