Chris Tillett was intubated in the ICU. He underwent a medically-induced coma after contracting the coronavirus. Ten days later, he wakes up, but had mild amnesia.
Christ Tillett Started With a Flu
Chris Tillett, 45, had a 102-degree Fahrenheit fever when he returned home from a work conference in San Francisco. His doctor treated the illness like flu. However, Chris' condition worsened, and after a few days, he was rushed to the emergency room where he tested positive for COVID-19. Soon after, he was intubated in the ICU.
His wife, Elizabeth, 32, told People that she was so scared because her husband is sick with pneumonia. She said that after receiving some IV antibiotics, her husband is now in a coma with the virus that she does not know. She said she was not ready because she did not research anything about it at all.
Dr. Melissa Saad, from Danbury Hospital, was the only one to diagnose Chris as having been infected with the virus. Chris said that all the other doctors dismissed the idea that he probably contracted the coronavirus, since he had no known underlying conditions, except a partially thickened heart due to sleep apnea.
Elizabeth Had to Self-Isolate
On March 6, Elizabeth was immediately told to do self-isolation with the couple's 5-month-old twin sons, John and Luke, after Chris's result showed positive with the coronavirus.
Elizabeth said that she did not say goodbye to her husband nor look at him because she did not want to risk any more than her husband because she has to go home and take care of their two babies.
As a registered nurse, Elizabeth had a hard time balancing her role as a wife, mother, and healthcare proxy for her comatose husband. She said that it was a very "surreal, scary, and trapped feeling": she had to maneuver between learning about the disease from zero knowledge and being a wife as well. She did not know how to do anything, and she had to learn "really, really fast".
Chris was utterly impressed by how his wife handled everything. He described his wife as "Wonder Woman."
Chris Appreciates Efforts of Compassionate Health Workers
Since Elizabeth was not allowed to visit her husband, Chris' nurse Vanessa Williams and nurse manager Shelby Newkirk helped to facilitate Facetime so that Elizabeth could be updated on her husband's situation.
Chris said that the nurses at the hospital he was confined in knew that he would have no visitors, so they took care of him not only as a patient but as a human. Chris highlighted the generous act of compassion that not all hospital staff would do, especially during a global health crisis.
He said that he appreciated their effort because he was truly scared of being all alone, and he does not know what to expect. And then he added that it meant a lot to him having people encouraging him to continue living his life.
Elizabeth Waiting At Home
Elizabeth felt comfort as she imagines her husband, Chris, coming back home to hold their baby boys again. She said that that was all she could picture. She believed that it was going to happen; she just had to wait patiently.
Eventually, on March 17, Chris woke up from his coma and was discharged about a week later.
Chris Did Not Remember His Wife
Elizabeth was eager to see her husband; however, it was not the same for Chris, who had forgotten all about her and their twins. Chris said that he felt like he was 18 or 19 again. It was like a reset for him. It took him about three or four days before he came back to his senses.
When Chris tested negative twice to his coronavirus tests, and Elizabeth was going to pick him up from the hospital, her initial reaction was to push him away.
She said that in her mind, she was so scared to hug her husband for the first 24 hours because she did not want to get what he had. She said that she wished to Chris to take a shower for three hours and let him stay downstairs.
Since arriving home, Chris said that slowly he is starting to feel like how he used to before getting ill, but there are times that he could not sleep, thinking about the people he left behind in the hospital.
Chris is telling the people to stay at home and practice social distancing to prevent further spread of the virus.
Elizabeth currently stays at home with her family; however, she wants to go to work when she remembers the people who have helped her husband recover from his illness.
