Gasping for each breath, 60-year-old Greenwood resident Kevin Lloyd listened from his hospital bed as the doctors discussed his prognosis with his family.
Although Lloyd was no longer infected with COVID-19, his bout with the virus had left his lungs severely scarred. Only high-flow oxygen was keeping him alive and the doctors saw little long-term hope for him, given the damaged state of his lungs. Weâve done all we can do here, the doctor said.
But Debbie Lloyd, Kevinâs wife, refused to accept what she was hearing. Earlier that same day her father had succumbed to COVID-19 in a hospital bed in Florida.
Gasping for each breath, 60-year-old Greenwood resident Kevin Lloyd listened from his hospital bed as the doctors discussed his prognosis with his family.
Although Lloyd was no longer infected with COVID-19, his bout with the virus had left his lungs severely scarred. Only high-flow oxygen was keeping him alive and the doctors saw little long-term hope for him, given the damaged state of his lungs. We’ve done all we can do here, the doctor said.
But Debbie Lloyd, Kevin’s wife, refused to accept what she was hearing. Earlier that same day her father had succumbed to COVID-19 in a hospital bed in Florida.
The Emergency Nurses Association has named Ron Kraus president. He serves as an emergency department clinical nurse specialist at Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital.
4:12
“I found myself needing to use double the amount of insulin I would normally use to get my blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible,” says Rentel, who works at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “That’s when I knew something was very wrong.”
Having too much blood sugar means it’s not being well regulated by a hormone called insulin. This can damage blood vessels supplying vital organs.
And though other severe illnesses can cause elevated blood sugar levels, COVID-19 is doing that at a rate that worries health care workers. Even non-diabetics may have a hard time.
Originally published on December 22, 2020 9:40 am
William Rentel, a nurse practitioner in Ohio, has Type 1 diabetes but has been able to keep his blood sugar well-managed.
That changed when he and his wife contracted COVID-19 this spring.
“I found myself needing to use double the amount of insulin I would normally use to get my blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible,” recalls Rentel, who works at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “That’s when I knew something was very wrong.”
Having too much blood sugar means it’s not being well regulated by a hormone called insulin. This can damage blood vessels supplying vital organs.