Help the Waymans Fight Their COVID19 Tragedy

Justin Wayman is a loving husband to his wife of 11 years, Amber; dedicated father to Charlotte (5), Maverick (2), Addison (2), and Clementine (2); and friend to all he meets. Right now, he is fighting with every breath to come back home to them after being hospitalized due to complications related to COVID-19.

On June 6th, 2021, Justin was admitted to the hospital because his oxygen levels were getting low. His oxygen levels continued to dip, and he was moved to the ICU on June 7th. Justin’s doctors found that he had COVID crystals in his lungs, and Justin began to use a ventilator. His condition continued to worsen, and on June 11th, Justin was sedated, intubated, and flown to another hospital for critical care. He went through an ECMO procedure on June 20th, and since has been in a medically induced coma. However, Justin’s body is struggling to properly regulate itself, and the doctors have placed him on dialysis treatment to reduce retained fluids. On July 14th, Justin went into septic shock and had a surface brain bleed, and the doctors were able to treat him and make him stable again. Currently, Justin is still on dialysis and on the ECMO machine. During this time, friends and family members have supported Justin and Amber, however, the costs of treatment and childcare are ever-increasing.

There is a long road ahead, and Justin will be required to live in a healthcare facility for some time in order to heal prior to returning home.

This money will go towards childcare, medical treatment, and hospital bills for the Wayman family. Any and every donation would be greatly appreciated, regardless of amount.

A note from Amber:

If you have one spare second, please pray, offer positive and healing vibes into the universe or whatever good things you can think of. I’m terrified. I’m overwhelmed. Justin is my best friend, my home, my love, my soulmate, the father of my children, and the person who anchors me when I am at my worst. I appreciate all the love Justin and our family have received. Every message, prayer, and positive thought means the world. I could really use a miracle right now.

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An update from Amber: 

This is my best friend. Yesterday he actually grabbed my hand and pulled it in toward his chest. That is the most response and communication I have had from him since 9:24 AM on June 11, 2021. These are the victories right now. The fact that he can occasionally blink and open his eyes, he is not in septic shock, he has lost most of the extra fluid weight he had gained, and he can nod yes or no to about 3 questions in a row before he gets too tired. The doctors have informed me that he is still the most critical patient in that hospital’s ICU, even with these progressions. Do you remember the last things said between you and your significant other? Do you remember the day and time they last spoke to you? You might if you were terrified it would be the very last time.

It’s incredibly hard to hear people still talking about the validity of COVID.
No.
It’s not hard.
It’s infuriating.

Two weeks ago I had to have my children FaceTime my husband, their Daddy, to say goodbye, because he was a blink away from leaving this world. He had 80 lbs of excess fluid weight gain in 1 month. He was connected to an ECMO circuit that was maxed out on oxygen settings, and even had to be plugged into the room oxygen to give more adjustment room to the ECMO. He was on a CRRT (dialysis) machine that was running nonstop and unable to take extra fluid off of him. He was on 4 different medications to bring his blood pressure UP, because he was constantly dropping. He was on 2 full IV pump machines with 8 medications on each. He couldn’t close his eyes due to the amount of fluid and pressure in his face and eyeballs. His fingers and toes were turning dark purple, and I was warned that his digits may start to die. He was in full septic shock along with acidosis and all his organs were slowly starting to fail. His kidneys stopped producing urine. His liver could not keep up with blood cell break down, so he became very jaundice. His lungs were not working at all on their own. He had a tracheostomy connected to a ventilator that was just trying to keep his lungs from collapsing, which one did collapse. His right side of his heart was in shock and so overworked that they thought it was going to give out. His intestinal track stopped. He had a subarachnoid hemorrhage. He smelt like staph (MSSA), which if you have ever experienced, smells like death. He could not speak. He could not move. I couldn’t fit my fingers between his. I was only supposed to touch him or talk to him for short bursts so as to not over stimulate him and cause his stats to drop. I could feel him there in his body, but I couldn’t reach him. I thought I was going to either faint from the panic or have a heart attack. I have never felt so scared, useless, and broken.

So you see, when people say that COVID isn’t real or that it only happens to the old or immunocompromised, that’s just not true.

Justin doesn’t have any of the comorbidities. He’s 32. We wore masks everywhere. He had required COVID screening everyday for work, and VA COVID testing every 2 weeks. I stayed home as much as possible on top of being a stay at home mom to 4 kids who weren’t in school. We were careful. We were planning to get the vaccine after my father’s funeral. Instead we got COVID the week of his funeral and had to watch it via Zoom.

Justin has been in the hospital for 54 days, the ICU for 53 days, on ECMO for 46 days, and out of COVID restrictions for 40 days. In case that last bit wasn’t clear, HE HAS NOT HAD COVID FOR MORE THAN 40 DAYS! All of this that he is going through is the damage from and his body’s response to COVID.

When people say this isn’t real, isn’t as serious as media is making it out to be, or not going to impact them, I want to scream. They have no idea how critical the love of my life is. They have no idea what pain my entire family and friends have gone through during this. They have no idea what it is like to hold my husband’s swollen hand, look at his jaundice eyes, not feel his pulse, have a doctor tell me that if his heart stops it would be considered cruel to do chest compressions to his damaged body, and for me to say goodbye and I love you to my soulmate.