All was fine until 2 days later, when I began to feel a bit “unwell” on late Friday afternoon. I went out to do some chores the next morning, but soon returned home exhausted. The rest of the weekend was more of the same, and I was surprised at how I just couldn’t get anything done. On Monday, I felt a chill and thought I might have COVID.
The next morning, I went to OSUMC for a COVID test, but by then I already knew the result. The night before, Anne started complaining of a dry cough that would not stop.
Anne: When I realized Emil had COVID, I wrote to a friend, “If he gets bad and has to go to the hospital, or worse … he goes on a ventilator, I may need to be admitted to a psych ward!” I was still upset from the memory of sitting by Emil’s bedside when he was sick, and on a ventilator, 10 years ago, with his doctors talking with me about when, not if, he died.
Emil: My test came back within 8 hours on Tuesday. It was positive, as was the one for Anne the next day. The doctor I spoke to that evening thought I was only having a mild case and that I should just stay isolated. We immediately got a thermometer and a pulse oximeter to follow our symptoms. Anne’s oxygen saturation levels were always above 95%, but mine were lower, and by Friday, 3 days later and 1 week after my first symptoms, they were down to 92% or less. At that point, we both went to the ER at OSUMC.
Anne: We went to different places in the ER to be evaluated. As Emil was being wheeled away in the ER for his evaluation, I ran over for a kiss—with our masks on.
Continue to: As my ER evaluation...