Observations.net

I came down with the flu in mid Feb 2019. To me, it was no big deal, I've had the flu many times. Bed rest always took care of it.

But my fever kept rising. I developed severe chills and eventually had trouble breathing. So my wife took me to the ER. They took chest X-rays and told me that I had double pneumonia. They put me in the ICU, administered 100% oxygen, and filled me with antibiotics.

But none of the antibiotics worked. My conditioned worsened. In a few days, they diagnosed me as having acquired (or acute) respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and a collapsed lung. ARDS occurs when the alveoli of the lungs become inflamed and filled with fluid. The death rate for ICU-acquired ARDS is about 50%.

My wife thought that I was going to die, but my mind never went there. She started a prayer group and believes that prayer is what saved me.

As far as I was concerned, I was not on the verge of death. So no NDEs or spiritual experiences.

I was in the hospital 12 days before coming home. Being in the hospital was the worst experience of my life, one that I never want to repeat. They even talked about putting me on a ventilator, but I resisted the idea. I kept thinking, "I'm a health nut, a follower of Jack LaLanne. I'm not supposed to be here hooked up to all these machines. I'm as out of place as a Baptist preacher in a redneck bar." If I didn't have anyone dependent on me, I'd rather die than go back.

Now that I'm at home, I'm doing physical therapy and am trying to recover.

When I first went to my doctor's office, the nurse thought that I was a stroke victim. All the antibiotics made me uncoordinated, and I was using a walker. The walker is now long gone and I am lifting weights and doing body weight exercises. But my lungs are still weak, forcing me to be careful.

From reading online, I believe that there are basically three groups of ARDS survivors:

1) There are those who bounce back as though nothing ever happened.

2) There are those who recover physically, but are still messed up in the head.

3) There are those who never recovery physically.

I believe that I will be in the first group. I'm 60 years old, but have always been a workout nut. No one believes that I'm 60. Plus, I have never smoked and did not have any other health conditions. And I'm too stupid and emotionally dull to be messed up mentally like the 2nd group.