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The death was not a result that Raj, 55, was willing to accept, but he knew that his father’s chances of surviving the coronavirus were not in his favor.
“I’m not a gambler, but if I was … [I would] I definitely put my money on not making it, “Suri’s family doctor, general practitioner Dr. Bharat Thacker, told CNN.
The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 219,000 people worldwide, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
While helping Suri go to bed after his arrival home from Watford General Hospital outside London, Raj wondered if the desperate series of events that had seen the virus spread across the world would turn his father into another. statistics.
Raj, director of insight for an advertising company, remained outwardly positive: “You are not going to die. We are going to take care of you here,” he told his father. What I didn’t know was how successful it would be.
The descent
Raj, who had recovered from a heart attack last November, was prepared for the pandemic weeks before the UK shutdown began on March 23. He had been in self-isolation with his 80-year-old mother and his father, who has a chronic illness. obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), since March 11, because the entire household was considered to be at high risk of coronavirus.
But his father’s condition began to deteriorate on March 25. Suri’s daily 10-minute walk outside the family home turned into a 45-minute stepping stone. Her lung condition was getting worse. He looked fatigued, apathetic, and although he did not show the high temperature or persistent cough, which the NHS considered the main symptoms of the virus, Raj suspected that his father had Covid-19.
Unbeknownst to the family, Suri’s lungs were filling with fluid, a fact that was discovered by paramedics who went to the family’s home the next day when the octogenarian had trouble breathing.
He was taken to the hospital, but doctors called Raj soon after. He says they told him they were 95% sure Suri had the virus, but they wanted to discharge him and send him home.
Raj says a senior consultant told him that if Suri’s condition worsened, he would not be ventilated “because he felt that his lungs, with … COPD, would not be able to handle it.”
CNN has reached out to Watford General Hospital to comment on Suri’s case, but has not received a response. CNN has seen Suri’s discharge sheet, which includes a “do not resuscitate” (DNR) order that was completed with her admission.
Raj said he had two options left: “Do I keep him there and risk never seeing him again, or do I take him home and spend all my energy making it comfortable for him?” He chose the latter, even at the risk of spreading the infection throughout the home.
Before Suri returned to his Watford home in a local taxi, as there was no ambulance available to transport him, Raj spent the afternoon cleaning the house, isolating his mother on the ground floor and converting the first-floor room from their parents in a makeshift hospital room.
To limit the amount of time Raj spent in the room, an iPad was configured with a baby monitor app. This allowed the rest of their close-knit family to help, giving Raj’s brother Manish, who lives in the United States, and his children, who live nearby with their mother, the opportunity to control Suri, helping to alleviate his loneliness. isolation. It also meant that they could take turns monitoring him when Raj needed to rest.
The strategist also turned to a family friend, a general practitioner, for advice. The GP advised on Suri’s hydration and tracked his vital signs on the Google spreadsheet.
Perhaps the key factor in treating his father, Raj says, was the fact that his home was already equipped with a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP machine, for Suri’s sleep apnea.
Three days after being released, Suri was delusional, struggling to eat, and told Raj that he thought he was near the end. Raj believes this was due to his brain not having oxygen.
The recuperation
The next day, Dr. Thacker called with the news that Suri’s coronavirus test had tested positive. At the time, many British doctors like Thacker were struggling to get full personal protective equipment (PPE), such as a gown and long gloves.
Without PPE, it was not safe for Thacker to make a home visit to coronavirus patients like Suri. “If I went there and got it, then not only my family but my patients are at risk if I went back to surgery,” he told CNN.
Knowing the severity of Suri’s condition, Thacker said a DNR notice was issued to the family’s address so that the paramedics who were sent there knew not to resuscitate the man, as “the result will be pretty bad.”
Fortunately, it was not necessary. Under her son’s watchful eye, Suri gradually recovered. Raj says he knew his father was on the road to recovery when he became strong enough to screw him over. “He started complaining and said his tea was poorly made. Then he ordered pizza and chips,” Raj said.
“We really did have a stock and a ‘recurring’ team that I trusted,” Raj said, adding that he didn’t have to rely on “Dr. Google” because he had real doctors nearby to help.
Thacker, who has had several patients killed by Covid-19, says he cannot identify exactly what worked for Suri.
“Whether it was the family caring for him or the biographical data available that made the difference, we don’t know,” he said, adding, “Maybe it was just luck and it wasn’t the time to go.”
In the darkest times, sometimes an action plan and a little luck are the only things people have.
