The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Conn. woman suffers setbacks in coronavirus recovery
Barbara Jackson seemed to have beaten COVID-19; that’s when other problems began to surface
MILFORD — When Barbara Jackson was removed from the ventilator more than two weeks ago, her family rejoiced.
Jackson, it seemed, had beaten her near-fatal bout of the coronavirus.
After three weeks on a ventilator, Jackson was finally breathing on her own again. In the ensuing days, Jackson was moved from the intensive care unit at Bridgeport Hospital to a progressive care unit, and then to a regular hospital room.
“When she went on the ventilator, I figured I had a 50-50 chance of ever seeing her again. So when she came off (the ventilator), we figured she had dodged a bullet,” said her husband of 30 years, Lou Jackson. “That’s when I started to think that I might actually get to see her again.”
But that’s when the other problems began to surface.
Doctors told the family that the 77-year-old was showing signs of post-intensive-care syndrome, which includes symptoms like generalized weakness, fatigue, decreased mobility and a host of other cognitive issues. These symptoms could last anywhere from a few months to several years, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Jackson’s time on the ventilator also appeared to exacerbate her preexisting condition of myasthenia gravis, a long-term neuromuscular disease that leads to varying degrees of skeletal muscle weakness, most commonly in the eyes, face and throat.
While the mortality rate for patients with myasthenia gravis is typically in the single digits, Lou Jackson fears his wife’s battle with the coronavirus has left her weakened.
“You just start to think if this will ever end,” he said. “First, it was the coronavirus, and now this? But we just keep praying, because that’s all we can do at this point.”
Jackson said he and his stepdaughter have spoken to Barbara Jackson every day since she’s been off the ventilator. Too weak to speak, Jackson often communicates with nods, gestures and the occasional soft-voiced whisper.
However, due to the quarantine, the family has not been able to visit the recovering 77-year-old in person yet.
Barbara Jackson has been at Bridgeport Hospital since March 26, when she was transported from the Golden Hill Rehab Pavilion, where she had been recovering from a hip replacement surgery.
The last time Jackson and her husband saw each other was at Milford Hospital on March 17, the day after her routine procedure.
“She was doing well and looking forward to getting her rehab done so she could come back home,” Lou Jackson, 76, said in March.
His wife arrived at the Golden Hill facility on March 20, right as it was being locked down to the public.
Since Jackson couldn’t visit his wife in person, he called her every day to keep in touch.
But six days into her stay, Jackson
received an unexpected call from a Golden Hill employee. He was told his wife was being rushed to Bridgeport Hospital with the coronavirus symptoms.
It was the first time Jackson heard that his wife might be sick.
“I just didn’t think this would happen, I thought she’d be safe there,” Jackson said.
Since then, at least 67 people at Golden Hill have tested positive for COVID-19 and nine have died, according to state data released on Thursday.
Though it is still unknown where his wife contracted coronavirus, Jackson said Golden Hill is “the prime suspect” in his opinion.
“My wife had told me that the staff weren’t wearing any masks, despite the lockdown,” the Milford resident said. “And one day, when I went to drop some things off, I also noticed that workers weren’t wearing gloves.”
Golden Hill, however, contends that Barbara Jackson contracted the virus while at Milford Hospital for her hip surgery.
“In fact, the medical evidence suggests that this resident brought COVID-19 into Golden Hill. There were no other cases prior to her admission and all other cases were subsequent to her discharge,” the rehabilitation facility said in a statement released last month.
The statement does not address Jackson by name, but references the patient’s hip surgery with a timeline that matches when the 77-year-old arrived at Golden Hill. The statement also references comments made by the woman’s husband to the media that are consistent with what Lou Jackson has said.
The state Department of Public
Health is conducting an investigation of Golden Hill for several issues.
One aspect of the investigation is to determine whether several recent pneumonia deaths at the Bridgeport Avenue facility were related to the coronavirus.
The investigation comes after one patient, 91-year-old Jean Louis Auclair, had his death certificate changed by the Chief State’s Medical Examiner. It now reflects his death was likely associated with the coronavirus. His death was originally attributed to respiratory failure.
“I’ve been thinking the last couple of days why I even let her go to Golden Hill in the first place,” Jackson said. “I would just tell people to get their loved ones out of there as soon as possible. Call an ambulance and get them somewhere else, because they’re just sitting ducks in there at this point.”
Jackson said his wife may need to go to an intensive rehabilitation center after her hospital stay to recover from the lingering side effects from the coronavirus.