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Julie Stevens is a Registered Nurse in the Emergency Department at UnityPoint Health – Marshalltown, and she found herself in a familiar environment in August.
However, now she was a patient.
Stevens chose not to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and had contracted the virus. Because she was a healthy 39-year-old woman with no underlying health issues, she tried to manage things at home. Soon, however, a trip to the Marshalltown emergency room was required and a hospital admission followed.
Over the next two weeks, Stevens’ situation turned grim and she fought for her survival. When she needed intensive care, she was transferred to Ames, where she was intubated and placed on a ventilator. During this time, her healthcare team has kept in touch with UnityPoint Health in Des Moines in case she needs urgent action, such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatments.
Between struggles to breathe, Stevens found time to think.
“I was lying there thinking, ‘Why didn’t I get the vaccine? “” Stevens said. “Of course at this point it’s too late and I’m about to be put on a vent. Number two was this – I have two teenage daughters. I wondered who was going to take care of my children? I won’t be there for their weddings, for their graduation ceremonies, you know, those things.
Fortunately, Stevens has finally taken a turn for the better. After 15 days of hospitalization, she was sent home on oxygen and weaned herself off. Still, she came out of the battle convinced of the decision she made not to get the vaccine.
This is because her husband, Taveis, also contracted COVID-19 but had chosen to be vaccinated. Her symptoms were limited to a mild fever and some body aches.
“My big trick is to try to withdraw the vaccination policy”, Stevens said. “Having a career in healthcare means we believe in science. It has been proven that people who have been vaccinated are much less likely to end up in a situation like mine. “
Stevens’ battle began with a fever and severe pain. “Pain like I had never felt before” she said. “My skin even hurt.”
After being admitted to UnityPoint Health – Marshalltown, she was put on regular oxygen, however, this was not enough, and she was transferred to an intensive care unit.
Once there, his oxygen levels dropped to the 60% range. Typically, anyone below 92% or with heavy work of breathing, such as rapid breathing, is a cause of hospitalization. Her heart went into V-tach, or ventricular tachycardia, a heart rhythm disorder. Typically, V-tach patients have their hearts shocked to regain rhythm.
Medication helped keep Stevens’ heart rate going, but she was on high-flow nasal cannula oxygenation and receiving 15 liters of oxygen per minute, which is the most a patient could get. And, again, his oxygen levels were only in the 70s.
The intensive care unit attracted hospital and intensive care, pulmonology and infectious disease departments. They decided to intubate Stevens and planned for potential ECMO treatments, which is when a machine is used to bypass the lungs to improve oxygenation of the blood. When people go on ECMO, it’s usually for weeks.
The intubation and ventilator helped stabilize Stevens. She was released at the end of August and is expected to make a full recovery. She is not working, and if her recovery plateaued, a pulmonologist will need to determine if she has suffered long-term lung damage.
“Really my thing is, if I can just get someone to understand how important the vaccine is, then I feel like I’ve done my job. “ Stevens said. “I think people have a misconception like me. First, I was like, “I don’t want to get (vaccinated) because I’m going to feel sick for a few days.” Well, I would have taken a few days of body aches and fever instead of two weeks in the hospital with intubation. I mean, I was a healthy 39 year old male.
“And number two, the vaccination doesn’t mean you aren’t going to catch COVID. You can still get COVID, but that should keep you from going to the hospital. “
Stevens is grateful for the care she received in both locations, including from hospitable Karrie Lisboa and her team in Marshalltown. And her fellow caregivers reached out with messages of support daily, while delivering meals upon her return home.
Perhaps the most impactful point of contact was a reassuring comment from one of the human resources contacts, who told Stevens that her job was waiting for her and that she would focus on improving it.
Stevens had her reasons for not getting the vaccine, and she hopes she can spare others the dangers of making the same decision.
“I just didn’t want to do it for the most part” she said. “And then as soon as (UnityPoint Health) came out and said, ‘You have to do this’…’
“The hindsight is 20/20, but I realized that UnityPoint and everyone is doing it for their staff and their patients” Stevens said. “I mean, if we’re sick, we can’t take care of the patients. So it’s really no longer political for me. They try to do what’s best for the staff.
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