Update - and this is right in line with him, at least for entertainment!
Got to talk to him today! (In fact-twice- for the second time, I just got off the phone)
He's not on the ventilator at the moment, and I didn't ask for specifics, but his voice is raspy as hell. Perhaps they tubed him earlier. I don't know. I didn't ask. For the moment, he's not on ventilator, and just holding off of it. (from what I could translate from the wife, they were considering traching him, but I don't know, she was hard to understand last night)
Anyway- Conversation one:
Me- "Hey, what's up? Hear you are not doing well..."
Him-"I'm eating dinner- can't talk right now"
humor intact- he must be doing okay...
So evidently he's hanging in there, but, this was really confirmed from the previous conversation I had with the front desk of the hospital. Not his nurse, not the floor, but the hospital! By the time I called, the information desk was "well aware" of his presence, as well as his "wifes" presence. The fact the two of them could make such an impression on the concierge desk of a big hospital to be on a first name basis within the first 24 was right in line with both of their personalities, and let me know, that at least for the short term, he's as good as ever! I made some comment to the information desk like "uh oh..." and she was laughing her ass off.:
Basically, he is in isolation until covid results come in. His wife states "he cannot hold a phone without help" and I (by her instruction) was to instruct the "inept" staff to go hold the phone for him. Being in healthcare, I was not about to ask a busy staff to go gown up and stand there holding a phone for a covid isolation patient if not necessary.
Anyway, he (or the staff) had
disconnected his phone, and the nurse had to reconnect it. I asked the staff to NOT go in specifically to reconnect the phone, but when they needed to go in for something else, to please hook it back up. No special trips. At some point, connections were re-established, and my family got to talk to him. He immediately answered, and we were all genuinely happy about it(well- the second time, once he had dinner).
Whether he had disconnected the phone and claimed not to be able to hold it to ward off his wife, or the hospital had disconnected it to shut him up, it didn't really matter, we got to talk, and if that's the end of the line, it is, but he sounded really good-
I am a lot more hopeful tonight. He got to talk to my daughter, and he's in good spirits.
I'll take that good news.