Luke and Emily Wyles and Family
Donation protected
On January 11th, 2021, the family tested positive for COVID. At first, it presented as just "cold like'' symptoms, and then it attacked with a fury. Luke being 38 year old, healthy, active husband quickly developed what they call COVID pneumonia. On January 18th Luke was taken to the emergency room. Since he was COVID positive, no one could go into the hospital with him. They admitted him that morning, and he was sent to the COVID unit at Wilkes Regional Hospital. It was truly an emotional and physical roller coaster for the entire family. The virus attacked his lungs so hard that he was struggling to breathe and they thought he as going to be placed on a ventilator.
He underwent several rounds of chest x-rays and chest CT scans during his stay and each time they would tell the family his lungs were getting worse and the medications were not helping.
Luke was in the hospital in Wilkes from January 18th through the 29th and the doctors finally felt like he was well enough to come home on Jan 29th despite still struggling to breathe when walking or doing anything other than rest.
It was just a huge relief just have him come home because during COVID we are all separated from our family members while they are sick.
He was able to see his kids and spend time at home that following Saturday and Sunday. During that time, he still felt so bad and very weak. He developed a pain in his right side Sunday night.
The unthinkable happened Monday morning around 1:00am. He sat straight up in the bed and spewed blood everywhere from his mouth. Luke had excruciating pain in his side and breathing was very distressed.
Straight back to the ER and by himself because of COVID rules and the CT Scans showed a Pneumothorax in his right lung; which meant emergency surgery to insert a chest tube to help re-inflate his lung because his lung was collapsed and struggling to breathe.
It was the same ER doctor that had admitted him the previous week so the doctor already knew of Luke's previous issues and the surgeon had the tube inserted within 45 min of getting to the hospital.
As you can imagine their world was spinning out of control, and very hard to understand all the medical terms because he had just come home to be with the family.
All knew was Luke was in God’s hands, and God was guiding these doctors to do whatever was necessary to help Luke.
Wilkes was at full capacity, and the doctors decided he needed a higher level of care than what was available in Wilkes. The family and friends immediately started praying that a bed would be available at whatever hospital God wanted him admitted too. A bed opened at a hospital in Shelby, NC about two hours later thanks to the prayer.
Luke had to be transported by the Critical Care Ambulance, and was admitted and was seen by a Surgeon, a team of COVID Doctors, and a Pulmonology team.
The doctors did all new X-rays and CT scans and were pleased with the chest tube placement, and they were able to adjust his medication to make Luke comfortable and lessen the pain.
Emily's plan to was to get a hotel room, but miraculously she was able to stay with him in the hospital. Since they were two hours from home it was an answer to prayer and a great relief to the family.
Luke was there from Feb. 2nd- 7th with Emily at his side. The doctors were able to remove the chest tube on Feb 5th, and then kept him two more days for observation.
Luke still had a small gap at the very tip of the right lung when they pulled the tube out, but they were confident that it would fix itself with time. By the last chest x-ray on Feb 7th, that gap had indeed filled in. Praise Jesus!
The lung did re-inflate, but he developed what they call a Pulmonary Bleb in the middle of the lung which is an air pocket that had developed when re-inflating his lung with the chest tube.
The air pocket is something that could potentially make his lung collapse again at some point in his life. They also learned that his lungs no longer had the pneumonia present, and what they were seeing in the x-rays that looked like pneumonia, was actually lung damage caused by the COVID.
The doctors told him that he currently had lungs that were comparable to people who were 90-years old and had smoked all their life.
The doctors were very honest with the family, and told them they did not know how long his lungs would look this way, or if they would ever get better because there is so much they still don't understand about COVID.
All the doctors could tell them was it was going to take time, but they don't know how long and how much of his lung function he would re-gain overtime.
Luke is an outdoorsman, a hard worker, and great father and always on the the go so this is a huge change for him and his family.
His job requires him to be 100% physically active and outdoors and that is not possible for the foreseeable future. Luke's employer has been so gracious to the family which has been a blessing and they are truly wonderful people. Right now Luke is not able to continue at his current job and his employment will end this month. Their main goal is to get Luke healthy to the point his doctors feel confident that his body can withstand going back to a laborious job like he enjoys. In the meantime, he will require frequent doctor’s appointments to monitor his progress and to make sure his lungs are getting better. Until then, we will continue to praise our Savior for all his many blessings and take our lives one day at a time and thank GOD that he is home with the family.
A quote from the family "We as a family covet your prayers. We ask that you pray God will faithfully show His presence, and that He will continue to guide us through this journey. We pray that our story will give someone else hope and help bring others closer to Christ. Jesus has been so good to us and we give Him all the glory and praise"!
As you can imagine the family has doctors bill's to pay, and without Luke being able to work need financial help during this time, and if you feel led to give to help them through this time it would be appreciated.
If you cant give at this time please pray for the family.
He underwent several rounds of chest x-rays and chest CT scans during his stay and each time they would tell the family his lungs were getting worse and the medications were not helping.
Luke was in the hospital in Wilkes from January 18th through the 29th and the doctors finally felt like he was well enough to come home on Jan 29th despite still struggling to breathe when walking or doing anything other than rest.
It was just a huge relief just have him come home because during COVID we are all separated from our family members while they are sick.
He was able to see his kids and spend time at home that following Saturday and Sunday. During that time, he still felt so bad and very weak. He developed a pain in his right side Sunday night.
The unthinkable happened Monday morning around 1:00am. He sat straight up in the bed and spewed blood everywhere from his mouth. Luke had excruciating pain in his side and breathing was very distressed.
Straight back to the ER and by himself because of COVID rules and the CT Scans showed a Pneumothorax in his right lung; which meant emergency surgery to insert a chest tube to help re-inflate his lung because his lung was collapsed and struggling to breathe.
It was the same ER doctor that had admitted him the previous week so the doctor already knew of Luke's previous issues and the surgeon had the tube inserted within 45 min of getting to the hospital.
As you can imagine their world was spinning out of control, and very hard to understand all the medical terms because he had just come home to be with the family.
All knew was Luke was in God’s hands, and God was guiding these doctors to do whatever was necessary to help Luke.
Wilkes was at full capacity, and the doctors decided he needed a higher level of care than what was available in Wilkes. The family and friends immediately started praying that a bed would be available at whatever hospital God wanted him admitted too. A bed opened at a hospital in Shelby, NC about two hours later thanks to the prayer.
Luke had to be transported by the Critical Care Ambulance, and was admitted and was seen by a Surgeon, a team of COVID Doctors, and a Pulmonology team.
The doctors did all new X-rays and CT scans and were pleased with the chest tube placement, and they were able to adjust his medication to make Luke comfortable and lessen the pain.
Emily's plan to was to get a hotel room, but miraculously she was able to stay with him in the hospital. Since they were two hours from home it was an answer to prayer and a great relief to the family.
Luke was there from Feb. 2nd- 7th with Emily at his side. The doctors were able to remove the chest tube on Feb 5th, and then kept him two more days for observation.
Luke still had a small gap at the very tip of the right lung when they pulled the tube out, but they were confident that it would fix itself with time. By the last chest x-ray on Feb 7th, that gap had indeed filled in. Praise Jesus!
The lung did re-inflate, but he developed what they call a Pulmonary Bleb in the middle of the lung which is an air pocket that had developed when re-inflating his lung with the chest tube.
The air pocket is something that could potentially make his lung collapse again at some point in his life. They also learned that his lungs no longer had the pneumonia present, and what they were seeing in the x-rays that looked like pneumonia, was actually lung damage caused by the COVID.
The doctors told him that he currently had lungs that were comparable to people who were 90-years old and had smoked all their life.
The doctors were very honest with the family, and told them they did not know how long his lungs would look this way, or if they would ever get better because there is so much they still don't understand about COVID.
All the doctors could tell them was it was going to take time, but they don't know how long and how much of his lung function he would re-gain overtime.
Luke is an outdoorsman, a hard worker, and great father and always on the the go so this is a huge change for him and his family.
His job requires him to be 100% physically active and outdoors and that is not possible for the foreseeable future. Luke's employer has been so gracious to the family which has been a blessing and they are truly wonderful people. Right now Luke is not able to continue at his current job and his employment will end this month. Their main goal is to get Luke healthy to the point his doctors feel confident that his body can withstand going back to a laborious job like he enjoys. In the meantime, he will require frequent doctor’s appointments to monitor his progress and to make sure his lungs are getting better. Until then, we will continue to praise our Savior for all his many blessings and take our lives one day at a time and thank GOD that he is home with the family.
A quote from the family "We as a family covet your prayers. We ask that you pray God will faithfully show His presence, and that He will continue to guide us through this journey. We pray that our story will give someone else hope and help bring others closer to Christ. Jesus has been so good to us and we give Him all the glory and praise"!
As you can imagine the family has doctors bill's to pay, and without Luke being able to work need financial help during this time, and if you feel led to give to help them through this time it would be appreciated.
If you cant give at this time please pray for the family.
Co-organizers (13)
Matt Dice
Organizer
Wilkesboro, NC
Luke Wyles
Beneficiary
Haley Portante
Co-organizer
Tim Parsons
Co-organizer
Lisa Grose
Co-organizer
Lacie Underwood
Co-organizer