A man who thought the coronavirus “would disappear the day after the election” was hospitalized for more than two weeks with the virus and said he would now need medical oxygen for the rest of his life.
Paul Russell, 63, of Boise, Idaho, told the Idaho Statesman: “Before I got the virus, I was one of those idiots who thought the virus would disappear the day after the election. I was one of those conspiracy theorists.”
But he was in the hospital a week after the November 3 election with the coronavirus, Statesman’s Audrey Dutton reported.
—Audrey Dutton (@audreydutton) March 9, 2021
Russell said he was returning from his job as a long-distance trucker when he started feeling ill and was quarantined at home in a travel trailer he has with his wife.
He tested positive and a few days later he started feeling so bad that he asked his wife to bring him to the hospital, where he received intensive treatment.
A nurse put him on the phone with his wife, and Russell said she told him how much she loved him, “because she didn’t know if I could make it through the night.”
In total, he spent 16 days at St Luke’s Boise Medical Center, the Statesman reported.
He also signed up for a clinical trial to test the effects of an immunosuppressive drug on the virus.
He was able to go home on Thanksgiving and have dinner with his family: “It was the best Thanksgiving Day I’ve ever had.”
But Russell said he still lives with the effects of the virus.
He said, “I will take oxygen for the rest of my life, according to my doctor.”
Russell added: “Life is not good now. Except for one thing: I am alive.”
Some people infected with the coronavirus continue to show symptoms for weeks and months later, in what is being called a “long COVID”. Symptoms include fatigue, dizziness, pain and memory problems.
The United States Center for Disease Control states that “patients may experience symptoms that can last for weeks or even months after recovery from the acute illness”.
And he notes that some people experience “more serious long-term complications,” including inflammation of the heart muscle, depression and anxiety.
A study published in February found that 76% of patients with COVID-19 who were hospitalized in Wuhan, China, had at least one symptom of the virus six months after becoming ill.
This puts additional pressure on health systems already overwhelmed by the treatment of patients with viruses.