Robert and Janice Beecham have been married for 46 years, and this year they are happy to recover after a spring full of confusion.
“It is a blessing to be here because many people did not make it,” Janice told CNN.
Robert Beecham said that he and Janice had been following the safety rules, but started feeling symptoms of Covid-19. A week and a half later, he was still not feeling well, so the couple tested for the virus.
The next day, on March 25, she called her son and agreed to be taken to the hospital.
“He knew that agreeing without a fight meant I was feeling pretty bad,” he said.
Her anniversary was a reason to come home.
Robert was admitted to Parkland Hospital in Dallas alone, and discovered the next day that he was COVID-19 positive. He was transferred to another floor and began his path to recovery, a feat he attributes to his doctor, Satyam Nayak.
“Dr. Nayak and I would strike up casual conversations and I’d remove my head from the virus,” he said.
Robert told the doctor that he had two strokes, one in 2012 and 2016, and that he missed an anniversary. He found himself in the same situation this year, so Nayak decided to use that as motivation to take him home.
Nayak came up with a plan where Robert could go home and get the attention he needed from his wife. He got home in time for his April 15 anniversary.
Janice has a positive test of her own
Janice, meanwhile, had just recovered from surgery in February after discovering a second battle with breast cancer and a new diagnosis of ovarian cancer. She also tested positive for COVID-19, but luckily, she told CNN, her symptoms were mild.
“Once I got home and quarantined, I was progressively improving, but Janice still had problems with her health,” said Robert.
“We are best friends, it was tough,” Robert told CNN.
Due to her diagnosis, Janice had not yet started the chemotherapy treatments necessary for her cancer diagnoses.
Now, after surviving two surgeries, two coronavirus diagnoses, chemotherapy, and being declared cancer-free, the Beechams have only one thing to say.
“It would have been impossible to do it with all the odds against him without God, and he has been our help all these years,” said Robert.
Janice still has preventive radiation, but the two said they are blessed to be alive and blessed to have celebrated another year together.
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