That was Donelson’s turning point. He still
wasn’t deemed virus-free but physical therapists
cautiously spent a little more time helping him
gain strength and learn to swallow. His first bite:
chocolate pudding.
Terri Donelson countered the long periods of
isolation by keeping the video app running
non-stop, talking to her husband and giving him
quizzes to stimulate his memory.
“Little by little, with each day, he gains something
new, something else reawakens,” she said.
Finally, on June 19, 90 days after the frantic
ambulance ride, Donelson — still weak
but recovering — went home. His doctor
is humbled by his survival, and anxiously
awaiting better science to help guide care as
the pandemic continues.
“If you have one patient who leaves a really
strong impression on you, you may interpret
that patient’s experience to be hallmark. Until
we have large, population-based studies of
actual outcomes, it’s really hard to know what’s
real and what’s not real,” Goff said.Image: Spencer Platt