61, Covid, and on a "vent" ... serious question.
 

An otherwise healthy, 61 yr old male, being placed on oxygen.... what are the chances of him recovering? Somebody please give me a reason to be optimistic... he was like a brother to me when we were youngins.

Today already sux :(

I don't know the statistics but will give a personal example to be optimistic. I will say being on oxygen and being on a vent are 2 very different things. Nearly everyone is put on oxygen.

I was assigned 3 patients last week in the hospital who all had Heart Failure, got Covid, were put on vents and were being discharged. They were all in their 80's. They were all in ICU at least a month but they were all going home last week.

Hoping for the best for your friend.

I have no statistics but personally know three folks that were in the similar scenario , unfortunately all three lost the battle ☹️ . But everyone is different and I wish your friend the best of luck .

Also have to ask, vaccinated or not?

Thank you Stephanie... I only received word that he was "put on a vent".

I don't know ... statistically speaking... I'd bet not. Robbie and I grew up (all 12 grades) together and shared a dorm room back in college. I have no idea... but he's been a gym owner for 4 decades. If not vaccinated, I'd tell him he was stoopid.... we WERE that close. His three brothers, beautiful wife and four daughters... this just sux.

Hoping for the best. I'm sorry.

I sent you a PM

Dave

Hoping for the best.

A good friend of mine tested positive for Covid and three days later was in the hospital and soon on a ventilator. This was March. He stayed on the ventilator until the end of July. He had a tracheotomy and was put in a medically-induced coma because he kept trying to rip the trach out. He coded twice. He also caught pneumonia during this time.

He came home from the hospital at the end of August. He has significant scarring in his lungs (one lung has essentially 0% function) but he is alive.

But he is alive.

Wow. That has to be one massive hospital bill.

One of my friends convinced his immune system was enough. He was wrong and was in the hospital for three weeks and near death a few times. He is home but struggling. He used to run 5 miles per day minimum, now he is struggling to get to the bathroom and back to his chair and just happy to be back home.

Sorry for your friend. Unfortunately being put on a vent is serious and I don't think the stats are great. I do have one friend who works for my buddies construction company that was near death with it before the vaccine was available. He was in the hospital and on a vent for over 60 days if my memory is correct. He did make it. Younger guy in his 40's. Still not 100% a year later.

My father was on a vent years ago following heart surgery and never was able to get off of it. He spent 7 months in the hospital trying to recover but eventually succumbed to a variety of things like MRSA, etc.

Like someone else said, is it a vent or just oxygen tube in the nose? If it’s just oxygen, I’d say his odds are still ok, but once they go in the ventilator it seems like the odds get much worse.

Fingers crossed for your friend. It does seem like more people are getting off the vent lately. I think treatment regiments are getting better finally.

BBC Health reports a pill which can reduce severity of the disease.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-58764440

"An experimental drug for severe Covid cuts the risk of hospitalisation or death by about half, interim clinical trial results suggest.

The tablet - molnupiravir - was given twice a day to patients recently diagnosed with the disease.

US drug-maker Merck said its results were so positive that outside monitors had asked to stop the trial early.

It said it would apply for emergency use authorisation for the drug in the US in the next two weeks."

Best
Les

Reading these posts tells me something. I’m going to take every precaution to not get this virus. Vaccine,mask, social distancing, whatever it takes. All my best to your friend, I hope he makes it thru. [emoji3577]

Why does that matter if he has ended up fighting for his life?

If you won’t take the vaccine why would you take the new pill? Just asking as I still don’t understand why people won’t get vaccinated.

Its an interesting data point. When most deaths are the unvaccinated its worth knowing the patients status.

It has a massive effect on the odds of someone surviving Covid, even if they do wind up in the hospital. The OP is asking what his friend's odds are. It would be extremely rare for a fully vaccinated person to wind up on a ventilator, though, so I'm guessing that his buddy passed on the vaccines. Damn shame. :(

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Kontak View Post
Also have to ask, vaccinated or not?
Why does that matter if he has ended up fighting for his life?

THE DATA ARE VERY VERY CLEAR ON THIS:

if you are vaccinated and get covid , your chances of having a mild course, non life threatening disease, are GREATLY GREATLY INCREASED. this includes less risk of hospitalization , and , if you are hospitalized, a much faster discharge. almost every parameter of disease severity is reduced in vaccinated people.

so the vac. is not just preventative to infection, it largely charts the course of recovery if you are still infected.

(30 year ivy league MD-PHD virologist/professor here..)