Photo By Staff Sgt. Abbey Rieves | U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Angelina Lee, 17th Healthcare Operations Squadron...... read more read more
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GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas-- As a long, three-day, holiday weekend finally came in early October, he stayed home with his dog.
He was fighting off irritating allergy-like symptoms.
What started out as ‘bad allergies’ and sweats quickly turned into being tired, exhausted, worn out and loss of taste and smell.
His condition rapidly decelerated.
“I had COVID-19 pneumonia, where COVID attacked my lungs,” the base member said, who will remain anonymous. “I had COVID surrounding my lungs. Each time I sat up or tried to walk, I could not breathe. It was like I was trying to catch my breath, but I just couldn’t, and it was pretty scary.”
After suffering through the weekend, he finally called the Tricare Nurse Advice Line, where he was recommended to be tested for COVID. He was tested on Columbus Day.
And to his surprise, the results were positive.
He said that even though he maintained physical fitness, ate healthy and abided by proper Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, he still contracted COVID-19.
“It hit me hard,” he sighed. “It affects everyone differently, from what I understand. Everyone I know who’s had COVID, we’ve all had different symptoms. I never had all the symptoms, I only had a few. That’s why it’s a weird virus.”
Goodfellow’s COVID-19 care team called him every day, but when he started feeling pressure in his chest that was increasingly worse, the COVID team directed him to go to the Emergency Room.
“When I sat up, it felt like my lungs dropped down and I couldn’t breathe,” he said, while getting ready to be discharged from the ER. “I sat back down and told them to get the doctor back in here. They decided to keep me in the Intensive Care Unit.”
This man was the first active duty member at Goodfellow to be hospitalized from the virus.
“My oxygen levels on the first day were pretty bad, they dropped down into the 70’s,” the member said. “I was in the ICU for nine days. They gave me remdesivir, COVID Convalescent Plasma, and an influx of Vitamin C, Zink and a couple other vitamins to help me fight. It wasn’t until about day seven when I started feeling better.”
Since the virus is relatively new, there are few treatment modalities approved for patients with COVID.
“He received all standard treatments,” said Lt. Col. James Kopp, 17th Medical Group chief of medical staff. “It’s hard to say what exactly the magical elixir was, but he received all of them within the first 24-hours. I believe the CCP definitely helped him out of the woods.”
CCP was authorized for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients on August 23, 2020, by the FDA.
Kopp explained that plasma is the liquid portion of the blood that has all the proteins in it. CCP is taken from patients who’ve had COVID, have an immune response and have formed antibodies against the virus.
Research indicates that CCP donations may help patients recover at quicker rates, and is encouraged by medical professionals.
“CCP is something we’ve made all our COVID patients aware of,” said Kopp. “We certainly encourage people to donate. Especially now, when our hospitalization rates are higher than it's ever been for COVID.”
Such CCP donations can help save someone’s life.
“It’s the gift of life,” said Kopp. “Your donation can really make the difference in someone. To see a patient who has COVID pneumonia, starving for oxygen. Then after the treatment, over the course of several days, he turns around, improves and gets better; it’s nothing short of miraculous.”
The recovered member plans to donate his CCP to help others who are going through similar experiences as what he went through. He encourages others to do the same.
| Date Taken: | 11.30.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 11.30.2020 15:12 |
| Story ID: | 383948 |
| Location: | GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 67 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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