My Experience with Covid
My experience with Covid really caught me off guard. On Wednesday, April 28th, I contacted my students to let them know I tested positive for Covid. I told them I would not be able to make lessons for the next 10 days. At first, it seemed strange how people were making such a big deal out of it. All I had was a little bit of a stuffy nose and a cough, but could not see shutting the whole country down over this.
Gradually things began to get worse. By the evening of May 5th, I could not sleep and was starting to have a hard time breathing. By the time I was able to drag my butt out of bed, the Urgent Care was closed and ended up having to go to the Emergency Room. They took an x-ray and told me I now had pneumonia from the Covid. After several hours, they sent me home with some antibiotics and an inhaler.
Nurses are Amazing
By Friday the 7th, my family doctor’s nurse followed up to make sure I was still doing ok. Just talking to her made me feel like I was on a treadmill. She told me to go to the ER or she would call an ambulance and make me go. She said she would be watching her computer and if she did not see me check into the emergency room that she would send an ambulance over. I knew that would be a huge bill for a one-mile drive so I asked a friend to take me. It was a struggle to make it to the door before she arrived. She said my lips were blue and took me back to the ER where they admitted me to the hospital.
My Experience Was a Little Bit Nerve Wracking
One of the first questions they asked was if it would be ok to put me on a ventilator. That put things in perspective very quickly. They started two IV’s and began taking blood from the back of my hand. After that they wheeled me upstairs to my room where they continued taking x-rays, blood, and put me on a chest monitor.
Trying to sleep with all of that was quite an experience. Over the next several days my blood oxygen levels continued to drop until they finally had to put me on oxygen. Just getting to the bathroom and back to the bed felt like I just climbed a 14er. While on the toilet, the little machine would alert Denver that my pulse ox was in the 70’s and all of a sudden, a nurse would appear. They put me on a variety of antibiotics that had worked on their previous patients and that started to do the trick. After 7 days, they were able to get me off the oxygen and sent me home. I am still not completely over it yet, but feeling better every day.
Overall, Covid Was a Positive Experience
It is amazing how many students and family members were concerned and wanted to help. As much as it may sound like a cliché, the students really become family when you are a guitar instructor. Even a former student kept checking in on me to see how I was doing. That truly made my year.
Despite all of the negative that has happened with Covid, I really had a lot of positive as well. It is amazing at how fast things can change in life. When that is the case, we tend to prioritize a little better. At least that was the case with me.
Owning a business during Covid was scary but motivated me to try new things. Some adjustments really helped. All and all, I am way ahead of where I was and thank one of the nastier viruses for that.
Taking Lessons
Thank you for reading my blog! If you are interested in taking guitar, ukulele, or bass lessons, please contact me.
