After being hospitalised in New York for over two weeks with COVID-19, attorney Jerome Khan is warning persons to take the virus seriously.
Khan had posted on his social media in January that he was hospitalised after testing positive for COVID-19 and stated that his post was intended to let people know how damaging the virus could be and to ensure that they take the necessary safety precautions.
In an interview with Stabroek News last week, Khan stated that he made his way to New York to have an issue with one of his eyes checked out. He arrived there on January 9th with hopes of having his appointment the following Monday. At that time he stated that he was feeling just fine and did not have any symptoms. However upon arrival for his doctor’s appointment, after having his temperature checked it was revealed that he had a high fever although at the time he said he felt nothing.
As a result his doctor encouraged him to go home and use aspirin as he then had no other symptoms of the virus. Khan’s temperature had dropped significantly by the time of his rescheduled appointment and after the examination he was then referred to another specialist.
“I contacted the specialist the following day and when he heard that I just came from Guyana, he demanded that I get a COVID test. In the meantime my temperature was up and down,” Khan said. Subsequently he went to the NYU Langone Hospital, where he was administered a COVID-19 test and was then told to quarantine at home.
“I came home, they told me stay home, quarantine yourself… That didn’t get to take place because I took a turn for the worse, so I took an ambulance… to a hospital and I was immediately admitted. They ran back a test and confirmed me COVID positive,” he recounted.
At that time Khan explained that he was experiencing headaches, body aches, extreme thirst and had a high fever. He was then admitted to an isolation ward at another hospital.
As the time went by, the attorney explained that his condition worsened and he started losing weight rapidly and it was at that time doctors started to work with him around the clock. At that time he said that he decided to make the social media post and warn persons as he did not know where or how he caught the virus. “I followed all the protocols, I don’t know where I caught it, if it was on the plane, in the taxi from the airport, I don’t know but I started to deteriorate and it took a mental toll on me,” he said.
Speaking further on the mental effects of his illness, Khan stated that he became depressed and was then questioning a number of things. “There are moments you lose faith, there are moments you feel you wouldn’t wake up in the morning, because there’s death all around you,” he said.
In addition to that he said that going from being a very active person and then having to be in a hospital fighting for his life took a toll.
He also took note of nurses who would sometime cry as they saw either persons they knew or other patients die as a result of the virus.
Meanwhile as his battle with COVID-19 became public knowledge, he said a number of persons reached out and that helped him significantly. “A lot of people reached out and that helped me, [and it] saved my life because I was able to talk to people. I couldn’t see my family up here and I met some very good Guyanese medical personnel,” he mentioned, before adding that many of those persons went out of their way to assist him and became a bridge between him and his family.
During his stay in the hospital’s isolation ward, his lungs became terribly battered to a point where doctors considered placing him on a ventilator. However they tried with different medication as doctors noted that he was fighting. He mentioned that doctors tried their hardest to keep him out of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
When asked, Khan noted that the health care staff there treated him with a number of drugs, including Remdesivir, steroids to assist his lungs, vitamin D and blood thinners to prevent blood clots from affecting the lungs.
He mentioned that in addition to that he was able to use a homemade mix of
boiled ginger, garlic, honey and lemon as well, which he believes assisted in building his immune system.
Khan told this newspaper that he was been discharged from the hospital last. However, he recounted that his first day home was horrible as he was still having major issues with his breathing. He noted that he experienced weakness, loss of muscle mass, weight loss, loss of both taste and smell.
“You got to everyday fight, don’t give up. Pray to God because if you survive COVID it’s a new lease on life God has given you and it makes you start see things differently about life,” Khan noted.
He went on to say that so far he has slightly regained his sense of taste but has not regained the sense of smell. Khan said that he is expected to be tested again during week and added that when he was discharged some five days ago the doctors expressed their concern for the condition of his lungs. He is currently on oxygen even as he has been discharged.
Khan went on to implore persons to take the novel coronavirus seriously and be careful. “Please take it seriously, I had one of the strictest protocols in my chambers and I still got it,” he said.
