Hi, my name is Jessica. For those of you who don’t know me, Mike is my fiancé. We’ve been together for over 7 years now. I came into our relationship with 3 kids and we have since had 2 more, bringing it up to FIVE amazing babies. Our life works. We have a true partnership, in everything we do. From making decisions to paying bills, from parenting to cleaning. We’ve always done it together, and equally. 

We went to San Diego July 12 &amp; 13. It was to get the kids out of the heat advisory warning that Vegas had, but also because we actually had two days off in a row together. We went to the beach 
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and to Belmont Park and let the kids ride the rides.
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 But everyone wound up getting sunburned. Mike got it the worst. He skin turned so red it was almost purple, and he got small water blisters all over. 
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 We went to the zoo 
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the next day and came home. 

Mike called in the next day, he was just too burned and couldn’t really move. Then he called in again. We were putting lotions on him and aloe and he was drinking lots of Gatorade. He was getting chills, couldn’t eat, couldn’t get comfortable, couldn’t sleep. All symptoms of sun poisoning. He goes to the Er and tries to get some help/relief. The doctor pretty much dismissed him. So Mike went to work that night. The next day he wasn’t better, so he called in. Then he called in on Sunday. He is showing no signs of getting better, and he’s nauseous. Finally he goes to a different Er on Monday and the test him for covid. He’s positive. They send him home, more or less with a pat on the head and tell him to hydrate, isolate and it’ll be fine. I had to tell my job that he tested positive, they immediately sent me home and told me HR would be in contact with me to let me know the next steps. I went and got tested, I’m negative. 

Mike is absolutely miserable. He is beside himself with how much everything hurts and how scared he is. He winds up waking me up at around 3 am to tell me he can’t breathe and is dizzy and when he tries to stand he starts to fall over. I rush him to another Er and they admit him immediately. They tell me I can’t stay. His blood oxygen is at 72, they told him they are surprised he was even able to walk and talk. They do scans on him and find he has pneumonia in both of his lungs. He’s placed on the highest level of oxygen their hospital can do. 
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By the end of the day, they said he needed more than they could give and needed to move him to a different campus. He’s still not able to sleep or rest at all. He’s barely texting me back. They tell me I can bring him some stuff if I want to but that I can’t go in to see him. I take him some chargers, his ipad, clothes and deodorant since he asked for it. Now they have him on two machines giving him oxygen and alternating with a full mask.
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They tell us he can’t have any sleep aids because they need him awake to monitor his lungs. I understand that, but I also know he needs to rest. He’s still not eating and they say he needs to be moved again, to someplace with a bigger icu unit that can focus more on him. No one gives us any kind of good news. They move him on to a bpap machine to force his lungs to open more.
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Its now Sunday and he’s been in there since Monday night/Tuesday morning. I have to go back to work monday. Him and I were texting Sunday, he said he was tired around 830 and was going to try to get some sleep while his body seemed to be telling him he could. I was of course, good with that. I text him when I woke. He didn’t answer. I text him again when I got to work. No answer. I’m worried now. I call the hospital, they tell me they don’t do updates until after 2pm…it’s only 11. I’m like please, just tell me if he’s ok. They tell me they will call me back. It take almost an hour, and of course I’m on the floor so I can’t answer. As soon as I get a break, I call them back. The nurse told me Mike was stable, but that they were having a doctor come to evaluate him later and that they were probably going to recommend intubation and sedation. I tell him to please have Mike text me. He says he will pass on the message. Within 5 minutes of me being on the floor, he send me messages. 911 911. 
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He’s calling. I’m like I need off of this game now. They get me off and I call Mike. They are taking him then. Not tonight, right now. I cried and told him to please fight, he said he was. He told me he loves me and I told him I love him so much and to please please please fight and come home to me. That’s the last time I’ve been able to hear his voice or communicate with him. I went to the ICU that night to see him, after getting one of the worst phone call updates ever. The nurse told me to contact next of kin and to take all of his belongings home with me. 
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The said he fought the sedation, that they had to use a paralytic. He was strapped down to stop him from fighting. His number were showing a bit of improvement from when they said he had to be intubated. They only let me stay for a few minutes and then rushed me out.

The next morning, I’m pulling into the parking lot and the infectious disease doctor calls me to ask me about treatments and tell me how bad mikes numbers are. I asked if he had anything positive to tell me and he flat out said no. Once inside, I had to wait to be cleared through since he was in isolation. When I got to his room, the nurse was nice. He explained a lot to me. I commented that mikes O2 numbers were in the 70s the day before in the morning and the machines had brought him up the 80s and now they were in the 90s. That seems like an improvement. He said yes it is, but it’s artificial. The machines are doing everything for him right now. And I’m like, well that’s what they are supposed to do, right? I’ll take that as a small win and something to hold on to.

I went in this morning, his numbers are the same, the nurse said his kidney function is slightly better than yesterday, but that he has no other improvement and he still has a low grade fever being maintained with a cooling blanket. They were able to get his feeding tube in while I was there. 
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Now, if you’ve read all of that, bless you. I hate to ask people for help. Mike is really the same way, even though he would gladly give someone his last dollar if they asked. But, we live paycheck to paycheck most months. We have decent paying jobs. We just have high rent ($1800) and two car payments ($850) . We have 5 kids, 4 or which start school again in a couple weeks. We have all of the normal bills, but with him in the hospital and not getting paid, I’m afraid for our family. I can’t afford everything on my own. I have enough in savings to get through this month and pay August’s rent, but after that, I’m not sure how I’m going to make my money stretch enough to cover everything. 

I know that everyone is struggling and everyone has bills, and this past year has hurt a lot of people. But, if there is anything you can do for us, it would be literally life saving. 

Even sharing this and keeping Mike in your thoughts and prayers and giving us all of the healing vibes is so appreciated.

i just need to have him home with us. He is my person, my heart and soul, he is the rock of our family. 

Thank you, and bless you for all that you do! Hug your loved ones. Because it turned so fast. And I would give practically anything to hear Mike say my name and hug me and be able to tell him I love him more than ever.

Fintan Meehan

Anonymous

Brent Ferguson

Jamye Serritella

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Donald Hess

Mike, father of 5, sick & family needs help

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