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My name was Sam. I was a loving son, husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, brother, brother-in-law, and friend. I was a Navy veteran and a retired high school math and physics teacher. I enjoyed hunting in my younger years, doing yard work, hiking, and golfing. My wife, Debbie, and I enjoyed traveling after we retired; we were so excited about our upcoming 50th anniversary cruise scheduled for February 2024.
During the evening of March 2, 2022, I tested positive for COVID with a home test, and verified it by re-testing at an urgent care center. I had very mild symptoms.
At the end of March, I began having some odd conversations with my wife; even though I was talking to her, it was obvious to her that I thought I was talking to my brother-in-law. In June, I began having visual hallucinations -- seeing people and things that were not there. At that time, my physician assistant ordered an MRI of my brain and consulted neurology. I saw a neurologist in July who ordered many additional tests. All of my tests were basically normal. Because of the normal testing and how my symptoms had begun, I was given a diagnosis of COVID encephalopathy, which is brain disease that alters brain function. In August, my physician assistant ordered medication and my symptoms improved for a few months, but they did not disappear completely.
In November, I started having increased symptoms and in January 2023, I started hallucinating again on a regular basis. During the next few months, I started getting irritated and sometimes agitated with my hallucinations. During the spring, I lost interest in things that I really enjoyed, especially golf. During the summer months, my irritation increased, and I started to have some physical issues with my coordination and the steadiness of my walking. In October and November, there were times that I did not recognize my wife or my son who lives locally. During that time, I also experienced increasing physical issues and my sleeping became very irregular. I spent the last two weeks of my life in the hospital with my wife and my sons by my side. I died on December 11, 2023 with Debbie at my side. I was 71 years old.
This is my husband's story of his struggle with long COVID for 21 months. There are many other stories and problems about long COVID that need to be told. Sam's COVID encephalopathy caused not only dementia that became quite severe but physical issues as well. There is no known treatment for COVID encephalopathy. I am eternally grateful to our physician assistant. Without his knowledge, research, and support, I believe that Sam's journey would have been even more difficult. Sam was a very active, kind, and gentle man. COVID robbed me of the love of my life and has robbed many others of their loved ones as well. My sincere wish is that if Sam's story can help anyone, his death will not have been in vain.
Having traveled this terrible journey with Sam, I feel compelled to share some information about COVID. First and foremost, COVID is real. COVID is a fact of life. COVID is caused by a virus, SARS-CoV-2, that mutates (changes) just like any virus. We should not fear COVID, but we must take it very, very seriously! We need to be smart about COVID by living a healthy lifestyle, getting the updated vaccines, masking in crowded indoor spaces, testing when you have symptoms, notifying your physician immediately for possible treatment when you test positive, and staying home when you are sick to help prevent further spread.
In memory of my loving husband and all the others who have lost their lives from COVID, as well as in honor of all those suffering with long COVID, I have one wish and request for everyone: please, please, please be smart about COVID.
Deborah Bierly, RN, CV-BC, a critical care/cardiology nurse for 50 years, is retired and lives in Clinton County.