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"It was a nightmare," Tricia Russee said of husband Tim McGillis' experience with COVID-19 this past fall. He was hospitalized on September 7 and baled bacterial and COVID pneumonia for six weeks before his discharge on October 19. Tricia wasn't allowed to see him except by the pictures he would send from his hospital bed. "He was on the maximum amount of oxygen they could put him on and was in prey rough shape when I got to see him" about two weeks later. His kids were finally able to see him on the 23rd. "Basically, they were saying he's not going to make it; his lungs are too scarred. I said, 'no, he's going to be well,' even if it takes him longer to heal than they'd like. I called my family, and we prayed." Baling Late COVID Twice, over the phone, the hospital recommended palliative care to Tricia. Twice, she said, "I'm not going to accept that." Tim added, "And I didn't want to go on a ventilator unless I absolutely had to." Tricia researched COVID-19 treatments and asked the hospital to administer ivermectin but was told they did not have an FDA-approved regimen. She asked to see his chest X-rays but recalled, "ey couldn't do a chest CT with the level of oxygen he was on. I went home and bawled my eyes out," she said. Tricia found a way around the system, and Tim took his first dose of ivermectin at the end of September. "Sunday night aer the first dose, he had his oxygen off for two hours, though he still had the rebreather and cannula," she said. e hospital was also giving him Vitamin C, D, and zinc. Tricia Russee and Tim McGillis: Back home with Tricia and family, Tim says, "I keep trying to do more every day." 47 farm406

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