My dad has been fighting covid pneumonia for almost 4 weeks now. He has been on the ventilator for 15 days requiring 90-100% with very fast breaths(BiLevel). He is able to keep his stats in the 90s right now. The doctors say he now has lung scarring which can't be corrected. He is on dialysis now as well which is helping with his swelling as well as his kidney function. They give very little hope. I am wondering if anyone has had this experience and if they found any solutions for lung scarring? He is in prone position 20 hours a day and flipped for 4 hours to tube feed. He is on 3 blood pressure medications one of which is maxed out. He is on 2 sedation medications. He was on a paralytic but they were finally able to get him off of the paralytic a couple of days ago. He is also getting budesonide, albuterol and one other treatment through the ventilator. We know God can do miracles and are believing for my dad to get his. I just wanted to see if anyone is in a similar situation and if the doctors have found solutions for any of it.
God is a mighty healer! My husband was in the same situation 13 months ago. They told me nothing more they can do. They wanted me to unplug him. I fought for them to get him stable enough to get trached. They used blood thinners to help clear his lungs of blood clots.
It took 11 months to get off ventilator and trach...but he did it finally in October 2021. He came home the weekend after Thanksgiving. He still is on Dyalisis (thanks to remdesimere). He can't walk yet but working hard in physical therapy.
Amen, yes He is! The doctors are very pushy about unplugging him. My family said NO we aren't giving up unless God decides it's dad's time to go. Praise the Lord for your husband's continued recovery. I will pray for him to keep healing. Thank you for your reply, it means a lot to hear that others have made it through this.
Imperial College London are undertaking a study at the moment on Covid lung scarring. The study, called the UK Interstitial Lung Disease Long-COVID19 (UKILD-Long COVID) study, will investigate whether post-COVID-19 lung damage will improve over time, how long it will last, and the best strategies for developing treatments. Don’t loose hope, science is just at the start of investigating this and may find treatments to help healing.
I will look into the study and follow its progress. Prayers that God will give the study His knowledge and work through them. Thank you for your reply.
With regards to lung scaring, I was vented last December and left hospital on the 24th with roughly 85% scarred, a scan revealed that in December 2021 it was down to 5%. So please be assured to that things do get better with time
I hope for you and your family he can fight through this. I had severe covid plus covid pnuemonitis, as well as hospital acquired pneumonia, and a massive pulmonary embolism which meant that large clots cut off any oxygen supply from my right lung. I was ventilated before and after being put onto an ECMO machine in a coma for a month.
When I was in a coma I then had a brain seizure which has affected my right leg and (now) left arm.
I mention the above to show you that very ill patients can pull through.
I had severe lung scarring which they referred to as "ground glass effect", which they hope will slowly heal over the fullness of time.
I am now also on blood pressure tablets and beta blockers, which keeps my covid-damaged heart ticking over.
I was also on blood thinners while unconscious to dissolve the clots away, and remain on them as my heart is clogged with sticky blood.
So, not only can modern medicine help us pull through, it can also then offer hope on the start of the road to recovery.
Keep believing and don't give up hope.
Glad you were able to fight through all of that! Prayers that God will continue to heal you. Thank you for your reply. It helps to hear about people who have recovered.
I would take the position that nothing is guaranteed- neither good nor bad.After sepsis & double pneumonia and complete respiratory failure, I had severe ARDS - it’s slang is concrete lung - common among Covid sufferers. Like your Dad, I was proned & on dialysis. My lungs were a mess, my whole body was a mess. No one could say whether my lungs would ever repair enough to not need oxygen all the time ( they did repair enough) - I was warned I might never walk properly again or use my hands & fingers proper. Whilst I do have some limitation - I am no where near anything that the docs feared
Thank you for your reply. Glad you made it through all of that.
Don't be overly concerned about what the doctors say. I was 40 days on a ventilator, my recovery was expected to take 9 months. I walked out of the hospital unassisted after only 11 days of rehab. I had two kinds of pneumonia (probably still do) and was told I would never regain 100% of my lung capacity. My blow test was 62%. Since then I've been running on the treadmill and can now run 2 miles without stopping. It seems the more I run, the better my lungs get. I will prove the doctors wrong some day, I will blow test 100%. The important thing is to get out of the hospital and get stabilized, that's when the fun begins. God Bless you and your family, good luck!
Thank you so much for your reply. I can't wait for you to prove them wrong! My daddy went to be with Jesus this past week.
My daddy went to be with Jesus this past week. I appreciate all of the encouragement and replies from you all. Thank you for the prayers. God is still good.
I am so very sorry for your loss. May your father now rest in eternal peace, and may you be given the strength to help see you through the times ahead. God bless.
Hiya, I too am 62 years old and your dads story sounds similar to mine. I don’t have the dialysis complication though. I was on the machine for ten days and spent 69 days in hospital/ICU between January and end March 22. I am now home and fully self sufficient thank god and I am sure your dad will get there. I have been told by the Docs that I have lung scarring but no one will tell me what percentage and whether or not it will be permanent. And that I think is the problem, we are all different and covid is still a new disease with diagnosis and treatment evolving all the time. The lung scarring takes away your oxygen capacity and that in turn impacts your physical ability to improve.
All I can say is stay strong, stay positive and I sam sure your Dad with the support of you and your family, god and the medical team, will pull through.
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