IMPORTANT THREAD:

1) My dear, typically shy husband, Randy has a good friend of his named Steve who has a very serious #COVID19 #coronavirus personal, sometimes brutal, reality that I know you will find compelling.

2) Steve is a 40 year old male with no underlying issues. He came down with #COVID symptoms very rapidly. March 17 started the fever, cough, breathing problems. He went to the hospital on March 25th, tested positive for COVID & has been in the ICU on a ventilator since March 30th

3) Steve's wife, Penny, also tested positive for COVID-19, was NOT admitted to the hospital, but was instead told to self-quarantine at home away alone for weeks. DEVASTATED, Penny had to say "Bye for now" to her husband, while taking care of her own case of #coronavirus

4) Randy & his friends have been updated by Penny multiple times a day via text. With Penny's permission, I wanted to share an example of a message she passes to friends and family about Steve's condition after speaking with the frontline hospital workers.

5) "It's been a rollercoaster of a day. I was able to talk to the nurse as well as talk to Steve, The nurse said he is looking good and doing well. His oxygen is down to 45% and his oxygenation is 97/98%. Yesterday they were able to ween the fentanyl to 50% and he did good.

6) Their goal today is to get him moved over to the SIMV (Synchronized Intermittent Mandatory Ventilation). At this mode, Steve will be breathing but the vent will reschedule the breath and only turn on if he isn't breathing or getting enough pressure etc.

7) This is the mode they need him to get on for them to continue to ween him off the ventilator (yay!) Otherwise, his chest X-ray improved today. His hemoglobin dropped to 7.6. They are giving him 2 units of blood just to boost him during the SIMV transfer. He has no fever.

8) I did talk to him today and told him to stay calm, to listen to the nurses and know that everyone has his best interests at heart and want to get him off the ventilator. Told Steve he has to manage his anxiety and the sooner he can, the sooner he can talk to me.

9) He's so close and I know he will get through this! The nurses are amazing and I told Steve to trust them and I reassured him that he is doing great and I love him. They will try again tomorrow to get him off the vent. Love you all! #GoSteveGo"

10) The daily updates, text messages, phone calls and overall care that Penny has received from the #Medicalworkers have gone above and beyond. You can even see them in the attached picture holding a photo of Steve & Penny from their wedding day.

11) Today Randy received a text from Penny that "the tube is out!!" Nurse Gwen allowed Penny to FaceTime with Steve so he could see her. He didn't know what was happening and was asking what the tube was. He could barely talk. Penny said, "I love you. You are in good hands."

12) We are keeping our hopes up and thinking about Steve and all of the patients and healthcare workers around the world. We can't begin to show our gratitude for these brave men and women who risk their own lives to do whatever is necessary to keep everyone safe and healthy.

13) Penny shared that @ProduceAlliance, a Chicago-based, national produce management company is creating a way to thank these extraordinary healthcare heroes in the most ordinary way.

14) Using a national produce supply chain network, @ProduceAlliance has created a donation-funded program to provide frontline workers with immediate access to boxes of fresh produce (from refrigerated trucks) at the end of their shifts.

15) The goal is to provide nutritional fruits & veggies to those who are helping Steve & others fight this #pandemic so they don't have to go to a grocery store. If you can, I urge you to join me to donate now to say THANK YOU to these #HealthcareHeroes https://bit.ly/3eptcfk 

16) Thank you Penny and Steve for permitting Randy and I to share your personally detailed story. We know no one's out of the woods yet, but now we all know you both a little better and we're rooting for you guys, everyone dealing with #COVID and of course... #NursesAreHeroes