WARREN — People infected with COVID-19 experience the disease in a myriad of different ways, but in the worst cases, isolation is a common feature.

Kevin Wyndham, of Howland, has been in isolated quarantine away from his friends and family for six weeks since coming down with the virus, and still has not received the all-clear through a negative COVID-19 test.

Wyndham was hospitalized with COVID-19 at Trumbull Regional Medical Center on Oct. 31, more than 10 days after first waking up with an elevated fever on Oct. 19.

Although there is no good time to contract the disease, the timing couldn’t have been worse for Wyndham in the days leading up to the Nov. 3 election. He chairs the Trumbull County Republican Party and runs two businesses.

Because Wyndham and his employees were taking their temperatures daily, he knew the 99.5 degree was above his average temperature.

“So, I decided to stay home and monitor it. I soon found all I wanted to do was sleep and the fever would vary almost hourly between 98 and 101.5,” Wyndham said in an interview via messaging, because he still has a cough that gets worse when he speaks.

He started quarantining himself and when he tested positive for the virus, he sent his daughter to her mother’s house.

EARLY DAYS

OF ILLNESS

Wyndham isn’t sure when he was exposed to the virus. He wore a mask whenever he went out, and although he went to Cleveland the week before, no one else who was with became sick and his doctor told him he may have contracted the virus before that. The doctor told him it takes two to five days after exposure before symptoms appear.

In the second week, Wyndham’s fever went away but he started to get the dry cough COVID-19 patients often get.

“It was constant and very disruptive to eating and sleeping,” Wyndham said.

Although he was on medications, he became dehydrated and couldn’t stop coughing, so he went to the emergency room and was admitted Halloween night.

“I was isolated. They took me from emergency to my room and I stayed there until I left. The room had negative air set up at the window, which was reassuring so I knew the air was turning over adequately,” Wyndham said. “I was initially as worried about getting worse from the hospital than I already was, but everyone came in properly donned and they seemed to be doing a good job to avoid contamination or cross contamination.”

Heather McCowin, director of nursing for Mercy Health, said patients are often admitted when they have respiratory distress, low oxygen levels or a high fever.

“Most come to us from the emergency room. We screen them for oxygen levels and temperature, respiratory distress, because those are things they can’t manage from home,” McCowin said.

After admission, patients are seen by an infectious disease physician, placed in isolation and a patient plan is developed based on the individual’s needs.

“Most of the time it is a collaboration of treatments, with respiratory therapies, supplemental oxygen, and in some cases, people are placed on a ventilator to help them breath.

“It depends on each patient. Each patient can be affected in various ways, with various symptoms,” McCowin said.

The staff stayed positive and the treatments worked to reduce his cough, but his oxygen levels were low, which is a lingering issue, he said. He was treated with steroids, zinc, vitamins and the antiviral medication remdesivir.

At first, he needed supplemental oxygen even while lying in bed, but as he improved, he still needed it just to get out of bed.

Since coming home, his oxygen levels have improved, but he was sent home with supplemental oxygen to use.

“I came home to an oxygen set up, but after two days I no longer needed it at rest, and I’ve made continual improvement on moving around. I just keep the O2 handy now just in case, but I haven’t pushed myself too hard yet either, so how close to normal I am is impossible to gauge at this point,” Wyndham said.

WAITING GAME

He won’t know his exact state until he tests negative for the virus, enabling a trip to the pulmonologist, he said.

“So, now it’s a waiting game,” he said.

Going to the hospital landed him in a mandatory, 14-day quarantine, but he still needs to test negative before he can get back to regular activity, he said.

Even though he has been alone for weeks, Wyndham said he considers himself lucky.

“I know I’m lucky. I’m in my 50’s, I’m healthier than most, but definitely not as healthy as I could or should be, and I have underlying health conditions — a stroke and a history of pneumonia, so I know I’ve been really lucky,” Wyndham said.

He stays in touch with people via text and email, because talking makes him cough.

He doesn’t expect to leave quarantine until the end of this week, at the earliest, but took two tests last week for which he is waiting on results. It is taking longer to get results because of the surge in cases, he said.

“I completely missed the fall, the election, Halloween, my birthday and I’ll miss Thanksgiving most likely,” Wyndham said.