212 prepared me for the fight of my life.
I tested positive for Covid July 4, 2021. Fully vaccinated, I was not overly concerned at first. But I kept getting sicker. And sicker. A visit to the emergency room turned into a two month hospital stay that included six weeks in a coma.
I was the first with the Delta variant wave in the Rhode Island Hospital ICU and the first to survive. With all the drugs I was given, I don’t recall much of what happened during my hospital stay, except that my caregivers said I had arrived strong and my strength helped pull me through. When I grew delirious, it took three people to hold me down to sedate me. My 13 years of 212 membership gave me a good base for this fight!
The worst part of a six week coma is how hard it is on your family. They almost had to say goodbye after my kidneys had shut down. The hardest part for me was waking up from my six week“ nap.” My taper drugs were Oxycontin and fentanyl. Still everything hurt and I was so weak I could barely move turn my head on the pillow. It takes two weeks to recover the muscle mass lost for every two days in a coma so I needed to go to a rehab hospital to recover.
The Rhode Island Hospital ICU team played the “Rocky” theme song as I was leaving. The song “Gonna Fly Now” was meant to inspire but I couldn’t even crawl and doubted I would ever walk again.
I was transported to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston to begin my recovery. I was down 42% of muscle mass, needed to get rid of my tracheostomy, wean off oxygen, sit up and hopefully learn to walk again.
I was placed on a neurology unit because others with Covid had experienced serious cognitive issues. To assess me, Speech Therapists administered tests that reminded me of college SAT questions. They were also tasked with ensuring that I could swallow properly after having more tubes in me than the London Underground subway.
Knowing I was fine and bored with all the testing, I began making up answers for fun - the sillier the better. I respected their efforts but I knew spending more time rehabilitating my body was the best medicine for me. I may be the first patient in the history of speech therapy to be told to stop talking!
I gave Physical and Occupational therapists a hard time, too. Like when they gave me 3 pound dumbbells. In true 212 fashion, I didn’t want to settle for 3 pounders. I wanted 30s. On days when my damaged lungs fought back so hard that panic would set in, I’d recall my first 212 trainer, Kerry Taylor, saying, “If you can talk you can breathe.”
Upon returning home from Spaulding, I trained remotely with Sean St. Onge while still on oxygen and in a wheelchair. Sean was always on the same page with my physical therapist, Bill Poirier, of Pappas OPT in East Providence. I am blessed to have such top professionals on my care team who know me so well.
Their energy inspired me to keep fighting on the many days I felt I had gone as far I could on my journey back. Now back in the gym, Sean still inspires me as does the rest of the 212 crew.
My fight isn’t over. I still have a ways to go on my rehab journey, but I will get there. Because on the days I needed extra motivation to keep pushing myself through the pain and fatigue, all I have to do is remember all the inspiring people who work, and workout, at 212 Health and Performance.
Stay 212 strong. Always.
