Carmelo Saia of Grasmere was on a ventilator for approximately 3 1/2 days before a dose of hydroxychloroquine helped turn things around from a battle with COVID-19. (Courtesy of Gina DeRosa)
Posted on 04/20/2020 7:14:28 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Carmelo Saia says he has a whole new outlook on life just weeks after COVID-19 nearly took his life while battling the deadly virus in the Intensive Care Unit.
Saia is still recovering from his bout with coronavirus, but he’s back in his Grasmere home and now believes he’s living proof that it’s not an automatic death sentence when you contract the disease.
Acknowledging that approximately only 20 percent of people who go on ventilators, as he did, survive, he believes his life was saved after giving a doctor the thumbs up to use the experimental drug hydroxychoroquine after it appeared he was out of other options.
"People need to see some positive things, not just all the negative stuff you see on the news,'' said Saia on Monday, which is exactly two weeks after he was discharged from Staten Island University Hospital’s Ocean Breeze campus after he did a complete 180. "You can make it, no matter how (bleak) your situation is.
"I’m 100 percent proof.''
According to Saia, his initial experience at SIUH North wasn’t a good one after an ambulance brought him there on March 25.
"I thought they dropped the ball the first time,'' he said. "I couldn’t breathe and I had a temperature. They took a chest X-ray and diagnosed me with inflammation of the lungs and sent me home without antibiotics and eventually, things got worse.
"That’s the only thing I got upset about.''
Unfortunately, Saia was rushed back to the hospital just two days later when he started gasping for air. Technicians took another chest X-ray and he not only discovered he had double pneumonia, but also learned he was positive for the coronavirus.
The 46-year-old was admitted into what he called SIUH North’s “4B Unit” and said the care he received from the nurses and Patient Care Assistants (PCA) was second to none.
"I was in there for a total of 12 days,'' he said. "The nurses and PCAs were absolutely amazing. They were there anytime I needed them and honestly, the way they did their jobs was an inspiration.''
But just the same, early in his visit, things started to look bleak. He still couldn’t breathe to the point where he needed a nurse.
"I hit the little red button and she came in and got a doctor. He put a stethoscope on my side and I heard him tell the nurse to ‘call the anesthesiologist and respiratory therapist,’' said Saia, noting he was not put on a ventilator yet. "That’s when I thought i was going to die. I can’t put it into words -- it crossed my mind that I wasn’t going to make it.''
Now in complete respiratory failure, a doctor asked Saia if he wanted to try hydroxychoroquine, the anti-malarial drug that is sometimes given to COVID-19 patients. A desperate Saia agreed to take it and was also give Zithromax (Z-pack).
Eventually, Saia’s oxygen levels began to improve and he was taken off the ventilator.
"I couldn’t breathe, so I did what I had to and that included taking the hydroxychoroquine,'' said the father of sons 14 and 11-years-old. "(The hydroxychoroquine) definitely kept me alive and I think anybody with the virus should take the drug. It helped me.''
Saia, a construction worker for most of his life that is employed by Gemstar Construction, was discharged from the hospital on April 6 and recently felt good enough to take a stroll on the South Beach boardwalk.
His experience has changed him for the better.
"The disease was really taxing on my body, but I’m home and, considering what I went through, I feel great,'' he said. "I feel like I got a second chance in life and there’s no reason why others can’t overcome this virus too.''
Saia had one piece of advice for everyone, whether they had COVID-19 or not.
"Simply put, don’t sweat the small stuff,'' he said. "My outlook on life has changed and I’m not going to worry about small things any longer.''
another way to describe ‘anecdotal atory’ is ‘successful case’
enough successful cases in and of themselves, recorded accurately and with particulars, builds the scientific foundations themselves.
and i say that because its repeated and observable. and described often with good particulars/details so that often those details help further understand things about whatever’s attempting to be learned about.
Yup.
And don't forget: if it's uncomfortably warm, that's because of the climate.
But if it's uncomfortably cold, that's because of the weather.
I called my doctor and got a script of hydrochloroquine and z-pack today to have on standby in my medicine cabinet.
Shut up citizen, if you know what’s good for you. Nothing that benefits Trump can be thought, much less spoken or written.
RE: I called my doctor and got a script of hydrochloroquine and z-pack today to have on standby in my medicine cabinet.
What are California’s rules regarding hydrochloroquine for Covid-19?
Did you get a prescription without a Covid-19 positive diagnosis?
This can’t be done in the State of NY where I live.
Actually I’m in Florida. I simply called my Dr. and asked for it to have on hand. No testing
Where/how to get your zinc? Some other smart FReepers can jump in here and correct me if they want because I am not a molecular biologist, but I understand that the human body, even under the best of conditions, finds it very, very difficult to absorb zinc.
So the standard zinc supplements aren't really that good. For instance, breakfast cereals that are enriched with zinc (that would be many standard dry cereals) add it in the form of zinc oxide (which is not very absorbable) and then you eat the cereal with milk, and the calcium further blocks absorption. A big waste.
Calcium-Zinc tablets have the same problem: the Ca blocks the Zinc. (Why they make them that way, I don't know.)
Anyway, animal-based foods have zinc which is far more absorbable. #1 is smoked oysters. You just need 2 or 3 of those little oysters, eat em on a ritz cracker with hot sauce. (Not sour cream or cream cheese: the Calcium problem once again.)
Also good: beef, pork, lamb. Go kosher and do not eat dairy at the same meal.
What boosts Zinc absorption? Vitamin C. Therefore, for instance, smoked oysters in the tomato sauce on pasta. But forget the Parmesan.
Two unknowables that, if knowable, would be very interesting:
1. Would he have lived without the hydroxychloroquine, and
2. Would the doctor have suggested it if President Trump had never brought it to the forefront in his press briefings?
If both answers are “no,” then President Trump saved the man’s life.
Meanwhile, the press is doing its best to get us killed. And that’s not much of an exaggeration, either, especially if you live in a state where a Democrat Governor has restricted access to it due to the negative press coverage.
Needless to say, his treatment with Hydroxychloroquine plus Zithromax is NOT the recommended one to use for HIS stage of the disease. This was a Hail Mary pass so to speak.
The intent is to administer the above combo plus zinc WITHIN 3 days of Covid-19 diagnosis *AND* manifestation of symptoms ( That’s what most successful doctors, including Dr. Zelenko recommends ).
This man is very lucky to have survived his ordeal using this combo at his stage.
Unfortunately, I suspect that most “studies” will NOT be using these combo at the recommended stage of the disease as experienced by most of the successful doctors ( early stage ). As a result, I predict, that by NOT doing that, the results will be mixed.
it’s too bad he wasn’t given the Trump Treatment as soon as he tested positive ...
“Unfortunately, I suspect that most “studies” will NOT be using these combo at the recommended stage of the disease as experienced by most of the successful doctors ( early stage ). As a result, I predict, that by NOT doing that, the results will be mixed.”
indeed ... and that would be complete medical fraud because any doctor that managed to graduate with an MD and obtain a license to practice knows damn good and well that almost all antivirals are effective only when given within 48 hours of viral symptoms, e.g., Tamiflu for influenza, and famciclovir for shingles ...
The plural of “anecdote” is “data.”
>>Unfortunately, I suspect that most “studies” will NOT be using these combo at the recommended stage of the disease as experienced by most of the successful doctors ( early stage ). As a result, I predict, that by NOT doing that, the results will be mixed.<<
If they were only doing three or four studies, that would be true, but it certainly appears as though dozens of studies are underway all over the world now. (I’m guessing from news reports, not looking at an official count, by the way.)
Anyway, if there are a lot of studies we should learn a lot. Some will have better results than others. We might even learn that, for example, zinc alone is very effective in many cases. After all, many people are either going symptom free or have very mild symptoms after contracting it. Maybe it’s because they’re loaded up on zinc due to their diets and/or supplementation.
So, the more the better, as I see it. It’s when two or three studies testing a similar protocol come up with conflicting results that you’ll have a problem with interpretation.
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