I drove six hours from Otsego County to Northern Virginia last Thursday to take care of them. I was worried he might suddenly stop breathing and my mother, who has dementia and whom my dad takes care of, would not think to call 911. He kept trying to see a doctor, but doctors’ offices and hospitals were overwhelmed with COVID patients. His voice was almost gone, he had a hacking cough, and the shortness of breath and light-headedness had returned. However, last week, his symptoms returned. Both made him feel much better and he felt he had recovered several days later. He was given powerful flu medicine to alleviate his symptoms and because of his chronic medical conditions and his age, he received a monoclonal antibody infusion, a cocktail of manmade proteins designed to boost a person’s immune system to fight off viruses. My mother had no symptoms, but my father, who has asthma and an irregular heartbeat, had shortness of breath, chest congestion and light-headedness. Almost three weeks ago, my 84 year-old father and 83 year-old mother tested positive for COVID-19.
