Resident tells of seven weeks in ICU battling Covid-19

While most people infected with Covid-19 recover from the virus within weeks, others become severely ill with lasting effects.

Luis Chadinha, a Pretoria resident, was one of those people who did not have a lucky escape after he caught the virus.

Chadinha (65) spent seven weeks in hospital, most of which he spent in the ICU before moving to high care, with severe Covid symptoms.

He was admitted to the Groenkloof Life hospital in the east of Pretoria on 26 February, due to saturation levels (oxygen levels in the blood) dwindling to 45 and a high temperature.

“My infection started very light,” said Chadinha.

“It was few days before we were hospitalised. My wife Maria (60) and I only had mild flu-like symptoms at first. We went to the doctor and we did not get tested because we did not have that many Covid symptoms.”

He and Maria’s health, however, took a drastic downturn only three days after they tested positive for Covid-19. They landed in hospital, both being very sick.

“After we were admitted, I stayed four days in the general ward before I was moved to ICU. After that, I lost consciousness,” Chadinha said.

Maria said it was a frightening Tuesday morning when she was woken up at around 01:00 and told her husband was going to the ICU.

“He was put on a ventilator because the doctors said his lungs were badly infected, which caused him to struggle to breathe. He stayed in ICU for about a week in an induced coma. The machines were breathing for him.”

Following eight days in the ICU, Chadinha recovered and was taken off the ventilator. He had a tracheotomy, the procedure through which a hole cut is cut in the neck for a breathing pipe to be fitted. Three days later, he had to be put into an induced coma for the second time.

“He was there for about three weeks. Then he was sent to the high intensive care unit because he got worse and could not breathe at all. That was my breaking point because the doctors told the family he had a 50/50 chance of survival.

“That was heart-breaking.”

Watching news of daily deaths due to Covid-19, Maria said the reality then dawned that there might be a possibility that her husband would not be coming out of hospital.

“Family support and prayers made me have hope but to tell the truth, I was scared I was going to lose him.”

Although Chadinha falls in a high risk category because of his age, he still survived.

“The doctors said his lungs were severely damaged. For four weeks, he stayed on ventilators for most of that time. To communicate, he would squeeze my hands, which gave us hope he would survive this battle.”

In the seven weeks Chadinha spent in hospital, he missed the funerals of both his mother (who died two days before he was admitted) and his sister (who died during his hospitalisation).

“It has been such an emotional journey for us as a family. Without the support of my sons, doctors, nurses and everyone who helped us, I do not know how we could have survived this.”

Chadinah was discharged on Thursday, 15 April and now needs an oxygen tank to breathe most of the time.

“He still battles with his breathing. The doctors said he would be on oxygen until his lungs recovered. The only time he does not breathe with the tank is when he is taking a shower or taking the dog for a walk, which takes roughly six minutes.”

Aside from breathing, she and her husband have suffered from back pains and fatigue since then.

“While there are some people that get infected and only get mild symptoms, I would like to tell people that Covid-19 does exist and it is no joke. Please let us wear our masks, social distance and do anything in our power to not get infected.”

Maria during this time said, the family also lost their business. With her husband not fully recovered, he had not returned to work.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), it takes people who suffered from severe Covid-19 anything from weeks to months to recover.

“It takes time for affected body systems to return to full strength. For example, if the lungs have been affected, how much time is needed to return to normal function will depend on how much strength a person has lost and how much damage has been done to their lungs.”

Eighty percent of people who get infected are, however, expected to recover within a week to 10 days.

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